Kerry's silver star
In a lengthy story of Kerry's Vietnam service the Boston Globe gave details among other things on the event that got Kerry his Silver Star. His Swift boat had taken fire from a B-40 rocket. Kerry beached his boat and ran down a VC carrying a B-40 launcher(?) while one of his crew fired .50 caliber machine guns at the fleeing man who was apparently wounded. Kerry apparently shot and killed the guy carrying the B-40.
Curiously his citation says something different according to the Globe.
"With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets," the citation says, Kerry "again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only 10 feet from the Viet Cong rocket position and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy. ... The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission."
It is hard to classify one VC with a B-40 as a numerically superior force. The intesity of the fire is also in question since the guy only got off one rocket. There may have been fire coming from elsewhere but no diescription of the event, other than the citation, suggests there was fire coming from the area where the rocketman was killed.
The story goes on to say that Kerry has refused to release his military personel file, which might give more explanation of his "nick" purple hearts.
In a lengthy story of Kerry's Vietnam service the Boston Globe gave details among other things on the event that got Kerry his Silver Star. His Swift boat had taken fire from a B-40 rocket. Kerry beached his boat and ran down a VC carrying a B-40 launcher(?) while one of his crew fired .50 caliber machine guns at the fleeing man who was apparently wounded. Kerry apparently shot and killed the guy carrying the B-40.
Curiously his citation says something different according to the Globe.
"With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets," the citation says, Kerry "again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only 10 feet from the Viet Cong rocket position and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy. ... The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission."
It is hard to classify one VC with a B-40 as a numerically superior force. The intesity of the fire is also in question since the guy only got off one rocket. There may have been fire coming from elsewhere but no diescription of the event, other than the citation, suggests there was fire coming from the area where the rocketman was killed.
The story goes on to say that Kerry has refused to release his military personel file, which might give more explanation of his "nick" purple hearts.
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