Reply #12: Links to these interviews?

[A_Possum]

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.