[at-l] OT War & Hazardous Duty Pay - WAAY off topic

[athummingbird at dnet.net (athummingbird@dnet.net)]

The way the current administration works is to discredit the Democrats and
other honest folks.  I am a member of Veteran's for Kerry and the Vets are
going 9 out of 10 for Kerry.  I could send you over 40 pages of facts about
this so please contact me, off list, if you would like to read more.  If you
want factual, documented information on anything you hear about Kerry, I
probably have it.  My husband and I have dedicated our lives to this and
will be very happy when Novemeber 3rd is here and we can rest!
Hummingbird

Subject: New FactCheck.org Document: Update: Man Kerry Rescured Calls Swift
Boat Ad False: Gives Vivid Account of Rescue Under Enemy Fire


Update: Man Kerry Rescured Calls Swift Boat Ad False: Gives Vivid Account of
Rescue Under Enemy Fire

08.10.2004


In an Aug. 10 opinion piece in the conservative Wall Street Journal , Jim
Rassmann -- the man Kerry rescued to win the Bronze Star -- says the Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth ad was "launched by people without decency" who are
"lying" and "should hang their heads in shame."

We have updated our article to include Rassmann's vivid account of his
rescue. It flatly contradicts the Kerry accusers and says Kerry was under
fire, and wounded by the blast that threw Rassmann into the water:



Rassmann said that after the first explosion that disabled PCF-3:

Rassmann: Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river and a second
explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift
boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would
run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I
could hold my breath.

When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire
from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire I repeatedly swam under water as
long as I could hold my breath, attempting to make it to the north bank of
the river. I thought I would die right there. The odds were against me
avoiding the incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the river, I
thought I thought I'd be captured and executed. Kerry must have seen me in
the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky, to turn the boat around.
Kerry's boat ran up to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a
cargo net to the lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside down, I
couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging out in the
open, a perfect target. John, already wounded by the explosion that threw me
off his boat, came out onto the bow, exposing himself to the fire directed
at us from the jungle, and pulled me aboard.

Rassmann said he recommended Kerry for the Silver Star for that action, and
learned only later that the Bronze Star had been awarded instead. "To this
day I still believe he deserved the Silver Star for his courage," he wrote.
Rassmann described himself as a retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department. "I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years
I have largely voted for Republicans," Rassmann said. But he said Kerry
"will be a great commander in chief."

"This smear campaign has been launched by people without decency," Rassmann
said. "Their new charges are false; their stories are fabricated, made up by
people who did not serve with Kerry in Vietnam."


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