# John Kerry and Vietnam **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 4, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262 "2004-08-04T11:19:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/141 "2004-08-08T22:21:27Z")
> [@Sam](#): > > …I don’t see any attempt to inflate their numbers or make the percentage look higher than it is. I think you’re reading too much into that. Parsing with a microscope, as it were… In a document prepared by lawyers, such parsing is not only appropriate, it is damn near mandatory. Lawyers choose words with more care than poets. > [@](#): > > …overall this response is a hell of a lot better than that sham of a letter the Democrats send out to intimidate stations… No, it isn’t. See above. > [@](#): > > …Judging by that page (and without counting all the names and duplicates), I’d say that it looks like there was on the order of maybe 1000 men on those boats… Which means that roughly three-quarters of the men at issue do not support the Swiftvet organization. Presumably, this means either they could not be “located”, or were “located” but didn’t sign on. But we don’t know, we are not advised, we are advised of just about every fact or implication that might support their case, but not this. > [@](#): > > …If a large group of fellow pilots came out and claimed that Bush lied about his service record, you’d be on it like a bloodhound… Perhaps, but if you are to imply a certain degree of prejudice on my part, you must be willing to accept such for yourself. Thus far, you loudly declaim your impartiality, but presume to deny such to me. Not very sporting of you, **Sam**. Is it because I’m not Canadian? As to the bloodhound, kindly refrain from disdain, there is much to admire in the bloodhound, such as his extraordinary capacity for intimate hygiene. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/142 "2004-08-08T22:35:09Z")
Between this Swift Bullshiters for Bush nonsense and **Mr. Moto’s** “revelation” that Kerry [didn’t do anything](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270284) on the morning of September 11th, I _really_ wonder how much more desperate the Bush-Cheney camp will get before November? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/143 "2004-08-08T22:36:04Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > No you certainly cannot. He claims that he was grossly misrepresented in that interview. He immediately faxed another affidavit to the Swiftvets standing by his original claim. The reporter that seems to have misquoted him is none other than the guy who wrote the introduction to the Kerry/Edwards campaign book. Sorry, but [you’re wrong](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/07/veteran_claims_misquote_on_kerry_globe_stands_by_its_story/). > [@](#): > > At the same time, Drudge also erroneously reported that Kranish, a 20-year Globe veteran, had written the introduction to a Kerry-authorized campaign book, “Our Plan for America: Stronger at Home, Respected in the World.” > > In fact, Baron said, Kranish had no connection to the Kerry campaign book and did not write its introduction. > > Baron noted that earlier this summer Kranish worked with PublicAffairs – the publisher of the Boston Globe biography of Kerry, “John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best” – to write a short introduction to a second project: an independent, unauthorized review of publicly available documents dealing with the platform and policy statements of Kerry and Edwards. That project was in no way connected with the Kerry-Edwards campaign, Baron said. > > “When PublicAffairs subsequently struck an agreement with the Kerry campaign to do an official campaign book, Kranish’s relationship with the project immediately ended,” Baron said. So that little factoid is just more sludge from Drudge. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/144 "2004-08-08T23:44:03Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > They claim to have signed affidavits to every charge they made. They should be forced to produce them. I don’t believe that they would be so stupid as to claim that they have a pile of affidavits and then refuse to produce them when called on to do so. So I’m operating on the assumption that they have the affidavits they claim to have. Here in lies our difference. The Swift Boat Guys _claim_ to have affidavits. I am not ready to assume that they have them or that they are accurate, if they exist. They have yet to display those affidavits for examination. Whether the affidavits are included in the promised book and weather the deponants have ever or will ever be subjected to unfriendly examination we do not know. One of the deponents, CPT Elliot seems to be running hot and cold about his statement. Against this we have the “official version” embodied in the citations for the two awards for meritorious service/valor which has survived challenge by some of the same Swift Boat Guys and what I am told was a pretty extensive examination by the _Boston Globe_ (hardly Kerry’s house organ). We also need to factor in the fact that the Swift Boat Guys are a long shot from intellectually honest and impartial historians who are simply trying to establish the facts for academic purposes. These people have an agenda and are financed by people with an agenda. The reluctance of some people, my self included, to accept these guys at face value, as truth speakers, as voices crying in the wilderness, ought to be perfectly understandable. If you can’t understand that, if you can’t accept that these guys’ story has to be taken with a very big grain of salt and no small amount of scepticism then may I interest you in a series of video tapes detailing how Hillary Clinton murdered Vince Foster and how Bill Clinton controlled the drug trade in the Southwest? Incidentally there is an outfit to deal with errors in military records. It is called, or was called, the Army (or Navy or Air Force or whatever) Board for the Correction of Military Records. This is where Major Reno, Custer’s second in command at the Little Big Horn, got his posthumous honorable discharge several years ago at the request of his family. