ShiftyJerk leader changes story about Kerry, supported him and vouched for him on many occasions in the past. Now Elliot has changed his story back again. Total 360 flipflop:
First is is dated Boston Globe June 16, 2003: HEROISM, AND GROWING CONCERN ABOUT WAR BY MICHAEL KRANISH--relevant passage is:
When Kerry returned to his base, his commanding officer, George Elliott, raised an issue with Kerry: the fine line between whether the action merited a medal or a court-martial.
"When [Kerry] came back from the well-publicized action where he beached his boat in middle of ambush and chased a VC around a hootch and ended his life, when [Kerry] came back and I heard his debrief, I said, 'John, I don't know whether you should be court-martialed or given a medal, court-martialed for leaving your ship, your post,' " Elliott recalled in an interview.
"But I ended up writing it up for a Silver Star, which is well deserved, and I have no regrets or second thoughts at all about that," Elliott said. A Silver Star, which the Navy said is its fifth-highest medal, commends distinctive gallantry in action.
Asked why he had raised the issue of a court-martial, Elliott said he did so "half tongue-in-cheek, because there was never any question I wanted him to realize I didn't want him to leave his boat unattended. That was in context of big-ship Navy - my background. A C.O. [commanding officer] never leaves his ship in battle or anything else. I realize this, first of all, it was pretty courageous to turn into an ambush even though you usually find no more than two or three people there. On the other hand, on an operation some time later, down on the very tip of the peninsula, we had lost one boat and several men in a big operation, and they were hit by a lot more than two or three people."
Elliott stressed that he never questioned Kerry's decision to kill the Viet Cong, and he appeared in Boston at Kerry's side during the 1996 Senate race to back up that aspect of Kerry's action.
The next latest one is Providence Journal-Bulletin (Rhode Island) October 28, 1996--Kerry calls on wartime colleagues to help rebuff columnist's attack (AP)--relevant passage is:
Kerry's staff arranged a news conference at the Courageous Sailing Center in the Charlestown Navy Yard. It also flew in several people who attested to Kerry's character and his version of events.
They were retired Admiral E.R. Zumwalt Jr., who commanded U.S. naval forces in Vietnam; retired Capt. George Elliott, Kerry's commander at the time of the shooting; retired Cmdr. Adrian Longsdale, who commanded shoreline operations at the time, and Belodeau, an electrician who is currently working in Michigan.
Then there is Behind the hootch; by DAVID WARSH--The Boston Globe, October 27, 1996--Relevant Passage is:
In 1969, George Elliott was a 31-year-old lieutenant commander, a career naval officer commanding Coastal Division 11. Today, Elliott, a retired Navy captain, lives in Lewes, Del., where he is president of the local historical society. He is both sharp and friendly.
While saying he had not agreed for many years with Kerry's politics, Elliott remembered him as an outstanding young officer to whom he gave a glowing fitness report.
Of the citation, Elliott said: "I don't remember whether I initiated it or whether it was one of the troops who was with him. The recommendation left over my signature. I was not an eyewitness, but I stand by it.
"The only question I had for him was why did he leave his boat. A commander doesn't leave his boat. I pressed him on that, more for his benefit than for anything else . . . It was another of those things, you either court-martial him or you give him a medal."
"I had no reason to question his motives or his actions."
What if the man Kerry killed was wounded at the time? Elliott was dismissive. "In combat, as much reaction as thoughtful action, lots of guys have been killed by a wounded man. I don't know what weapon he had, or if he had, but you don't have much time to think in those situations."
But were there no eyewitnesses? "That may be my recollection. There was a dead guy there and John had a weapon. That's the way it is sometimes.
"Where the rest of the men were, and what they saw, I can't remember. I took the stories down, what I considered to be corroboration . . . There is no question that someone ran and that a few seconds later there was a dead man behind the hootch."
What about Bellodeau's medal? "There may have been another guy. You try to spread the glory around. It's hard to describe what you try to do with decorations. It's part hype, part leadership. You don't want to cheapen it but you've got to recognize uncommon behavior. You've got to get them to go back out there.
"I had Purple Hearts in foot-cube boxes to give out," recalls Elliott. "You have aluminum boats, there's a lot of shrapnel flying around." But he says he recommended few other Silver Stars - possibly as few as one other. "I had two Bronze Stars myself. People say to me, 'Did you earn 'em?' I say, 'I earned one of them. A Silver Star was hard to come by.' " |
