User talk:JamesMLane/John Kerry Silver Star

Text of the citation

Khaosworks, there was a point at which I hadn't read the citation; relying on a secondary source, I said on Talk:John Kerry that it didn't mention the killing. Now, however, in looking at this version of the citation, I see that it does, albeit in only one sentence buried in the middle: "Without hesitation Lieutenant (junior grade) KERRY leaped ashore, pursued the man behind a hootch and killed him, capturing a B-40 rocket launcher with a round in the chamber."

Do you have a different version of the citation? The reason I ask is that I thought I saw another one at some point, perhaps containing the "highly successful" language that I used in referring to the mission's evaluation. Now I can't find it, though. It makes me wonder if they have two versions, perhaps one being a shorter one that doesn't mention the killing. JamesMLane 14:46, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)

There appears to be another version of the citation, also from John Kerry's website [1]. This one has "Official Record Copy" stamped on it. khaosworks 14:58, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Hmm. There is a difference between the two - the one in Wikisource is signed by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam, while the "offical record copy" (of which there are two versions, identically worded) are signed by CINCPAC and the Secretary of the Navy respectively. So there are three levels here - which one to take as the official record is anyone's guess. In any case, a reading of the passage quoted by Elliot in his second affidavit to support his contention that Kerry shot the VC in the back has Kerry actually denying he shot the VC in the back, so I'm not sure how Elliot's criticism is cogent. --khaosworks 06:34, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)