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/145 "2004-08-08T23:48:31Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Maybe you should just read the descriptions of what happened. A boat was hit by a mine, which blew three men into the water. Kerry immediately accelerated out of the ‘kill zone’, in case the mine was a setup for an ambush (there is dispute over whether this is correct behaviour - the other Swiftees say doctrine was to go to the aid of the damaged boat - the other three boats did that - Kerry’s accelerated away). Either the acceleration, the wave from the first mine, or a second mine detonating near Kerry’s boat caused Rassman to fall into the water off of Kerry’s boat. > > After the initial excitement, Thurlow (who was a fellow Skipper like Kerry) pulled his boat alongside the disabled boat, and jumped aboard to help the gunner get out. The boat was apparently damaged and motoring towards the shore. Thurlow stayed on the boat and helped the gunner until the boat hit the bank, sending him flying. > > In the meantime, the other three boats stopped in the water and started pulling in the other three guys from the first boat that was hit by a mine, while the gunners laid down suppression fire on the banks in case there was an ambush. > > At the same time, Kerry realized that he had lost a man on his boat, and turned around and went back for him. He pulled the guy out of the water, joined up with the other boats, and they made their way out of the area. > > Those are the facts which are not in dispute. In Kerry’s version, they were hit by a second mine, which wounded him and blew Rassman off the boat and into the water. Rassman says he just remembers hitting the water and hearing gunfire, so he dove to the bottom of the river, and then surfaced and re-dove until Kerry came back for him. Rassman says he believes they were taking fire. Kerry says they were taking fire. None of the other Swiftees on the river say they were taking fire. > > To be fair to everyone, they may all believe it happened their way. Certainly when a boat explodes over a mine, people are hitting the water, and machine gun fire is erupting, it must all get very chaotic. And one difference is that the guys who say there was no return fire were the guys actually shooting at the banks, so they A) may not have heard the return fire, or B) may have been in an even better position to see that there was none. I don’t know. Maybe Kerry knew there was no enemy fire, or maybe there wasn’t but all the suppressive fire and the heat of the moment made him think there was. > > This is one issue where, unless there is more evidence than I’ve read, I have to give the benefit of the doubt to Kerry. It is interesting that there were no casualties from gunfire or bullet damage to the boats, which doesn’t seem likely if four boats are sitting dead in the water taking heavy fire from hidden positions. But again, even if it turns out there was no enemy fire, I can certainly see how Kerry and Rassmann thought there was, so you can’t call it a lie, and if they thought there was enemy fire then Kerry’s actions were every bit as brave as the medal citation said they were. The official version says that Kerry’s boat was under fire. Everyone on Kerry’s boat says they were under fire. I have seen no evidence that any of the after-reports contradict the official version. The ONE (1) lone fucktit who has gone on record to challenge the official version (and even this dude admits that Kerry saved a man’s life) was on a different boat a football field away who is now being paid 35 years later to throw dogshit a Kerry with nothing but his obviously superior memory and powers of observation as evidence. I like your slimy little insinuation of cowardice on Kerry’s part for “accelerating away,” btw. I guess you’re in a position to make judgements like that because you are such a highly decorated war hero yourself. You haven’t actually talked about your extensive combat experience, but I assume you _must_ have been in a ton of firefights because someone who has never been under fire would _never_ have balls big enough to insinuate cowradice on the part of a man who _volunteeered_ for combat and came home with three Purple Hearts, would he? Would he? And never mind that your insinuation is nowhere reflected in the Navy’s own official record of events. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/146 "2004-08-09T00:01:25Z")
