This page was last updated on August 30, 2004.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“According to The Washington Post, in the middle of the afternoon on March 13, 1969, a second explosion thought to be caused by a rocket or rocket-propelled grenade blew James Rassmann off the 50-foot PCF-94 Swift boat into the Bay Hap River.

“When he surfaced, Rassmann said, bullets were ‘snapping overhead,’ as well as hitting the water around him.  As John Kerry pulled Rassmann from the river, Kerry thought he was going to be shot in the head.  I do not care what the report says; to me, that makes John F. Kerry a real war hero.”

[RWC] Mr. Drobac is merely relating the events as described by John Kerry and his supporters.  The overwhelming majority of sailors present at the incident say there was only one explosion – the mine going off under another boat – and that the boats took no enemy fire.

For more info on this incident, please read my critique of a Beaver County Times editorial.

“Kerry’s own crew members on the PCF-94 have remained loyal to him and praised his decisions.”

[RWC] Not exactly, Mr. Drobac.  Regarding “Christmas in Cambodia,” three of Kerry’s crewmen said that was a lie.  The other two crewmen refused to comment.

“Half a world away, around the same time that Kerry was dragging Rassmann out of the water in Vietnam, in the middle of the night in Texas, where do you think George W. Bush was on March 13, 1969?  Probably sitting on a barstool in Texas having a good time and drinking a lot of beer.  That may make Bush a hero to the Republicans, but to me, he’s just another drunk that was nowhere to be found when it came time for him to serve his country.”

[RWC] Sadly, this is another example of Mr. Drobac’s mean-spirited “style” of attack.  Rather than provide real proof to support his views, he resorts to name-calling.

To be honest, I don’t know exactly what George W. Bush was doing the night of March 13, 1969.  All I know is he was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard flying – or learning to fly – F-102 fighter jets.  I’m not 100% sure, but I doubt they put drunks in fighter jets.

When you serve in the National Guard, is that not serving your country?  I don’t know that Republicans consider Mr. Bush a “hero” for his National Guard service, but he served his country in a dangerous role.  For more info about Bush’s National Guard service, please read Bush National Guard Service on this web site.

“We can do better.”

[RWC] We can do better than John Kerry, and President Bush is the right man this time around.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.