August 11, 2004

Rassman Rebuts...Himself
Posted by Dale Franks

Jim Rassman's op/ed in the Wall Street Journal was suitably passionate, as I recounted it yesterday. But via The Corner, it appears that Rassman's piece not only attempted to rebut the Swiftvets, he appear to have rebutted himself.

In the article yesterday, Rassman wrote:

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.

Interestingly, back in January, the story was told this way:

Former Lieutenant John Kerry was reunited today with fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Rassman, who says Kerry saved his life during combat.

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.

So, once again, what boat was Lt. Rassman on?

Maybe before they go off on the Swiftvets again, the Kerry people need to be sure they've gotten their own stories straight.

Working out the different shades of nuance between "near Cambodia" and "five miles inside Cambodia" might be helpful, too. Keeping in mind that Lyndon Johnson was president in 1968 wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

TrackBack

Comments

Not to mention that according to fellow swifty Van O'Dell, it appeared that Rasmussen fell off Kerry's boat when, unlike his fellow swifties who stayed and took care of things, Lt Kerry hit the gas like a bat out of hell, thereby dumping Rasmussen into the drink. He pointed out there were no bulletholes or mine damage to Kerry's or any of the other 50 foot boats. So, version 2 is more accurate but leaves off a few... details.

Posted by: Lloyd at August 11, 2004 05:02 PM

Lloyd: Per the swifties, Rassmann was on the 3 boat which hit the mine, not Kerry's 94 boat.

Posted by: McQ at August 11, 2004 05:45 PM

Well, that's not what Van O'Dell said, and he was less than 50 yards away and sounded very credible. Nor was it what Rasmussen said, who has been forthright about his being a passenger on Kerry's boat. In any case, the first story does not appear to be told by Rasmussen, rather looks to be an inaccurate account by a reporter (who?). As I recall on Hannity & Colmes last night, John O'Neal seemed to support VO's version, tho he wasn't there. What does the book say?

Posted by: Lloyd at August 11, 2004 06:09 PM

Lloyd: Per reports in the book "Tour of Duty", Kerry puts Rassmann on the 3 boat.

I talked about that here.

Per the swiftees only on boat hit a mine ... the 3 boat. All those who were in the water came off the 3 boat from what I've been able to piece together. Chenowith, who was an OIC on another boat was preparing to pick Rassmann up when Kerry came back.

Posted by: McQ at August 11, 2004 06:33 PM

Remember though, they're all liars. The co-author of the book is a hatemonger, the group is obviously a Repub. hate machine because this guy Perry helped fund it (oops, hasn't he funded Dems too?...just ignore that pesky detail), Kerry's AAR is to be regarded as gospel, and none of the "witnesses" were actually on Kerry's boat - rather fifty yards away. Liars, liars, liars...all of them. All 60 of the guys who had firsthand interactions, his entire chain of command, and his peers...all liars. The only truthful people are Kerry and Rassman.

Posted by: Chris at August 12, 2004 04:30 AM

Is there some record of Rassman saying that he was eating a chocolate chip cookie when Kerry took off and knocked him off the edge of the boat where he was sitting? I heard that somewhere once only. Also, does anyone know what financial benefits and/or compensation the vets traveling around with Kerry are receiving?

Posted by: Linda at August 21, 2004 10:07 PM