Word: kerrey
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...Several years ago, a reporter named Gregory Vistica, who worked for Newsweek at the time, got wind of a big story. A former commander had heard from a troubled SEAL that his unit, led by the young Kerrey, had been involved in a Vietnam raid that went horribly wrong. Vistica pursued the tale until he turned up the Navy's dusty "after action" reports on the events of Feb. 25, 1969, in the isolated peasant village of Thanh Phong. Late in 1998, when Kerrey was contemplating a second run for the presidency, the reporter put those 30-year-old documents...
...last week Kerrey found himself talking again, this time in a calculated effort to tell his version of the story before Vistica's investigation appeared this week in a bylined article in the New York Times Magazine and on a segment of 60 Minutes II, for which Vistica received a producer's credit. These reports take a condemning view of the raid, strongly suggesting that Kerrey is wrong when he says the civilian deaths were the tragic consequence of the fog of war, and that the former squad mate, Gerhard Klann, is right when he says the killings were...
...never find it. Decisions made under fire look different in hindsight. The trauma of the moment can leave permanent gaps and contradictions in testimony. Either Kerrey or Klann may be lying to himself...
...interview with TIME last Friday, Kerrey said the other five members of his squad have agreed to come forward with a "statement of facts" that he hopes will help set the controversy to rest. Later Friday, they all dined at Kerrey's house and talked the raid over for the very first time. The next evening, the six former SEALs issued a statement saying the allegation of an execution "is simply not true," adding, "We took fire and we returned fire...
...citation that accompanied the Bronze Star, Kerrey is lauded for his unit's "heroic achievement" in killing 21 Viet Cong, burning two hooches, or peasant huts, and capturing two enemy weapons. Kerrey never mentioned the medal in his official bio. As he acknowledged last week, there was nothing heroic about what really happened...