Vets Fighting To Reclaim "Swift Boat" Name

New York Times:

Years ago, when William Miller talked about being in the Vietnam War -- if he talked about being in the Vietnam War -- he would tell people he served on a Swift boat.

At least now they have heard of it. But not in the way he would like.

"I was proud of what I did, and all the guys I was with," Mr. Miller said. "Now somebody says 'Swift boat' and it's a whole different meaning. They don't associate it with the guys we lost. That's a shame."

"Swift boat" has become the synonym for the nastiest of campaign smears, a shadow that hangs over the presidential race as pundits wait to proclaim that the Swiftboating has begun and candidates declare that they will not be Swiftboated.

Swift boat veterans -- especially those who had nothing to do with the group that attacked Senator John Kerry's military record in the 2004 election -- want their good name back, and the good names of the men not lucky enough to come home alive.

"You would not hear the word 'Swift boat' and think of people that served their country and fought in Vietnam," said Jim Newell, who spent a year as an officer in charge on one of the small Navy vessels in An Thoi and Qui Nhon. "You think about someone who was involved in a political attack on a member of a different party. It just comes across as negative. Everyone who is associated with a Swift boat is involved in political chicanery."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[wadenelson1]

10:49 AM on 06/30/2008

Regardless of whether he deserved his medals or not, Kerry served honorably.

Instead the Untied States of America, the Republicans, 51% of the voters elected a man who was basically AWOL. Twice.

Look at what that man has done to America.

I'm ashamed of the 51% in this country.

[in4success]

10:06 AM on 06/30/2008

Q; where the f*ck were they when the bastards were taking it from them? oh yeah, i remember: ENCOURAGING IT!

[Krikkit]

09:23 AM on 06/30/2008

I understand what these guys want to do, but come on, might as well try to ban the word, "the." English is a living language, so the meaning of words changes. New words get coined. Usage comes and goes because communicating in shorthand is useful.

Sorry, guys, but "swiftboating" has already entered the lexicon and it's here to stay a spell.

[johnozed]

09:00 AM on 06/30/2008

Too bad. You should have spoken up soon, but you didn't and now your name and your organization has been co-opted by the right wing Rove machine. It's your own fault. You Snooze You Lose.

[Bobrobert]

08:51 AM on 06/30/2008

What a shame they all kept their mouths shut and let the repuke-licans use their name is such a disgusting way.

Too bad they didn't have the balls to complain about the negativity at the time.

I have no sympathy for a bunch of spineless wonders who allowed repuke-licans to do as they pleased with those adds.

Remember to vote all.

:-)

PS ***over 4110 killed in Iraq war, over 30,333 wounded in Iraq war***

[BushBites]

08:27 AM on 06/30/2008

Too bad.

They stood aside while one of their own was smeared so a draft dodger could be elected.

Now I'm supposed to care?

Drop dead.

[iraqwartheonlyissue]

08:02 AM on 06/30/2008

This isn't news. Not fit to print.

[underdog]

07:43 AM on 06/30/2008

This kind of reminds me of the office of the pretzeldentcy. It used to invoke a level of respect (with a little tarnish here and there). Now it moves one to sneer.

[LCRover001]

07:19 AM on 06/30/2008

Gee guys no disrespect, but where were you during the 2004 election.

You allowed some of the worst of the worst to smear your name and never stood against it. You guys allowed people to change history with their political driven lies, casting a dark shadow on swift boaters all over this nation. You guys allowed a bunch of vindictive liars to smear one of your own. You guys should have stood up against the slimy swift boaters who soiled your name instead you sat back and did nothing. Lessons learned.

Now you want to bring some kind of honor back to the name of swift boat, well it may be too late that boat has sailed. It left the dock in 04' and you guys allowed it to be hijacked by a bunch of hacks and liars. A good lesson for all of those out there who say nothing or do nothing when something ought to be said and done. You had your chance to stand and you sat down, you had your chance to defend the honor of all swift boaters but you did nothing.

If you want to see who is responsible for the smearing of the name swift boat you need only look in a mirror.

[thebirdstheword]

08:17 AM on 06/30/2008

thank you! too bad too many of them were silent when draft-dodging chickenhawks smeared a fellow vet. they let rove, cheney and bush dictate to them what was patriotic. pathetic.

[CaseyBabes]

08:27 AM on 06/30/2008

An overwhelming majority of we Vietnam vets who supported Bud Day and his group did so out of resentment about Kerry's inventions featured in his "Ghengis Khan" speech before the House. As info has come out, John Kerry was the only one lying at that hearing. Relative recent utterences in public by the senator reflect Kerry's continued contempt for this country's military, and I suppose, an elitist's mere distaste.
All of us can look into the mirror and see reflections of things we're not necessarily proud of, but my support of the Swiftboat Vets only makes me proud. It is bolstered by Kerry's failure to immediately respond to the Swiftboat ads and surrounding publicity during the 2004 election cycle. He had no defense, then when the smoke cleared Kerry claimed he should have responded. So typical of the man .........................

[ThunderclapNewman]

10:06 AM on 06/30/2008

And you're still lying about it with every breath.

[don]

10:08 AM on 06/30/2008

Your branding Kerry's speech lies doesn't make it so. You should accept the fact that attrocies occured and were documented. My Lai was not an isolated incident.