KERRY says he ‘accelerated away’. I was just repeating what is on the public record. Kerry SPECIFICALLY says he accelerated away “To get out of the kill zone”. And in the same message I said that even if Kerry weren’t under fire, I’d still consider his actions heroic if he thought he was. So take your accusations of sliminess and your tedious personal attacks, and stuff 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/147 "2004-08-09T00:46:07Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > KERRY says he ‘accelerated away’. I was just repeating what is on the public record. Kerry SPECIFICALLY says he accelerated away “To get out of the kill zone”. And in the same message I said that even if Kerry weren’t under fire, I’d still consider his actions heroic if he thought he was. > > So take your accusations of sliminess and your tedious personal attacks, and stuff 'em. Where are you reading Kerry’s SPECIFIC statement? Here’s what he said in the article I linked to earlier: > [@](#): > > Right where they had been hit on an earlier mission, a mine exploded directly beneath Lieutenant James Rassman’s PCF-3 near Kerry’s port side. Rassman’s Swift lifted about two feet up out of the water, engulfed in mud and spray, then settled, rocking so hard from side to side that the boat started zigzagging from the banks to the middle of the river. Everybody on board PCF-3 was wounded. “At the same moment, we came under a hail of small-arms fire from both banks,” Kerry recorded in his journal. “I turned the boat into the fire on the left with the intention of trying to get the troops ashore on the outskirts of the ambush, but Sandusky, who was driving the boat and who had his eyes glued on the crippled 3 boat, pointed out to me how badly hit they had been. We veered back toward her then and tried to provide cover from the engaged side. Suddenly another explosion went off right beside us, and the concussion threw me violently against the bulkhead on the door, and I smashed my arm. At the same instant, Jim Rassman was blown overboard, although nobody knew it. But we continued sidling up to the 3, and as we came closer I could see that her twin-.50 mount over the pilothouse had been completely blown out of its stand and had landed on the gunner. No one was moving on the stern. [PCF-3 crewman] Ken Tryner, on his first real river expedition, was kneeling dazed in the doorway with a small trickle of blood down his face, aimlessly firing his M-79.” > > Thurlow had maneuvered his PCF-53 over by this time, and he hopped aboard PCF-3 to offer assistance. The boat was a shambles, but they were still shooting too hard to assess the damage. “Someone on the fantail must have noticed Jim swimming in back of us, ducking against the fire that was trying to pick him off because I suddenly heard the yell of ‘man overboard’ and looked back to see the bullets splashing in the water beside him,” Kerry reported. “We turned around with the engines screaming against each other – one full astern, the other full forward – and then charged the several hundred yards back into the ambush where Jim was trying to find some cover. Everyone on board must have been firing without pause to keep the sniper heads down.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/148 "2004-08-09T01:20:41Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > KERRY says he ‘accelerated away’. I was just repeating what is on the public record. Kerry SPECIFICALLY says he accelerated away “To get out of the kill zone”. And in the same message I said that even if Kerry weren’t under fire, I’d still consider his actions heroic if he thought he was. > > So take your accusations of sliminess and your tedious personal attacks, and stuff 'em. > [@Sam Stone](#): > > (there is dispute over whether this is correct behaviour - the other Swiftees say doctrine was to go to the aid of the damaged boat - the other three boats did that - Kerry’s accelerated away) Are you telling me that there is no implication of cowardice in this little paranthetical? Even at face value, your statement implies that Kerry engaged in “incorrect behavior.” You implied that Kerry “accelerated away” from the damaged boat rather than towards it and you also stated that this is “public record” and that it was part of the testimony of Kerry himself. After reviewing Kerry’s actual words, (thank you, **Hentor** ) do you still stand by those statements? Can you cite any official record which _contradicts_ John Kerry’s version of events? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/149 "2004-08-09T02:39:28Z")
Kerry has spoken of that mission many times. I came across his statement that he ‘accelerated out of the kill zone’ a couple of days ago. I’m still looking for it. But it’s a rather moot point, isn’t it, since I clarified that I intended no slander for that? And since in the same message I said that it seemed Kerry’s actions were heroic no matter what happened, why would you choose to make a big deal out of this sentence, calling me ‘slimey’ and questioning my own bravery? Are you really so childish that you just can’t resist devolving into attacks on other posters’ character over such a trivial thing? Or is this an attempt to shout me down? You know, there is a parallel pit thread going on on this topic. If you really feel the burning need to attack my character, could you at least have the decency to do it there? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/150 "2004-08-10T01:29:11Z")
Anything yet, **Sam**? A cite for what you avowed were Kerry’s own words? I ask because with the delay, I am wondering if this was something that you gleaned from a Swift Boat Veterans for Distortion website or some similar source. Nonetheless, it could be that he described it that way once, but did not in the article I linked to. I await your results. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/151 "2004-08-10T04:02:58Z")
Nope. Can’t find it. I’m not sure why you’re making a big deal of it, because as far as I can figure accelerating out of the kill zone is standard operating procedure and makes a lot of sense. I did not mean to imply any criticism of Kerry over that phrase. But while we’re here, let me ask a question: How many of you would truly be bothered if it turned out that John Kerry lied for twenty years about secret trips in Cambodia, including on the floor of the Senate in 1986, offered as evidence in deliberations over government policy? Hypothetically, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/152 "2004-08-10T04:25:37Z")
