Swift boat veteran backs Kerry on details of 1969 ambush

[Judi Lynn]

Swift boat veteran backs Kerry on details of 1969 ambush
Group continues its challenge of nominee's honors
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff | August 23, 2004

Supporting John F. Kerry's recollection of a Vietnam War battle that is a focal point of criticism against him by a group of veterans, a gunner on the Navy swift boat immediately behind John F. Kerry's distinctly remembers enemy fire around them during a March 1969 ambush.

Wayne D. Langhofer, now an employee at a Kansas gunpowder plant, told the Washington Post in yesterday's editions, "There was a lot of firing going on, and it came from both sides of the river."

Reflecting on the battle in the Bay Hap River, which resulted both in Kerry being awarded the Bronze Star and receiving a third Purple Heart, which allowed him to end his combat tour after just four months, Langhofer said he distinctly remembered the "clack, clack, clack" of enemy AK-47s, as well as muzzle flashes from the surrounding riverbanks. Langhofer manned a machine gun aboard PCF-43, the boat that was directly behind Kerry's.

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Kerry opponents funded in part by a Texas contributor to President Bush, has argued that there was no enemy gunfire and that Kerry's injury did not warrant the Purple Heart that cleared the way for his departure from Vietnam. The group, arguing that the river attack and Kerry's subsequent war protests call into question his ability to be commander in chief, has launched an ad campaign against Kerry.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/23/swift_boat_veteran_backs_kerry_on_details_of_1969_ambush/

[imax2268]

1. so that's how many

so far that have come out for Kerry in the last few days...

Rood, Wayne D. Langhofer, and one other right...?

include that with men that were on stage with him that night makes how many...?

[GOPAgainstGW]

2. This makes 3 New Recent Vets that have come forward for Kerry

I posted this on another thread about Jim Russell coming forward but will also post it here.
=======================

Two More Vietnam Vets Come Forward For Kerry

First time either have spoken pubically. One is a Republican House Rep and Veteran for Bush!

Washington Post Article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24891-2004Aug22.html

…The campaign got some unexpected help from Wisconsin Republican Rep. Terry M. Musser, a Vietnam veteran and co-chairman of Veterans for Bush. Musser lambasted the Bush-Cheney campaign in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1) over Republican attacks on Kerry's military record. "I think it's un-American to be attacking someone's service record. Period," Musser said in a Washington Post telephone interview. "The president has an opportunity here to stand up and demand that the attacks be stopped." (See additional articles below)

In Colorado, Jim Russell, who participated in Swift boat operations when Kerry did, wrote a letter to the editor of the Telluride Daily Planet to angrily dispute the claim that Kerry was not under enemy fire when he rescued Jim Rassman from the water, a feat that brought Kerry a Bronze Star and Purple Heart….(2)
--END—

VERY IMPORTANT: Read all these articles and letters closely, particular Jim Russell’s letter, Vietnam veteran, USN (1966-71). Russell’s letter is right on the money and he nails these SBVT frauds for what they are. Very emotional and powerful letter!

(1) Attack on Kerry's war record riles GOP rep: (See add’l articles below)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug04/253040.asp

(2) Letter to the Editor, A veteran for Truth - Jim Russell, Vietnam veteran, USN (1966-71)
http://www.telluridegateway.com/articles/2004/08/20/news/opinion/opinion01.txt

-------
Additional Articles: Rep. Terry Musser Denouncing O’Neill’s SBVT organization:

(1a.) GOP Vets Chair Calls for an End to "Wrong" Attack Ads Against Kerry
Full article: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=21651

MADISON – The Chair of the Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs Committee today called on a group of Bush-Cheney supporters to stop running misleading ads about John Kerry’s war record. State Representative Terry Musser, who also serves on the Veterans for Bush steering committee, told Wisconsin Public Radio today that it was wrong for the GOP to attack to Kerry for his service in the war. President Bush, however, has yet to call for the ads to be pulled off the air.

(1b.) From a Second Source:
http://www.tomahjournal.com/articles/2004/08/19/opinion/01edswiftboat.txt

It's obvious that military authorities believed Kerry's account, and the SBVT ad indicts the military's judgment as much as it indicts Kerry. Perhaps that's why Republican military veterans such as state Rep.Terry Musser of Black River Falls and Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain have condemned the ad. By raising doubts about the procedures in which Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and Bronze Stars are awarded, SBVT casts doubt on every military honor bestowed during the Vietnam Era.

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* Beltway Republicans Against Bush-Cheney ‘04, Inc.*
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[slor]

3. About time this got some more...

coverage.

[daleo]

4. His second combat tour

"Reflecting on the battle in the Bay Hap River, which resulted both in Kerry being awarded the Bronze Star and receiving a third Purple Heart, which allowed him to end his combat tour after just four months..."

Bush was still working on his 0th.

[KAZ]

6. No. * was working on his 5th. :) n/t

n/t

[HuckleB]

5. kick