A never-before-published after-action report obtained from Navy archives by "Unfit for Command" co-author Jerome Corsi confirms key contradictions cited by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about John Kerry's Vietnam battle claims.
The documents contain battle damage reports from a March 1969 incident that show Kerry's PCF-94 Swift Boat sustained no bullet-hole damage after being exposed to what the report claims was "heavy A/W and S/A from both banks" of the Bay Hap River that lasted "for about 5000 meters."
The episode is the most famous of Kerry's combat exploits, the one where he claims to have rescued Special Forces officer James Rassmann while under heavy fire after PCF-94 was hit by a mine.
The explosion tossed Rassman overboard.
But despite the supposed barrage of gunfire, the after-action report lists damage to PCF-94 as follows:
"Two stbd and one port main cabin windows blown out. VRC-46 radio and all remote units pilot house inop. AC wiring shorted out. Onan generator inop. Steerage control after helm inop. Stbd bilge pump broken. Screws curled and chipped. Radar gear box frozen. Main engines experienced RPM drop."
Nowhere is any bullet-hole damage noted.
In an interview with NewsMax on Friday, Corsi said that the damage noted in the Navy report was consistent with the description of the event given in "Unifit for Command," where Kerry boatmates say there was no enemy fire after the mine explosion under another boat, PCF-3.
Story Continues Below
"PCF-94 would have been riddled with holes if it were being shot at for 5000 meters," he said.
The Navy documents also detail the wounds suffered by Kerry's crew during the Rassmann episode, including back injuries, abrasions and shrapnel wounds - some of which were sustained in the mine explosion.
The list makes no mention of any bullet wounds to any crewmember.
Kerry's injuries are chronicled in the report as "shrapnel wound left buttock and contusion abrasions [minor]." The Swiftvets have claimed taht Kerry's shrapnel wound was sustained not during the March 13 mine explosion but when Kerry tossed a hand grenade into a rice storage bin at close range earlier in the day.
Corsi echoed claims of the Swiftvets, who say that Kerry himself likely authored several of the key after-action reports, suggesting that the contradictions stem from the fact that he embellished parts of the story without making sure they were consistent with other parts of his report.
The documents were obtained by the best-selling author from Building 57 at The Naval Yard in Washington, D.C., where the Naval Historical Archives are available to the public.
Editor's note:
Get the new best-selling book "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" FREE – Click Here Now
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
B.G. Burkett - Stolen Valor
2004 Elections
John Kerry: On the Record
Print Page 
Forward Page 
