ElKabong
10-13-2004, 05:05 AM
Note to all Pols that lie to biographers in order to look better than you truly are: Don't do it or you'll end up like Kerry. Last month Brinkley proclaimed Kerry 'was clearly no war hero as he props himself to be'.
Brinkley (Kerry's biographer) swipes at JohnFondaKerry yet more with....
~~~~~
Any incidents from combat that particularly stand out in your mind or in his mind?
First off, as much as he likes, I think, to be a hero -- I mean, if he is a war hero or has a sense of romance of what that means in military history -- he was not looking for hard duty in Vietnam. To the contrary. He simply, from January to June of 1968, was on the USS Gridley. His job on the Gridley was maintenance, to spic and span polish the Gridley. He had one captain that was good. But he had another captain barking at him all the time. "Kerry, there's dust here, Kerry."
So his view is, "I'd love to get off this assignment of being maintenance guy on the Gridley." He sees in Danang Harbor, in the spring of 1968, a 50-foot aluminum Swift boat, shiny, beautiful little boats, just made out from Louisiana starting in 1965. He decides, "How do I get one?"
He finds out you apply to Swift boat school. If you get accepted in Swift boat school, this is what happens to you. First off, they send you home. You get off the Gridley. He could go see his girlfriend Julia in Massachusetts, which he did for two months -- no duty -- great two months with your girlfriend in New England for the summer. Then in August, you get to go to Swift school at Coronado, beautiful San Diego, for six weeks, where you're trained how to ride these beautiful, brand-new 50-foot boats. Then you go to become a member of Operation Market Time in Vietnam, whose sole job is to patrol the coast of Vietnam, 1,100 miles of Vietnamese coastland and coastline. You're doing Coast Guard duty. That's what Kerry put into.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice2004/interviews/brinkley.html
Brinkley (Kerry's biographer) swipes at JohnFondaKerry yet more with....
~~~~~
Any incidents from combat that particularly stand out in your mind or in his mind?
First off, as much as he likes, I think, to be a hero -- I mean, if he is a war hero or has a sense of romance of what that means in military history -- he was not looking for hard duty in Vietnam. To the contrary. He simply, from January to June of 1968, was on the USS Gridley. His job on the Gridley was maintenance, to spic and span polish the Gridley. He had one captain that was good. But he had another captain barking at him all the time. "Kerry, there's dust here, Kerry."
So his view is, "I'd love to get off this assignment of being maintenance guy on the Gridley." He sees in Danang Harbor, in the spring of 1968, a 50-foot aluminum Swift boat, shiny, beautiful little boats, just made out from Louisiana starting in 1965. He decides, "How do I get one?"
He finds out you apply to Swift boat school. If you get accepted in Swift boat school, this is what happens to you. First off, they send you home. You get off the Gridley. He could go see his girlfriend Julia in Massachusetts, which he did for two months -- no duty -- great two months with your girlfriend in New England for the summer. Then in August, you get to go to Swift school at Coronado, beautiful San Diego, for six weeks, where you're trained how to ride these beautiful, brand-new 50-foot boats. Then you go to become a member of Operation Market Time in Vietnam, whose sole job is to patrol the coast of Vietnam, 1,100 miles of Vietnamese coastland and coastline. You're doing Coast Guard duty. That's what Kerry put into.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice2004/interviews/brinkley.html