Just When You Thought The Swifties Had Faded…

The very long, front page guest column in the Sunday Opinion section of the Richmond Times Dispatch is by Admiral Roy Hoffman, founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who lives near Richmond. Admiral Hoffman, the commander of the Coastal Surveillance Force Vietnam in 1968-1969, was the overall commander of U.S. Swift Boats during the period of Kerry’s Vietnam coastal service.

Admiral Hoffman’s article, “The Grand Deception: ‘Kerry, War Hero,’ Is A Myth,” minces no words. The idea that Kerry was any kind of hero, says Admiral Hoffman, “is one of the most dishonorable and dangerous deceptions ever perpetrated upon the American public.”

John Kerry is not a hero. He built this facade with unabashed personal promotion, aided and abetted by a supportive liberal media ready and willing to repeat in print his gross exaggerations, distortions of fact, and outright lies about his abbreviated four-month, 12-day tour of duty in Vietnam.

According to Hoffman, Kerry’s goal was to serve as short a time as possible while building a resume to run for public office.

To achieve his goal, Kerry stooped to scamming an after-combat reporting system that was based on trust, promoting himself for a handful of medals regardless of their dubious merits, so he could “bug out” of the war zone early.

His propensity for gross exaggeration and lying was legend to those who knew him, even early on at Cam Rahn Bay, his first duty station in Vietnam.

After this warm up, Admiral Hoffman provides chapter and verse, noting among other things that

John Kerry was the only man in the entire Task Force of 3,600 men – officers and enlisted – to request transfer out of country based on three Purple Hearts. Particularly galling to his shipmates was the fact that not one of his minor nicks was debilitating nor resulted in one lost day of duty.

Admiral Hoffman’s conclusion:

Kerry is not a hero. He betrayed his comrades-in-arms in time of war. He is a chronic liar and a fraud. This is not about politics; it’s about truthfulness, reliability, loyalty, and trust – all absolute tenets of command. John Forbes Kerry is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

Along about now I suspect Sen. Kerry wishes that young Lt. Kerry had not made such a lasting impression on his commanding officers and his peers.

ADDENDUM

Kerry and his surrogates in the (formerly anti-war) Democratic party have argued that his four months in Vietnam have provided him with special and unique qualifications for presidential leadership sadly lacking in those who stayed home or served only in the National Guard.

But if that is the case, wouldn’t those who served longer, who saw more action, who did not, in Admiral Hoffman’s words, “shamelessly invoke[] an obscure Navy directive allowing [them] to ‘jump ship’ and return home” after three Purple Hearts, be even more qualifed?

Say What? (8)

  1. eh September 20, 2004 at 4:34 am | | Reply

    “John’s focus, not surprisingly, will be on the theory and practice of discrimination, and how it is reported and analyzed.”

    I’m wondering how this fits your stated “focus” for this site? Or is it just (one of) an (occasional) ‘off-focus’ post?

  2. BeldarBlog September 20, 2004 at 6:51 am | | Reply

    Op-ed by SwiftVets’ Adm. Hoffman

    The Sunday edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch included a long and detailed op-ed by SwiftVets founder Adm. Roy Hoffman (hat-tip Discriminations). Those who’ve been following the controversy closely will find nothing much new, but it’s an impassione…

  3. Laura September 20, 2004 at 8:12 am | | Reply

    Gosh, here we go again.

    eh, this is John’s blog. He can post anything he wants. Who made you the blog police? If you don’t like it, don’t visit it.

  4. John Rosenberg September 20, 2004 at 12:04 pm | | Reply

    Thanks, Laura.

    eh: You have perceptively noticed that my SwiftVet posts (like my Rather-not posts and the great bulk of my Kerry posts) have nothing to do with discrimination. I’m afraid my managing editor, like my copy editor, often is asleep at the switch.

  5. Stu September 21, 2004 at 1:05 am | | Reply

    Don’t shortchange yourself, John. You are being appropriately discriminating in unmasking frauds, liars, fools and the dangerously ambitious. But enough about Kerry, Rather, the DNC and CBS. Keep up the good work

  6. nobody important September 21, 2004 at 3:11 pm | | Reply

    Kerry tries to pass himself off as a latter-day John Paul Jones, but he’s really nothing more than a latter-day Dudley Saltonstall.

    (Just finished John Paul Jones by Evan Thomas. Great read, interesting, complex character Jones)

  7. Kay October 18, 2004 at 1:58 am | | Reply

    Engough already–Hoffman is probably too old and too pampered by now to remember that Kerry was not the only “fluke” with a brain and a conscience who wound up in Vietname. He’s seeking solace with the rich who hid behind Daddy’s money (georgie) or (darth vader “Dickie” himself) who was able to finally broker the reproduction of a dike (after CEO’ing all the college deferments and marriage deferment the draft laws at the time would allow) Hoffman would never get the scoop from such males that anyone who actually served in that war would have the sense to remember or understand Hoffman’s guilt. They’ll all think Bob Kerrey name must be a sign of poor spelling and sloppy fact checking–unless you’re Bob.

    Hey, there were a generation of smart, poor people in Nam, and a few surviving today that remember. Hoffman was one of the worst commanders in that “rich man’s war, but poor man’s fight” His voice Gave BOB KERREY his orders. “A Free Fire Zone” a “Zippo Raid” There are a number of us tough, poor guys and their wives in church and living in the heartland who still have pictures of the bodies counted and the ways it was done. We know why you suddenly 180’ed your evaluation of Kerry in the late ’90’s. A book came finally out that proved your damnable actions in Vietnam. John Kerry didn’t write it. I know why, but how on earth can you justify your lies about him, after being responsible for the physical, emotional, and spiritual torture of so many on obth sides?

    Crawl under a rock with O’Neal, the bigot who actually wrote his book, and the rich boys who don’t know how to work, fight, or cherish the truth. I PRAY (Yeah, I know that’s shouting and rude) you finally get the protection from that band of muthas you deserve. They are not heroes and never will be, and some are as shameless liars and war criminals as you.

Say What?