Someone’s been reading Drudge, I see. My answer to your question: Kerry says he was in Cambodia, the official records say he was near the Cambodian border. We know that US troops went into Cambodia illegally and we also know that no one in the chain of command can ever admit to it without confessing to a crime. So basically, there is no way to prove that Kerry was lying about having been in Cambodia just like there’s no way to prove that GWB is lying about showing up for duty in Alabama. Plus, even if Kerry was lying through his teeth about Cambodia, I personally still would not give a shit. It’s still imperative to get rid of Bush and Kerry is the only one who can do it. And contrary to popular belief, neither honesty nor good character are particularly important, or even necessarily helpful traits in a president… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/153 "2004-08-10T04:31:47Z")
Lord love a duck! **Sam** , _we_ lied about being in Cambodia! The President lied about Cambodia, the Vice-President lied about it, the Undersecretary of Agriculture for Sorghum lied about Cambodia! How upset would I be if John Kerry singlehandedly warped the direction of American foreign policy by his incessant repetition of his story about spending Xmas in Cambodia? Gosh, its hard to say, I have to consider the huge consequences, all the footnotes that may need be re-written. It could take a long time to track down both of the people who gave a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/154 "2004-08-10T04:34:39Z")
Apparently, at least three of the five men in Kerry’s boat say they were not in Cambodia. The Navy says he wasn’t there. Kerry’s own story about it has changed several times, and now apparently the campaign is saying he was “near” the Cambodian border. But that destroys the whole story. If Kerry was only near the Cambodian border, then he lied to Congress about it and used his personal knowledge of illegal activities as evidence against proposed government policy. The whole point to the story was to prove that the U.S. government was lying about what it was doing in Vietnam. If that story is fabricated, it seems to me that that’s a pretty big deal. And it’s not just 30 years ago - Kerry has repeated that story on numerous occasions up to the recent past. And if it’s true that all the other men are disputing it because they are forbidden to speak of it, why is Kerry speaking out? Isn’t he in violation of his oath as an officer to make that action public in order to thwart the aims of his government? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/155 "2004-08-10T04:46:04Z")
**Sam** , you’re trying to inflate a Japanese condom into the Hindenburg. Perhaps we might be more impressed if you could outline for us the drastic and horrific consequences of Kerry’s heinous act of perjury. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/156 "2004-08-10T04:50:10Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Kerry’s own story about it has changed several times, and now apparently the campaign is saying he was “near” the Cambodian border. He was close enough to the border to have gone _over_ the border. He could have gone over, completed a mission and been back in the space of a few hours. It’s logistically possible and it’s completely unremarkable that the Navy denied it. The Navy _had_ to deny it. It was illegal. > [@](#): > > Isn’t he in violation of his oath as an officer to make that action public in order to thwart the aims of his government? Some oaths were made to be broken, especially when the aims of the government are devious and evil. . Who gives a fuck anyway, it was 35 years ago. BTW, those crewmates who say they weren’t in Cambodia- Did Kerry ever SAY those guys were in Cambodia? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/157 "2004-08-10T04:52:59Z")
Oh…and let me say it again in case I wasn’t clear the first time- even if Kerry was lying I still don’t care. He was doing it for the right reason. I am much more comfortable with a man who lies to stop a war than I am with a man who lies to start one. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/158 "2004-08-10T04:54:12Z")
For that matter, did he even tell them they were in Cambodia? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/159 "2004-08-10T05:05:42Z")
You know, the time that has elapsed since Vietnam is not that much less than the time that had elapsed between WWII and George Bush Sr.'s run for prez in '88. I remember an attempt by somebody or another to smear GHWB’s actions in that war too…something about illegally strafing a boat…some other nonsense about who was or was not left behind in his plane when he got shot down and bailed out. I don’t even remember the details because I didn’t care and talking about Bush’s WWII exploits only made Dukakis look more like a weenie anyway. I also remember the Reublicans protesting that whatever Bush had done in a war some 40 years prior was ancient history and had no bearing on the election. I agreed. How many years must elapse before Kerry’s war record is ancient enough not to dredge up? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262/160 "2004-08-10T05:08:13Z")
His stories are pretty detailed. He talks about how they were shot at by Khmer Rouge on one side, and friendly South Vietnamese forces on the other. And you couldn’t just sneak in to Cambodia. The Cambodian border was patrolled by larger boats, not Swifts. And the river entrances were blockaded. And the first excursion into Cambodia was in 1970, not by a Swift boat. Kerry claims to have done so in 1968. No one supports him on this story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-and-vietnam/258262.md?page=9)