Actual heros, the Swiftboat veterans, unite to fight “arrogant snob” Kerry.
Injured, angry, determined, Swiftees unite to fight Kerry
Washington Times Oct 11 2004Vernon Smith, a 74-year-old Swiftee from Virginia Beach, didn’t see any reason to come forward before, but when he read “Tour of Duty,” Mr. Kerry’s account of his Vietnam service as written by historian Douglas Brinkley, he got angry.
“I don’t like the fabrications. Why does a man have to lie like that? He is totally unfit for command,” he said.
Their beef with Mr. Kerry has driven them to action, the Swiftees say, as they search their collective memories for the truth. Many say they felt shame before, but now they are a band of brothers. “Unfit for Command,” which was co-authored by a leader of the group, is a best seller. And on Saturday, they received a wire for $500,000.
“In more than one firefight, Kerry actually pulled our boat out of it and ran out of the canal. I don’t think John Kerry was a coward,” says 57-year-old Steve Gardner, from Clover, S.C., who spent more than two months with Mr. Kerry on PCF 44 as a gunner’s mate 3rd class.
“I think John Kerry was an opportunist. And he was very ineffectual. He did everything in his own best interest. He was always carrying a little notebook with him. I assume it was his diaries. He was very aloof and disdainful of people under him,” he said.
…
“Kerry betrayed us by telling the people we were committing atrocities,” Maj. Day says. “A man who does that is not fit to lead. It’s impossible to let this man masquerade as a war hero and someone who has leadership. To imagine this guy who betrayed us becoming president and him being the leader of our armed forces is just unthinkable.”
Standing next to the major, 57-year-old Jim Hoffman from Oshkosh, Wis., said Mr. Kerry was never a leader.
“He was an arrogant snob,” said Mr. Hoffman, an engineman 2nd class on the swift boats, adding that he felt afraid and alone for many years, but now feels buoyed by his Swiftee peers and their mission.
Mr. Gardner says Mr. Kerry used to boast to his fellow servicemen that he would be the next JFK.
Says Sgt. LaCivita: “JFK must be rolling in his grave.”
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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