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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who wrote (77710)10/15/2004 10:24:28 AM
From: Mary Cluney  Read Replies (4) of 793843
 
In this show, they went to Vietnam and interviewed the Vietnamese in the village where John Kerry got his Silver Star. [That was the one where a rocket hit close to Kerry's boat and he supposedly attacked, beaching the boat, jumped out and killed the guy with the rocket launcher.]

Roshomon Redux.

1) Now you have the Vietnamese version. In this one they name the boy that was killed. According to them this area was a VC strong hold - with weapons hidden that the Americans never found or even suspected were there. The Vietnamese who were there tell the story from each of their own perspectives - the details do not match up 100% - but do not contradict each other in any meaningful way. But, they did find the body and they knew the victim. They heard a lot of gunfire - but were not able to describe where the gunfire was coming from and who was doing the shooting. They did not provide an accurate timeline of gunfire.

2) There was an original version from Kerry and the men in his boat - their stories were consistent with each other.

3) There are several versions from John O'Neil and various Swift boat veterans - some of whom were on different boats in the same convoy. John O'Neil was not an actual eye witness. He is piecing together his charges from news accounts, John Kerry's own book, US Navy citation awarding John Kerry his Silver Star and other testimony to find contradictions.

But here is what we know with absolute certainty.

A) John Kerry was in command of one of the Swiftboats in the convoy taking part in a mission where hostile activity took place on that particular day and in that particular area.

B) One victim was killed. A loaded weapon was retrieved.

According to John O'Neill the victim was a frail, if not wounded, kid that was shot in the back. The Vietnamese that still live there now said the victim was a big (for a Vietnamese - I assume) 26 year old regular soldier with the VC army.

C) A lot of gunfire took place - but the time line of the gunfire can not be verified.

What we don't have is forensic evidence that proves that John Kerry earned his medal in accordance to the US Navy Citation awarding him the Silver Star.

Now contrast this with George W Bush's service in the 6 months that he was assigned to the Alabama National Guards.

This is what we know with absolute certainty.

1) George W. Bush at the end of his tour of duty received an honorable discharge.

2) George W. Bush produced pay stubs for his service during the period in question.

What we don't have is forensic evidence that George W. Bush ever showed up for duty. Not one colleague that served with him during that period of time could vouch for having seen him there.
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