"....documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators — not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre.

Though not a complete accounting of Vietnam war crimes, the archive is the largest such collection to surface to date. About 9,000 pages, it includes investigative files, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports for top military brass.

The records describe recurrent attacks on ordinary Vietnamese — families in their homes, farmers in rice paddies, teenagers out fishing. Hundreds of soldiers, in interviews with investigators and letters to commanders, described a violent minority who murdered, raped and tortured with impunity."


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-vietnam6aug06,1,2479259.story?ctrack=1&cset=true


Seems that truth is often met with lies and character assasination.

[AlteSoldier]

03:34 AM on 06/30/2008

The only thing the Swift Boat Vets can do is fight to prove Military Records are correct and accurate. Therefore their service to the nation was valuable and heroic. It is a shame that their fellow vets have destroyed their reputations by stating in effect the military lies and the duty on a swiftboat during the Vietnam war was not that bad. Remember the average person has no idea so the media reports have maf this whole idea of serving on a Swiftboat is a flake like Sen. Kerry was a flake. I hope this makes a little sense.

[Marshall Lucky]

03:30 AM on 06/30/2008

I hear sirens...

The Waaaaaaah-mbulance is coming to pick up these crybabies. Aside from a few men who served with Kerry, the rest of these sniveling cowards sat back and did nothing as one of their own men was being libeled by neo-Nazis and assorted lying creeps. They had their chance to stand up for what was right and they didn't have the guts. Now, after four years, they're upset that they have been soiled by the truckload of excrement that was dumped on one of their own. Serves 'em right as far as I'm concerned.

[filo]

06:29 AM on 06/30/2008

There were many who came out in support of Kerry.Some of them served on his boat and some of them did not. There was one article written by a guy (his name escapes me ) who is now a reporter for a major newspaper that was amazing in its earnestness. It is wrong to paint them all with such a broad brush.

[LCRover001]

07:34 AM on 06/30/2008

To few stood and to few made their voices heard.

To few sat back and did nothing.

It is wrong to paint with such a wide brush, but it is just as wrong to set back and do nothing when something needs to be done.

It is too late to try to chance what is done. The time to change things was when it was happening.

A few stood but the many did nothing.

No where near enough stood to stop those who would sell their and their brothers in arms past service for political points. In their blind political servitude they cast a dark shadow on them selves and all who served on the swift boats for nothing more than political gain.

Remember that and remember which party they did that for.

[Abycat]

02:58 AM on 06/30/2008

This is a sad affair all round. Most of these Swift Boat Veterans served with honor. Some came home and eventually played a role in getting the worst President in the history of this country re-elected. For his part, John Kerry failed to fight back soon or hard enough to deflate the lies that were told. Those Swifties who knew the truth didn't come forward in Kerry's defense. The media served as a microphone for those Swift Boat Vets who lied. As far as I can tell, no one in the media ever engaged in in-depth reporting of these Swift Boat Vets who lied. If they had they would have learned that at least one of the Swift Boat Vets was working for the most reviled President in our history; Richard Nixon.
For those 'Swifties' who charged that Kerry lied to Congress they engaged in pure crap peddaling. Those members of the media who served as war correspondents in Viet Nam know that US troops in Viet Nam engaged in activities which, at best, were far outside the Geneva Accords. Not just Mi Lai.
John Kerry served honorably and spoke the truth to Congress.

[dutchess2]

08:49 AM on 06/30/2008

No, you don't get to do that:


"John Kerry failed....." does not excuse them...

That buys into we pick our Presidents with a bloody brawl and if he's not willing to fight dirty enough to win it, then so be it...


Nope - the slimeboaters lied, and swiftboaters sat on their hands...

Its a shame....now Boon Pickens won't face what he caused with is money, and accept any responsibility.

So where are the rest of the slimers? They all still got jobs, pillars of their community? Does the Swift Boat Association allow them to be members?

Just what are the Swiftboat vets doing against the slimers?

[sherifffruitfly]

02:38 AM on 06/30/2008

Where were they when the good name was being taken away from them?

For whatever reason, they saw fit not to fight for it, and silently allowed one of their own to be trashed. I therefore don't see any reason to fight for them.

[totalliberal]

02:12 AM on 06/30/2008

Way too late. You left one of your own dangling in the wind years ago, now you want your names back? Get in line. You should have joined the Texas Air National Guard, the Mercedes Benz of the military combat dodgers.

[GeoLee]

02:11 AM on 06/30/2008

I wonder how proud Mr Walinski is now that his signature can be tied to the death of about 2-3 thousand more men and women in the service and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis because he was willing to do what ever it took to keep George Bush in office four more years. I wonder how happy he is that the national debt continues to escalate under the watch of his choice for president. I wonder how pleased he is paying four bucks a gallon for gas and having the U.S Constitution he fought for being dismantled by a coward who did not even show up for duty inthe Guard several months while he metaphroically shot down a Silver Star winner. I wonder when he meets his Maker what he will have to say. I wonder when he looks in the mirror if he sees the kind of man he really is or if he is a mentally uncapable as the man he helped keep in office. What a sad excuse of a veteran. He and 199 others.