|
Sen. John Kerry was told to leave Vietnam by three colleagues
upset with his behavior and attitudes, according to a
fellow swift-boat officer during the war.
Thomas Wright says the misbehavior of
the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate got
to the point where he no longer wanted him in his boat
group. So, at Wright's request, his divisional commander
assigned Kerry to another group.
 Then
Wright and like-minded boat officers took matters into
their own hands, according to John B. Dwyer, a Vietnam
veteran and military historian writing in the online magazine
American Thinker.
"When he got his third Purple Heart,
three of us told him to leave," Wright said, according
to Dwyer. "We knew how the system worked and we didn't
want him in Coastal Division 11.
"Kerry didn't manipulate the system,"
he continued, "we did."
Wright, who at times was officer-in-charge
over Kerry, said he had occasion to observe Kerry's behavior
and attitudes, and the circumstances surrounding his early
departure from the war zone.
Wright noted Kerry's chosen moniker for
radio communications between the boats was "Boston
Strangler."
The officer said he and most other swift-boat
officers had two commandments: 1. Protect the crews. 2.
Win.
But working with "Boston Strangler"
became problematical, he said, according to Dwyer.
 "I
had a lot of trouble getting him to follow orders,"
Wright recalled. "He had a different view of leadership
and operations. Those of us with direct experience working
with Kerry found him difficult and oriented toward his
personal, rather than unit goals and objectives."
Wright said he "believed that overall
responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the
OIC or OTC [Officer-in-Tactical Command] in a free-fire
zone. You had to be right [before opening fire]."
However, he continued, "Kerry seemed
to believe there were no rules in a free-fire zone, and
you were supposed to kill anyone. I didn't see it that
way."
The rules were vital, Wright emphasized,
because it was important the enemy "understood that
swift boats were a competent, effective force that could
dominate his location."
 "You
couldn't achieve that by indiscriminate use of weapons
in free-fire zones," he said.
Wright referred to the three Purple Hearts
awarded to Kerry, which allowed him to leave Vietnam for
the U.S.
"No one wanted a Purple Heart because
it meant we had made a mistake," he said. "We
made sure our crews were recognized, but no one took pride
in a Purple Heart."
More than a dozen of Kerry's superior
officers and colleagues during the war held a press conference
May 4 in Washington to tell Americans the senator is unfit
to be commander-in-chief of the United States.
Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffman, who headed
Coastal Division 11, said Kerry was seen by colleagues
as a self-serving, "loose cannon" who came only
to launch a political career.
Hoffman said Kerry "arrived in country
with a strong anti-Vietnam War bias and a self-serving
determination to build a foundation for his political
future."
"He was aggressive, but vain and
prone to impulsive judgment, often with disregard to specific
tactical assignments," Hoffman said. "He was
a loose cannon."
Hoffman and his colleagues with the group
Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth are among more than 200 veterans
who have signed a letter asking Kerry to authorize the
Department of the Navy to release all of his military
records, including health documents.
|
