Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - New Web Site, Swift Boat Verterans for Truth

filtherton · 07-29-2004, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Vietnam vets escort Kerry home
Nedra Pickler, Associated Press
July 29, 2004 CARRI0729

BOSTON -- John Kerry promised "no retreat, no surrender" in his fight against President Bush during a homecoming steeped in the memory of his Vietnam War combat.

Escorted by 13 crew mates who fought alongside him in the Mekong Delta, Kerry road a water taxi across Boston Harbor. He saluted and waved to cheering supporters waiting in a drizzle at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" blasting on the speakers.

"Bruce Springsteen has it right. No retreat. No surrender. We are taking this fight to the country, and we are going to win back our democracy and our future," Kerry said.

In Vietnam, Kerry and his crew mates traveled on swift boats mounted with gun turrets. In Boston, they were on the Lulu E, a lumbering ferry decked out in red, white and blue bunting. The weapons were alongside -- manned machine guns protected the crew from Coast Guard speedboats in this first national political convention since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The band of brothers included 12 Navy veterans and Jim Rassmann, a Special Forces soldier whom Kerry rescued from the water during a gunfire attack. Kerry jokingly put a life jacket over Rassmann, saying although the Navy guys shouldn't need it, an Army man might need protection.

After a three-minute speech to supporters on the dock, Kerry headed to his Beacon Hill home for family time and work on his acceptance speech. He would only reveal to reporters that the speech will be a surprise.

"I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to my opportunity a little more than 24 hours from now to share with you and all of America a vision for how we're going to make this country stronger at home and respected in the world," Kerry said on the dock.

The speech is certain to remind voters of his service in Vietnam and try to convince them that he would be a better commander in chief. A dozen retired generals and admirals were making the same point Wednesday.

Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Clinton, was addressing delegates. He was introduced by retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the only woman ever to become a three-star general in the Army.

Ten of 12 retired generals and admirals who are publicly backing Kerry appear in a convention video, expressing their concern with the current state of the military. And Kerry's crew mates say they are living proof that Kerry is an accomplished wartime leader.

"He made good decisions, I believe proper decisions," said Mike Medeiros of San Leandro, Calif., who served for four months on Kerry's swift boat in Vietnam. "And the fact that we all returned alive is a good indication that they were the right decisions."

Medeiros was reunited with Kerry in 1996, when Republicans were attacking his military record in a heated Senate race. Kerry's crew mates came to set the record straight at the Charlestown Navy Yard, the same place they stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the eve of his nomination acceptance.

"We're going to write the great next chapter of America's history together," Kerry said.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4900128.html

It appears that many of his actual crewmates support him. I guess maybe you have to actually serve alongside someone to have some perspective on who they were at the time.