[IP] Third swift boat captain goes public
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dave Wilson <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 21, 2004 4:57:42 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Third swift boat captain goes public
There were three boats in the unit Kerry was commanding on the day in
dispute. I'd been wondering why we hadn't heard from the skipper of the
third. Now I know: he's an editor at the Chicago Tribune, and he'd been
trying to stay out of the controversy. On Sunday he went public, and
he's supporting Kerry's version of events.
Here's the story about the story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi
-040821kerry,1,6814873.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Here's a link to the editor's story, with an accompanying snippet.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi
-040821rood,1,1611037.story?coll=chi-news-hed
>
> --------------------
> Anti-Kerry vets not there that day
> --------------------
>
> By William B. Rood
> Chicago Tribune
>
> August 21, 2004
>
> There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more
than 35
years ago--three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those
officers
remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969.
>
> One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a
Silver
Star for what happened on that date. I am the other.
>
> For years, no one asked about those events. But now they are the
focus of
skirmishing in a presidential election with a group of swift boat
veterans
and others contending that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star for
what he
did on that day, or the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was
awarded
for other actions.
>
> Many of us wanted to put it all behind us--the rivers, the ambushes,
the
killing. Ever since that time, I have refused all requests for
interviews
about Kerry's service--even those from reporters at the Chicago
Tribune,
where I work.
>
> But Kerry's critics, armed with stories I know to be untrue, have
charged
that the accounts of what happened were overblown. The critics have
taken
pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what
others
did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us. It's
gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to
accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people
who
were not there.
>
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