the irish lass

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See you at the Marriott Marquis or on the floor ;^D

Are Kerry's Journals Dummied Up?

Michelle Malkin offers a letter from Viet Nam Vet, Terry Sater. He points out some obvious errors in Kerry's bio, Tour of Duty, which author Douglas Brinkley has stated were based on Kerry's journal's.

On page 179, there is a reference to an incident that occurred on October 14th. Page 181 begins with; "Only a few weeks later, Kerry, on a PCF-44 patrol, observed four troop battalions from the Ninth Infantry Division at Dong Tam and five Mobile Riverine Force squadrons staging an assault for the benefit of Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird. "To facilitate putting on a good show, an area was picked out for the landing where the chance of guerilla contact was minimal." Kerry sneered. "Nothing was to mess up the show for the secretary of defense." I was with River Assault Squadron 13 during this time period. Melvin Laird was the secretary of defense from January 22, 1969 to January 29, 1973. At the high point, there were only four squadrons of the Mobile Riverine Force. The four squadrons were split into two larger groups; "Group Alpha" and "Group Bravo", in early summer, of 1968, spread out over different parts of the Mekong Delta. All four squadrons were never pulled together to put on a show for Melvin Laird.

Kerry has now twice blamed actions on the Nixon administration that took place before Nixon was inaugurated. If the journals were written in real time, how would he know that Melvin Laird was going to be nominated and confirmed as Secretary of Defense? If he had written about Cambodia in real time, wouldn't it have come up during Kerry's testimony before the Senate?

What if Kerry wrote the journals long after he got back to the United States, in 1977 or 1978? His anger at Nixon could have clouded his memory and he got important details wrong.

Perhaps there is a less sinister explanation, but I can't think of it.

Thanks to Miss Attila for the head's up.