Here's an interesting critique of Rassman's account in the WSJ:
Rassman?s account of his ?rescue? by Kerry on the WSJ of 8/10/04 is not believable if one dissects what he says. If there was a second blast strong enough near or on Kerry?s boat to blow Rassmann off Kerry's boat and if there was intense machine-gun fire from both sides of the river why wasn't there any damage reports filed on the 3 other boats? All the boats should have been a mess and with so much fire power being placed on the 4 boats no one was injured or killed except the men on PCF3 hit by the mine. Seems to me that the 4 boats were but sitting ducks. PCF3 was disabled and took quite some time for the other two boats to rescue everyone from PCF3. There were many people on PCF3 who were incapacitated. Under such heavy fire from both sides of the river it would have been a turkey shoot. Why didn't Kerry?s boat rescue anyone other than Rassmann? What was Kerry's boat doing all that time? PCF3 had to be towed away at a slow speed by the other boats. One more reason for a turkey shoot from both sides of the river. Does Rassmann mean to say that the VC just let them go in peace because JFK ?The Hero? was on a boat? If this had happened like Mr. Rassmann says it did, I would have expected that none of men that day would be alive now to talk about it. Sounds very nice Rassmann but its all BUNK! An educated guess would be that PCF 94 (Kerry?s boat) was never hit by anything not even by a VC with a slingshot nor were the other two boats. Rassmann was thrown overboard when Kerry gunned the engines to speed away to a safe place before anyone could tell if there was enemy fire. Kerry took off and left Rassmann in the water. The other 2 boats did come to the aid of PCF3. The gunfire that Kerry and Rassmann refer to is the fire from the two boats doing what they suppose to do when something like that happens when it is unknown what the cause was.
Didn?t take long for the other two boats to cease fire when it was obvious to everyone that there was no incoming enemy fire. Since I am on Rassmann?s mission, let me touch on the ?5,000 meter long gauntlet of gunfire and RPGs? from both banks of the river while towing a disabled boat at a snails pace (5.000m=5Km=3miles) as reported by Kerry (Unfit page91). Only one thought comes to mind, everyone on the four boats would be dead, including Kerry and the boats destroyed.
Did Rassmann forget about the 3 mile gauntlet of fire for the WSJ? Rassmann, would you like to send in a ?modification?? Rassmann said on the WSJ article that he met Kerry in the Spring of 1969 giving us the impression that he and Kerry were buddies for a while before the mission. Isn?t true that they only met on March 12 the day before the mission and may never have seen him again in VN?
What amazes me is that intelligent journalists reading this bunk generated by Rassmann and Kerry do not pick it apart sentence by sentence and come to the conclusion: WOW this is impossible. One does not have to been in the military to see that Rassmann?s story just doesn?t make sense. Bunk is just taken at face value as the truth. How could any of it be true without heavy casualties due to the time involved rescuing the crew of PCF3 and getting the boat ready to tow under intense fire from both sides of the river and then towing the boat at slow speed for miles?
After reading Unfit for Command and comparing it to all the stories known and told by Kerry and Rassmann, here is my assessment on the whole Rassmann incident:
There were 3 boats and the one that hit a mine (PCF3) people on those boats deserved the medals, not Kerry. One boat was 15 meters from Rassmann as they were going to pick him up when Kerry intercepted the boat. Kerry came back out of nowhere because he had fled the scene and came back later to make a very calculated "rescue". Rassmann was not in any danger and Kerry was not wounded. The reason that Rassmann stayed in the water that long was because the other 2 boats were busy picking up wounded/injured crew from PCF3 that had hit the mine and getting the boat under control keeping it from sinking. Rassmann was not wounded or injured so he was left for last to be picked up. Rassmann fell overboard Kerry's boat when Kerry sped away from the scene. There was also no enemy fire during the whole incident but only a lone mine in the water. If After-Action Reports were to be compared filed by the commanders of the other 3 boats and compared it to Kerry's report it would be like reading about some other incident. Would the other 3 commanders have similar reports and only Kerry reported completely different including a 3 mile gauntlet of fire from both sides of the river that no one else experienced? Does this sound right to anyone? Or wouldn't be reasonable to believe that running a 3 mile gauntlet of heavy fire from both sides of the river at slow speed towing a disabled boat that it would be a slaughter? Does anyone from the four boats confirm this heavy enemy fire other than Kerry and Rassmann? It is possible that a stunned Rassmann dumped in the water right after the mine exploded PCF3 and heard short momentary fire from the two boats mistaken it for enemy fire. However the gunfire from the two boats gave Kerry and Rassmann artistic license to embellish the script. Why did ONLY Rassmann supported Kerry's report and medals recommendation? Why did Rassmann and Kerry keep secret the recommendation for Kerry's medals? Why didn't the other 3 commanders sign the recommendation? Because they didn't even know that Kerry had applied for the medals for the incident and they wouldn't have gone along with Kerry's account of the incident. Only Rassmann and Kerry knew about it. Stinks? Sure does. The others found out years later. Kerry stabbed the other commanders and crews in the back. These guys saved the lives of EVERYONE on PCF3 except Rassmann's. Kerry wasn't around to save anyone but sure as hell pushed his way in to "save" Rassmann when he was within seconds of being pulled out of the water by Chenoweth's boat to be exact. Why didn't Kerry pulled anyone else out of the water but only Rassmann? Because he WASN'T there.
Why did Rassmann stay in the water so long if he fell out Kerry?s boat and if Kerry didn?t flee and was right there to pick him up in seconds? Kerry had high tailed out of the area when PCF3 hit the mine. Like the other 2 boats he should have stayed around protecting the disabled PCF3 in case there WAS enemy fire and rescuing the crew. He didn't, he FLED.
Seems to me that what we have here is a conspiracy between Kerry and Rassmann to make up a secret story in order for Kerry to collect two more medals, after all they had just formed a bond earlier in the day when they threw grenades in a pile of rice which resulted in Kerry getting pelted with grains of rice on his butt. They both had a huge laugh about it and that was John Kerry?s ticket to a third Purple Heart and a quick exit out of VN.
One interesting question is how many times did Kerry?s boats get hit with gunfire or RPG fire or both? If neither of his boats was ever hit, could it be that Kerry only encountered lousy VC shots or they had off spec ammo and bent gun barrels? Kerry commanded two PCFs, strange that in all those firefights only he got hit. Did anyone from his two crews ever get hit? Such bad luck for Kerry but he got medals.
Back to Rassmann, didn?t he join the John Kerry for President Campaign and has been on the payroll since January 2004? This should be checked out. If he is on the payroll what does that tell us? I wonder what his job is. I wonder what his job will be in a Kerry administration should Kerry win.
One very important fact which Rassmann avoids making clear. Rassmann was NEVER a member of Kerry?s crew. He and his Green Beret team were operating with Kerry and the other 3 boats on THAT day ONLY. He never operated with Kerry before or after this incident. However he keeps polluting the airwaves insinuating that in fact he was a member of Kerry?s crew. He does not come clean until someone actually pushes the issue with him.
Of course when he is being interviewed by a host sympathetic to Kerry, he is never asked to clarify this very important fact but he is quick to point out that none of the Swift Vets were members of Kerry?s crew. One was but what does it matter? They all served and operated together day after day. The life of one depended on all the others and vice versa.
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