Kerry Web Site Can't Get His Story Straight

Thanks to CKC for alerting me to this. The Mighty Righty catches the Kerry campaign in another factual inaccuracy... or is it Rassmann who is wrong?

I'm so confused...

Whose boat were you on Jim?

From the press release: Des Moines, IA - Former Lieutenant John Kerry was reunited today with fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Rassmann, who says Kerry saved his life during combat.

On March 13, 1969, Rassmann, a Green Beret, was traveling down the Bay Hap river in a boat behind Kerry’s when both were ambushed by exploding land mines and enemy fire coming from the shore. Kerry was hit in the arm, while a mine blew Rassmann’s boat out of the water. With enemy fire coming from both sides of the river and swift boats evacuating from the area, Kerry’s crew chose to turn their boat toward the ambush to save Rassmann.

From Rassmann's Op-Ed: While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat. Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I could hold my breath."

UPDATE: Kerry disagrees with himself. From the After-Action reports on Kerry's site:

13 MAR 1969 Bay Hap River; Dong Cung Canal Four swiftboats were engaged in moving Mobile Strike Force troops on the Bay Hap River and the Dong Cung Canal. Moving down the river in the afternoon following a day of heavy fighting, a mine detonated underneath PCF 3, lifting it 2-3 feet out of the water and, at the same time, a second mine detonated near PCF94, wounding Kerry and knocking an Army advisor on PCF94 into the water. Meanwhile the boats began receiving heavy fire from both sides of the river. Kerry, who had received shrapnel wounds and hurt his right arm, directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire while he pulled the Army advisor back into his boat. PCF 94 then returned to aid PCF 3 and towed the boat down the river to safety. Kerry received the Bronze Star for this action.

Screen snap (in case it disappears later)

UPDATE II: Well no wonder they're confused... apparently Rassmann can't decide which boat he was on, either:

On March 13, 1969, Rassman, a Green Beret, was traveling down the Bay Hap river in a boat behind Kerry’s when both were ambushed by exploding land mines and enemy fire coming from the shore. Kerry was hit in the arm, while a mine blew Rassman’s boat out of the water. With enemy fire coming from both sides of the river and swift boats evacuating from the area, Kerry’s crew chose to turn their boat toward the ambush to save Rassman.

“We were still under fire, and he was wounded at the time…,” recalled Rassman. And with his boat’s gunners providing suppressing fire, Kerry extended his wounded arm into the water and the two lieutenants locked arms.

Note: this doesn't appear to be a direct quote from Rassmann - I believe it was lifted from the Kerry site. But it sure is confusicating.

UPDATE III: Beldar asks why, if the boats were under heavy fire, there were no bullet holes. And in a CNN interview, the "which boat?" kerfuffle continues:

Jim Rassmann, what -- what do you say happened that day in March, 1969?

JIM RASSMANN, KERRY SUPPORTER: Well, first, I was not part of John Kerry's command. I was a Special Forces officer who happened to be on his boat at that time.

Mr. Thurlow's recollection of what occurred is not accurate. We had the boat hit the mine to our left. And John immediately had his driver, Del Sandusky (ph), turn to the left and head towards it.

And it was at that time that our gunner on the bow got his gun knocked out and he started screaming for another weapon. I ran another weapon up to me, and we hit something or something hit us. There was an explosion, and I was blown off the boat to the right.

And the Swift Vets aren't credible? Rassmann/Rassmann and Kerry/Kerry can't even agree about which boat Rassmann was on.

UPDATE IV: McQ of QandO wrote about this yesterday:

One problem .... no one else who was there seems to remember it that way. In fact, not even Kerry or his crew remember it that way. [EDITOR'S NOTE: well, actually it depends on which version of Kerry's you quote. There are so many.] Kerry's account in Douglas Brinkley's "Tour of Duty," places Jim Rassmann on the PCF-3 and not his PCF-94 boat.

Neither Kerry nor his crewmembers have ever claimed their boat, the PCF-94, had ever struck a mine and blown out of the water. The only boat that hit a mine and was lifted 2-3 feet out of the water was the PCF-3 on March 13, 1969. In fact, Kerry's PCF-94 had to tow the PCF-3 after it had hit the mine because it was so badly damaged from the explosion

Note: this contradicts the CNN interview I quote later, in which Rassmann says he "happened to be on his [Kerry's] boat at that time", but later claims to have been knocked off the boat by a mine. Got confusion?

By now I've had enough experience with things mysteriously disappearing from the Kerry web site, so I took a screen snap to preserve this little bit of history before the site Botox-and-airbrush crew pretties it up for general consumption.

Previous errata/revisionism on the Kerry site:

Boston Globe catches Kerry taking credit for combat incident that occurred before he joined Swift Crew.

Power Line catches Kerry campaign removing this statement from his site:

The phrase "he has been consistent about the facts and the symbolism of the medal-returning ceremony" was removed in between the two screenshots.

This occurred after the Senator was caught in a lie: he said he had never thrown his medals but ABC News obtained a video of Kerry stating in 1971 that he had thrown them away. He then tried to say he threw his ribbons because he "didn't have time to go home" and get his medals. Kerry then said "he didn't make any distinction between ribbons and medals."

Captain Ed points out that Kerry lied three times: once about having thrown the medals, once when he denied ever saying (or even implying) he's thrown them, and once when he accused the RNC of manufacturing the medal-throwing story.

Kerry campaign removes statements that Mickey Kaus quoted here regarding "Benedict Arnold CEO's" after this:

"Kerry campaign officials" are quoted in an article in today's Washington Post claiming that "Kerry's use of Benedict Arnold designation had to do only with firms that incorporated overseas to avoid U.S. tax liabilities, not firms that have engaged in 'outsourcing.'"

Again, the Kerry campaign is lying about what he said in the past and then has to go back and clean up Kerry's own website to remove the evidence. But then I predicted this move back on May 4th.

- Cassandra