« Okay, now here's a | Talking Points Memo Home | The must-read of the day,... »

08.26.04 -- 11:22AM
By Josh Marshall

This might be the most telling testimony about <$Ad$>the Rassman incident.

Robert E. Lambert, was on Larry Thurlow's boat -- Thurlow's Kerry's chief accuser about this particular incident. He himself got a Bronze Star for, among other things, pulling Thurlow out of the water that day.

Lambert says he found Kerry's post-war anti-war activism "reprehensible."

"That was absolutely reprehensible but, there again, I’m career military" he told the local paper.

But on the key point ...

Lambert, now 64, was a crew member on swift boat PCF-51 that day. The boat was commanded by Navy Lt. Larry Thurlow, a now-retired officer who questions why Kerry was awarded a Bronze star for bravery and a third Purple Heart for the March 13 incident.

"He and another officer now say we weren’t under fire at that time," Lambert said Wednesday afternoon. "Well, I sure was under the impression we were."

Lambert’s Bronze Star medal citation for the incident praises his courage under fire in the aftermath of a mine explosion that rocked another swift boat on that day 35 years ago.

"Anytime you are blown out of the water like that, they always follow that up with small arms fire," he said.

Lambert also sheds some light on the idea that Kerry somehow doctored the after-action report. Read this one.

Recent Archives

November 1, 2009 - November 7, 2009
October 25, 2009 - October 31, 2009
October 18, 2009 - October 24, 2009
October 11, 2009 - October 17, 2009

TPM News Headlines




Share
Close Social Web Email

"To" Email Address

Your Name

Your Email Address