Anyone know why Kerry crewmate Steve Garner hates Kerry?

[Onlooker]

All of Kerry's crew, except for Garner, are supporting him. Anyone know what the deal is with Garner? I can't find anything on the web. Thanks.

[MikeG]

1. Kerry chewed him out.

[mark414]

2. he's probably

a freeper

[Poiuyt]

3. Kerry chewed him out

I think that's what I heard. Gardner was being a little too enthusiastic with his machine gun, or something like that.

[Claire Beth]

15. yeah, that's what I heard. n/t

[havocmom]

4. Isn't one of the crewmen deceased?

:shrug: Could Garner be the one?

Also, my ol pappy once told me to never trust anyone who is liked by everyone. If ya don't make an enemy or two somewhere along the way, you must not be doin much.

[A_Possum]

8. His name is Steve Gardner, not Garner

The deceased crew member is Tom Belodeau, who died in the late 90's. He was a great supporter of Kerry and organized the "Doghunters" who were Vietnam vets who rallied to Kerry's defense in the 1984 senate election, after he was dissed by his opponent as a hypocrite for protesting the war.

Gardner just seems to have either not liked Kerry at the time, or possibly was involved in an incident in which the crew shot into a sampan in the dark and then discovered only a woman with a baby in it, and that they had killed a second child. TOUR OF DUTY does not mention Gardner in relation to this specifically, though apparently he was one of the crew at the time, but somewhere I've seen a reference to the idea that Kerry chewed Gardner out for it. Also, Gardner has said he was slightly wounded, and Kerry insisted on turning the boat back to get him treatment, while he insists that he wasn't hurt badly and Kerry was just using it as an excuse to run.

Brinkley could not find Gardner when he was conducting interviews for the book. When Gardner showed up after the book went to press (having heard about Kerry on Limbaugh's radio show), Brinkley interviewed him and came away with the impression it was a political issue for Gardner.

[JohnKleeb]

16. shame Tom Belodeau has passed on

I think your right about Gardner though.

[SheilaT]

5. What all this sounds like to me

is that for some reason or another (and it doesn't matter why) this guy does not like Kerry and therefore is willing to say unkind things about him. I'm sure there's a degree of jealousy about Kerry's successful political career since then.

Think of what it's like at many workplaces. Not everyone likes everyone else, and as a consequence there can be a lot of petty sniping going on. This is simply getting a lot of attention because one guy is running for president, and so it's being treated with a great deal more seriousness than it deserves.

[babylon_system]

6. Gardner was one of the war criminals Kerry later repudiated

He gives plenty of reasons here. Scroll down halfpage.

http://one-holy-catholic-apostolic.org/journal/2004/08/06/notahero.htm

Savage: . . . Why is the media saying no one who served with him is condemning him? . . .

Gardner: Well, it's not because I'm not trying. We finally decided - we're the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - that it was time that we put our own ad together, and put it out there where people can see it. What people need to understand, here, and understand real quick-like, is John Kerry, as you said, is a charlatan. And he's a liar. He is absolutely, categorically, a traitor! because of what he did to our guys that were behind the wall in the 'Hanoi Hilton'. . . .

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OSheaman]

10. "creative Kerry memories"?

Huh?

Regardless, can you give a source for that story?

[rumguy]

11. Yep - you got that right - official military records can NEVER, EVER be

trusted....

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

You people are so fucking desparate.

[A_Possum]

12. Links to these interviews?

Any transcripts?

Kerry described this incident in his journals, which were written at the time it occurred.

The sampan was in a free-fire zone, and it was moving past the curfew, when nothing was supposed to be on the river. There had been incidences of sampans moving close enough to boats to be able to toss bombs into them. The word "free-fire" means just that. Navy policy was to fire on vessels violating the curfew. Civilians were supposed to know this. It was one of the reasons Kerry came back and protested the free-fire zones specifically in his congressional testimony.

In Kerry's journal account, he ordered warning shots fired, and in the confusion all guns opened up. Presumably this included Gardner, as one of the gunners.

If Gardner is saying now that he expected to be held accountable for something like this at the time, I think he's being "creative" in his memories.

[DoBotherMe]

13. That is a lie

In Tour of Duty this incident is explained fully including the killing of the child,which was taken from the after action reports and Kerry's diary. In the book however no one is implicated. Kerry covered nothing up, Gardner is lying.

[Bluebear]

17. Wow, military reports are not to be trusted!

I didn't know they were so easily falsified, I will certainly think twice before believing ANY veteran's wild story about their "heroics" from now on. Thanks for setting us straight.

[Cheswick2.0]

9. no and I wouldn't put it on the web if I did

why help the republicans with their research?

[Jane Austin]

14. I read that Kerry chewed him out for machine gunnning civilians.

eom