Jack Chenowith: "His account of what happened and what actually happened are the difference between night and day."
FACT: Jack Chenowith was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. Its Not Kerry's Account on the Bronze Star Citation-It's the Account of the U.S. Navy, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Commander U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam and backed up by Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley, James Rassmann and the Crewmate of PCF-44 & PCF 94.
Roy Hoffman: "John Kerry has not been honest."
FACT: Roy Hoffmann was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. "Hoffman acknowledged he had no first-hand knowledge to discredit Kerry's claims to valor and said that although Kerry was under his command, he really didn't know Kerry much personally." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/7/04]
Adrian Lonsdale: "He lacks the capacity to lead"
FACT: Adrian Lonsdale was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. While campaigning FOR Kerry in 1996 he said "As far as I was concerned, the war was won over there in that part for that period. And it was mainly won because of the bravado and the courage of the young officers that ran the boats, the SWIFT boats and the Coast Guard cutters and Senator Kerry was no exception." [Kerry for Senate Press Conference, 10/27/96]
Larry Thurlow: "When the chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry."
FACT: Larry Thurlow was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. On the day Kerry pulled Rassmann from the water, "Larry Thurlow had maneuvered his PCF-51 over by this time and he hopped aboard PCF-3 to offer assistance. The boat was in shambles but they were still shooting too hard to assess any damage" "BOATS RECEIVED HEAVY A/W [automatic weapons] & S/A [small arms] FROM BOTH BANKS…ALL BOATS AND MSF RETURNED FIRE…PCF-94 [Kerry's boat] PICKED UP MSF ADVISOR WHO WENT OVERBOARD…PCF-94 TOWED PCF-3." [Tour of Duty, Brinkley, 2004, p. 314; U.S. Navy After Action Report]
Bob Elder: "John Kerry is no war hero."
FACT: Bob Elder was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. John Kerry recieved the Silver Star, Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts.
Shelton White: "John Kerry betrayed the men and women he served with in Vietnam."
Joe Ponder: "He dishonored his country. He most certainly did."
Grant Hibbard: "He betrayed all his shipmates. He lied before the Senate.
FACTS: White, Ponder and Hibbard were NOT crewmates of John Kerry.
When pressed by conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, retired General and Former Commander in Chief of Central Command, Tommy Franks believed Kerry's summary of what other soldiers had told him about unfortunate actions by a few U.S. soldiers in Vietnam: "I'm not sure that -- that activities like that didn't take place. In fact, quite the contrary. I'm sure that they did." [Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, 8/3/04]
In April of 2004, the Toledo Blade was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their series detailing the atrocities committed by a few American soldiers in Vietnam. The series was based upon the Tiger Force which operated for several months in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
Bon Hildreth: "I served with John Kerry. John Kerry cannot be trusted."
FACT: Bob Hildreth was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry's. But Jim Wasser Was: "If John Kerry came to us and said he had one more mission and we're going to hell, he'd have a full crew" -- Jim Wasser [Dallas Morning News, 7/29/04]
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