Isn't the fact that Kerry pronounced "Genghis Khan" as if it were spelled with two J's enough to disqualify him for sheer annoyingness?

Maybe not. But the full quote, considering the fact that it is a BOLDFACED LIE, is more than enough to disqualify him from getting my vote:

. . . not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. . . .

They told the stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . .
[emphasis added]

Whether or not he was in Cambodia or whether he deserved his medals or whatever else he's being pilloried for nowadays, it's the "Winter Soldier" statement that i personally can't forgive him for.

More: Kerry is such a pompous ass, i'm surprised he didn't say "reminiscent of Temujin."

Posted by: annika at 04:50 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 He gave as his source for these atrocities a list of “soldiers” that he had talked to. Not one of those “soldiers” had been in Vietnam and most of them had never been in the military. It was all made up. This week Kerry said he got carried away and misspoke. He says this even though there are tapes of him reading his prepared speech to the Senate Committee.

Posted by: jake at August 10, 2004 05:00 PM (h4tU8)

2 What a good sign that your species is going to be so easy to conquer that some of you actually think this Kerry guy would be a good leader. Mwuhahahaha! Dum - dum - dum - dummmmm!

Posted by: Zongo the Ruthless at August 10, 2004 05:45 PM (G5PGV)

3 Here is an example of a bold-faced lie: John Kerry is a great guy. Kerry's lie about Genghis Khan, by contrast, was a bald-faced lie.

Posted by: Xrlq at August 10, 2004 05:59 PM (3AgfD)

4 "But the full quote, considering the fact that it is a BOLDFACED LIE, is more than enough to disqualify him from getting my vote..." Damn Miss Annika, I wonder if Kerry realizes how close you were to throwing your support behind him & how he blew it? I think he'd regret it if he knew you were on the fence till that quote came to your attention.

Posted by: Publicola at August 10, 2004 07:29 PM (Aao25)

5 As a fan of Bush and not Kerry, I have to admit that Bush's butchering of the English language is just as annoying. I can't believe noone on his staff has said "psst, Mr. President, its pronouced nu-clear ... not nuke-cular"

Posted by: Peter at August 10, 2004 08:16 PM (7435K)

6 Peter, why did no one ask Jimmy Carter the same thing? As much as I can't stand him, could it, perhaps, do you think, have anything to do with the fact that he was an engineer on a nuclear submarine, and still pronounced it that way? That's the way the word is pronounced in the South; get over it.

Posted by: Dave J at August 11, 2004 07:08 AM (VThvo)

7 Publicola, are you getting me back for that 2% joke i made? ; ) Dave J is right, Peter. i myself have heard Carter pronounce it "nucular." Like i said about Teddy Kennedy's butchering of the language, Carter gets a pass from the media because he's a democrat.

Posted by: annika at August 11, 2004 08:25 AM (zAOEU)

8 on the first day of nuclear physics ('for the informed citizen,' let's not pretend i'm a smarty) our prof spent forever making sure nobody left that room saying nucular. it's a pet peeve for me too. anyway. annika, i feel the same way. kerry's repeated lies are no misspeak. and he's not denying any of it, or even owning up to his past like bush did over his mistakes. the white house won't take him to task for it because bush didn't serve in vietnam at all and they don't want that to be an issue in the campaign. but the rest of us should not be afraid to condemn such blatant dishonesty. the medals thing is because one purple heart was self inflicted and another was from a rice grain, they were all insignificant and his means of getting out early (after four and a half months). he saved jim rassman when the guy fell from his boat because john kerry was quickly running away from fire instead of sticking it out with the other boats. he's so phony it hurts, and it's not even worth keeping track of all his lies. but his testimony is by far the lowest act.

Posted by: candace at August 11, 2004 09:47 AM (bkDNd)

9 annika, go find the Simpsons clip where the spoiled nephew (?) of Mayor Quimby forces a French waiter to repronounce the word "chowder" over and over. "It's Chow-der, Frenchie, not Chaud-er. . . "

Posted by: jcrue at August 11, 2004 05:20 PM (G9kk0)

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My copy of Hugh Hewitt's book, If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It, just arrived in today's mail. i ordered it from Amazon because it's been so hard to find in the bookstores.

i went to update my AllConsuming.com account, so that a picture of the book would appear on my sidebar, but lo and behold, i could not seem to access the information for that particular book, despite the fact that 89 other weblogs have mentioned it.

Is it a problem with AllConsuming.com's server, as they claim, or is it something more sinister?

Update: Ha ha, spoke too soon, i can access it now.

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When is it going to rain? It's supposed to be over a hundred all week here. i miss the weather in San Francisco. It's sweater weather all year round. i'd love to be there right now.

The A's are still number one. The Giants are struggling to get back on top, and they might just do it since the Dodger's latest acquisition blew a fuse. The Raiders will suck again this year, as will the 49ers. But the Bay Area will be entering autumn soon, and it's a closely held secret that their best weather comes in fall.

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Happy birthday to James Lileks. Everybody go over there and wish the king of bloggers a happy day!

Oh that's right. He doesn't have comments. In fact, he doesn't even want to be called a blogger. Oh well, happy happy anyway, James.

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This weekend, i finally saw two movies i've been anxious to see for a while. One was awesome, and the other was interesting, but flawed.

