The Clinton camp is in overdrive trying to combat Hillary's poor debate performance the other night. Bill Clinton came to Hillary's defense today. He warned that people better not "Swift-Boat" Hillary. He also lamented that the 2000 campaign unfairly focused on petty issues like Al Gore's penchant for exaggeration.
For 35 years John Kerry has recounted his stories of service in Vietnam. As one of the leaders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) Kerry testified to Congress about the daily horrible atrocities being committed by U.S. troop in Vietnam. Kerry leaned on fellow VVAW leader Al Hubbard, of Winter Soldier fame, for some of his testimony.
It later turned out the most of the individuals that came forward to tell their stories for the Winter Soldier project of their experiences as soldiers in Vietnam witnessing these atrocities were later discredited . Either they never had served in the military, or had not served in Vietnam, or were never in combat. It was all made up. Al Hubbard, one of the leaders along with Kerry of the VVAW claimed to be an Air Force captain wounded piloting a transport over Da Nang in 1966. Hubbard was actually a staff sergeant who was never assigned to Vietnam.
Back to Clinton invoking the "Swift Boating" of John Kerry. Kerry has always claimed to be a Purple Heart deserving hero who spent Christmas night in Cambodia on a mission under heavy fire by the Viet Kong and the Khmer Rouge. 280 veterans that served side by side Kerry called him a liar.
All Kerry had to do to prove them wrong was to sign Form 180, a simple 2 page form, releasing his military records. Several years ago Kerry went on Meet the Press and swore he would sign the form to put and end to this. We are still waiting. Even the Admiral that was in command of the Swift Boat Unit signed an affidavit stating that Kerry was 50 miles from the Cambodian border (on the Vietnam side) on Christmas eve and was not in combat.
The soldiers that served with him say one of his Purple Hearts was not for a combat injury but was self-inflicted by Kerry’s mishandling of a weapon – which means he shouldn't have received that Purple Heart - which was the basis for being able to end his Vietnam tour 8 months early (he only served for 4 months and 12 days - 1 month of which was training).
One quick amusing anecdote about Al Gore. Mr. Gore liked to go on about his combat experience in Vietnam. He’d tell stories about taking his turn on the perimeter – shooting first and asking questions later. It turns out that Gore’s only weapon was a typewriter, he was never “on the perimeter”, he never fired a shot in anger. He had a personal bodyguard assigned to him. He was only in Vietnam for 3 months.
I certainly hope that if someone has "Swift-Boat" type information about Hillary it will come out. Anyway, Hillary continues to have a commanding lead in for the Democratic nomination. If you are the one in front you have to be prepared to take some shots.
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