Word: gardners
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...remember combat exactly the same way so Kerry has been extremely lucky that 9 out of his 10 crewmen have almost identical stories about his valor during various firefights and skirmishes. But memories can vary from person to person; Gardner insists that the Kerry he knew in Vietnam was a singularly un-heroic figure. He dismisses the glowing eyewitness accounts of his crewmates Jim Wasser (Radarman), Bill Zaladonis (Petty Officer), Drew Whitlow (Boatswain?s Mate) and Stephen Hatch (Boatswain?s Mate) as bunk. ?Kerry sat some of them down and convinced them to buy into his side of what happened...
...Gardner?s first bone of contention involves an incident that took place on the morning of December 29, 1968. PCF-44 was in a small canal just off the Co Chien River. They had been probing the waterway with another Swift boat on a minor Operation SEALORDS raid and on their way back had come under enemy fire. ?We went into a dangerous area that had numerous hooches and sampans,? Wasser recalled. ?The enemy was thick. Once we got in the canal we took a lot of small arms fire, followed by mortar. Our adrenaline was racing; we went right...
...recounted in Tour of Duty by Kerry, Gardner had shouted: ?There?s somebody running over there?He?s got a gun?on the port side, on the port side!? PCF-44?s crew had been firing at thatched huts on their way out of the canal, and the reports of their own guns had muffled those of the shots being fired at them. Suddenly, Gardner shrieked, ?I?m hit,? and stopped firing for a moment. Before Kerry could ask his condition, Gardner shouted from his post: ?I?ll be okay,? and went back to firing...
...There is a dispute between Kerry and Gardner about what happened next. Kerry insists that the engagement was over when the boats pulled out. ?We didn?t leave until the mission was over and all the boats headed out together,? says Kerry. He claims that only after the firefight was over-and enemy fire had been supressed-did he order PCF-44 to head back to a primitive base at Dong Tam so Gardner could receive medical attention from the U.S. Army?s Third Surgical Division, based in a makeshift hospital there. But Gardner asserts that Kerry was simply fleeing...
...When told of Gardner?s criticism of Kerry?s order, all of PCF-44?s other crewmen disagreed with the tough talking South Carolinian?s assessment. ?Kerry made the right command decision,? Wasser, second in command of PCF-44, maintains. ?We went into a 30 or 40 yard wide canal, suppressed enemy fire and got out of there before we were killed. You just don?t hang around to get shot at. Gardner doesn?t know what he is talking about...