The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Kerry DID write his own combat reports
According to a story today on CNSNews, John Kerry DID write the combat reports that led to his purple hearts and other decorations. Citing public record testimony to the Senate in 1971, Kerry wrote his own reports:
Kerry told the committee on April 22, 1971, "...I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission..." Kerry also said that many in the military had "a tendency to report what they want to report and see what they want to see." Kerry's comments about the battle reports came in response to a question from then Senator Stuart Symington (D- Mo.), who wondered about the accuracy of information from military sources.
According to the testimony, which is available in the Congressional Record, Sen. Symington asked Kerry, "Mr. Kerry, from your experience in Vietnam do you think it is possible for the President or Congress to get accurate and undistorted information through official military channels.[?] "Kerry responded, "I had direct experience with that. Senator, I had direct experience with that and I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission; and including the GDA, gunfire damage assessments, in which we would say, maybe 15 sampans sunk or whatever it was. And I often read about my own missions in the Stars and Stripes and the very mission we had been on had been doubled in figures and tripled in figures.
This lends credence to the assertion by the Swift Boat Vets that Kerry embellished actual events with fictitious enemy fire and otherwise altered the facts in reports that led to his being awarded Purple Hearts and other decorations. It just gets uglier and uglier. Only Kerry himself can stop the bleeding, by signing the release of all his military records, as President Bush has already done. Why is the media not holding Kerry to the same standard that it demanded of Bush?
Kerry told the committee on April 22, 1971, "...I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission..." Kerry also said that many in the military had "a tendency to report what they want to report and see what they want to see." Kerry's comments about the battle reports came in response to a question from then Senator Stuart Symington (D- Mo.), who wondered about the accuracy of information from military sources.
According to the testimony, which is available in the Congressional Record, Sen. Symington asked Kerry, "Mr. Kerry, from your experience in Vietnam do you think it is possible for the President or Congress to get accurate and undistorted information through official military channels.[?] "Kerry responded, "I had direct experience with that. Senator, I had direct experience with that and I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission; and including the GDA, gunfire damage assessments, in which we would say, maybe 15 sampans sunk or whatever it was. And I often read about my own missions in the Stars and Stripes and the very mission we had been on had been doubled in figures and tripled in figures.
This lends credence to the assertion by the Swift Boat Vets that Kerry embellished actual events with fictitious enemy fire and otherwise altered the facts in reports that led to his being awarded Purple Hearts and other decorations. It just gets uglier and uglier. Only Kerry himself can stop the bleeding, by signing the release of all his military records, as President Bush has already done. Why is the media not holding Kerry to the same standard that it demanded of Bush?
