"until and unless these accusations are decisively refuted."
All of the available records support Kerry's side and not the swift boat vets. I suppose it is possible that Kerry wrote all of them, but there were supposed to be two people generating each report. So, not only did he generate those reports, he'd have to convince the other person that the events depicted actually happened. And at the same time, he'd have to've rode herd on all the others to keep them from talking about the events that happened differently, rumors at odds with the official records would've raised suspicions and probably triggered an investigation. Especially if his tour involved medals like a Silver Star.
It should be notable that the ones that served directly with Kerry, except for one guy, all support Kerry's version of event. And, despite the impression that the Swift Boat Vets cultivate, most were not in any action at all with Kerry, they were serving in other areas or times. So, it is apparently a small number of swift boat vets who served on the same missions as Kerry, but in different boats, who have these view points.
To recap. A small number of veterans who served on the same missions as Kerry and not under him say events happened one way. There is a much larger group who, while also serving on swift boats, were not in the same time and place as Kerry and so are irrelevant. The other veterans who served on the same missions as Kerry and the men under him report differently. All of the official documentation supports this version also. Sure, you can go along with the former group, after all, there are people who believe that Elvis is alive and well.
Oh, I forgot the officers in Kerry's command. All of them had praised Kerry during and after his service, until this group was formed. It is interesting that they have flip-flopped from their past comments, I am not sure what it says... |
