SBVT's claims about the incident are primarily based on an account by retired Rear Admiral William Schachte, then a lieutenant. Schachte has stated that he regularly led training missions for recently arrived officers such as Kerry. One tactic described by Schachte was for a Swift Boat to tow the skimmer to the target area and wait nearby. The skimmer, manned by three people, "would go in, draw fire and get out immediately." The waiting Swift Boats or air support would attack the enemies thus detected. Schachte stated that he had participated in all previous skimmer missions up to and including the night Kerry was injured, although the latter claim could not be substantiated.[17][19]

In an interview in 2003, Schachte made no mention of being on the skimmer with Kerry that night; in addition, he described the action as a "firefight" and said of Kerry, "He got hit."[17]

In August 2004, however, Schachte stated that he was the senior officer on Kerry's skimmer that night, with one enlisted man also on board, that he popped a flare after detecting movement, and opened fire. He stated that there was no return fire, and that Kerry was "nicked" by a fragment from an M-79 grenade launcher he fired himself.[19] Moreover, while Schachte has described Kerry as, at the time, a "rookie [who] would never be put in command" of a skimmer mission,[20] Kerry was actually given command of a Swift Boat and crew just three days after the skimmer mission and sent into a combat area.[21]

Kerry crewmates Bill Zaladonis and Patrick Runyon dispute Schachte's 2004 account. Zaladonis stated that "Myself, Pat Runyon, and John Kerry, we were the only ones in the skimmer."[22] Runyon added, "Me and Bill (sic) aren't the smartest, but we can count to three." They recounted that the skimmer opened fire on suspected guerrillas attempting to evade the patrol, as they ran from sampan boats onto the shore. Both Runyon and Zaladonis believe, but are not completely certain, that the skimmer received return hostile fire; Runyon commented, "It was the scariest night of my life." Runyon also stated that he is "100 percent certain" that no one on the boat fired a grenade launcher.[13][23] Zaladonis has noted that Schachte went on "a bunch of" other skimmer missions and speculated that Schachte might have inadvertently mixed up his dates.[24]

In an SBVT television ad, Dr. Lewis Letson asserted, "I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury," but did not specify the alleged lie; he subsequently gave varied accounts of his purported interaction with Kerry.[25][26][27][28]

Kerry's medical records list a medic, J. C. Carreon, as the "person administering treatment" for this wound. Dr. Letson's name does not appear on the record, but Letson claimed it was common for medics to sign the paperwork even though Letson would treat the patient. That claim cannot be verified as Carreon died in 1992. In addition, Letson claimed he was given information by way of Kerry's crewmen who accompanied him to the clinic,[27] but neither Zaladonis nor Runyon accompanied Kerry, nor has any crewman who was on the nearby Swift Boat supported this claim.

Who knows what actually transpired to Kerry in Vietnam, but if we're going to rehash things that came up in the 2004 election, I always liked the clear exposition of Kerry's lying his ass off about being in Cambodia in Christmas in 1968. As shown in the below article, it's not a question of getting a date wrong, but rather a brazen, calculated lie to further Kerry's false narrative.

Since you have now elevated your argument to a pissing match, please compare your public service accreditation to John Kerry's.

And you will continue to whine from your bunker in Idaho.

straight white males: even when we lose... we win!

Later on Friday in Moscow: In a statement from the Kremlin, Putin adopted a more magnanimous tone, saying that no-one would be expelled from Russia and that he would await the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President before taking any further action. "We will not create problems for US diplomats. We won't expel anyone. We won't forbid their families and children to use their usual recreation places during the New Year's celebration," said Putin. He also invited the children of US diplomats in Russia to Christmas and New Year's shows in the Kremlin.

True, but at least with the Republicans in charge, I'll be rich.