The Bourne Identity was the awesome one. i had to pick up the DVD at Best Buy, so that i will be ready to see The Bourne Supremacy next. i'm detemined not to make the same mistake i made with the Lethal Weapon series, when i failed to see number 2 before seeing number three. Seriously, you can't see those movies out of sequence because the existence of Joe Pesci and Chris Rock are not explained and do not make sense in the third one. i was totally confused throughout.

Anyways, i liked The Bourne Supremacy very much. Lots of action, well edited and shot, and Matt Damon is such a cutie. He's so much better than Ben Afflack as an actor. i don't know how they're going to sustain the first movie's interest in the sequel, because a lot of what made Identity good is that the audience knew more than the hero. We knew Bourne's identity, and it was fun to watch him trying to figure it out. Now that he knows it too, i wonder whether Supremacy will be as interesting.

i've heard that the sequel will be about Bourne's getting even. Another revenge movie, like that hasn't been done to death. Now the second movie i saw this weekend, in an actual theater no less, was The Village, by M. Night Shyamalan (or as i like to say: M. Knight Shamalamadingdong). i'd been avoiding all conversation about this movie for some time because i didn't want anyone to spoil it for me. If you haven't seen it, don't read any further because i intend to talk about the secret.

As i watched the Village, i kept wondering what the allegory was. i was totally taken in by the fairy tale quality of the story. Then they had to go and ruin it by injecting reality at the end. They turned a quite charming story into a one punch-line joke. To no good effect, i thought.

In Shyamalan's earlier movie, which i liked a lot better, the one about the kid that sees dead people, he also strung the audience along for the whole movie only to spring the joke on them at the very end. However, in that case, the joke was totally unexpected and caused me to re-think the whole plot for hours after it was over. After seeing The Village, all i did was criticize how it didn't make sense. Plus, i kind of guessed that the village was some sort of "Colonial House," so i wasn't really surprised by the twist.

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1 I won't go into details since you ahven't seen it yet, but I didn't think Supremacy was nearly as good. It just doesn't hold together as well.

Posted by: Dave J at August 09, 2004 12:34 PM (VThvo)

2 I agree w/ Dave. I really wanted to like this movie. Lots of reviewers give it a thumbs-up, and it could have been, but the director killed this movie. Hope you like Cinema Verite. Fight scenes filmed three feet away from the actors with a handheld camera. It's nauseating. Picture the scene being filmed inside an airplane bathroom and you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about. Damon was good, though a bit stiff. This may well have been intentional. The best (and by that I mean the most accurate and honest) review was found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7648-2004Jul22.html Unfortunately I didn't see the review until after the movie. Wait for the DVD.

Posted by: Andy at August 10, 2004 07:15 AM (bpH79)

3 Saw it a couple of weeks ago with my wife. We were well-entertained. The above-referenced "cinema verite" was not overdone, IMNSHO. Whatever you do, be sure to read the original books by Ludlum. The movies stand well by themselves, despite some really significant departures from their sources, but the novels are engrossing reads. Just what you need as a 1L ;-)

Posted by: John Lanius at August 10, 2004 08:33 AM (Hs4rn)

4 I liked Supremacy a lot, and I didn't see the first one. But I also liked the Village, mostly because I didn't have much in the way of nightmares, like I usually do. the dead people movie had me crying to sleep in fear for something like three days. not so great.

Posted by: candace at August 10, 2004 10:51 AM (ysNel)

5 You are too funny. My boyfriend also says "Shamylamadingdong."

Posted by: Amy at August 10, 2004 11:40 AM (RpVKX)

6 It's tangential but I find it amusing, so speaking of Ludlum, I couldn't help but remember the following quote from this piece in the Weekly Standard by Christopher Hitchens: I used to play two subliterary games with Salman Rushdie. The first, not that you asked, was to re-title Shakespeare plays as if they had been written by Robert Ludlum. (Rushdie, who invented the game, came up with The Elsinore Vacillation, The Dunsinane Reforestation, The Kerchief Implication, and The Rialto Sanction.)

Posted by: Dave J at August 10, 2004 02:18 PM (VThvo)

7 Hey, I call him Shamylammadingdong, too! (And I'm not Amy's boyfriend.) I didn't mind the reality intruding on the end. But I minded that he's made the "trick ending" such a device of his that you end up focusing on it. I had it figured out before the movie, then I thought, "nahhhh, it can't be that easy," then I was really getting into the movie itself, but every once in a while, I'd be like 'naaaaaahhhh, it can't be that easy." Then it was. Then I threw down my popcorn and said, "Damn you, Shamydong. Damn you to hell!"

Posted by: ken at August 10, 2004 08:32 PM (TbHM4)

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Kenneth Timmerman's The French Betrayal of America is not on my personal reading list, so i'm grateful to Neil Uchitel for doing the reading and the reviewing so i don't have to.

. . . Timmerman shows how this inability of Europe, and especially the French, to wield power has made them pursue 'morally superior' means of checking AmericaÂ’s uncontested power. This is why Dominique de Villepin gave his speech before the U.N. stating that under no circumstances would France support AmericaÂ’s push for war. Not only did France have billions of dollars to lose from their oil contracts with Iraq . . . but it could simultaneously cover this hypocrisy and its inability to keep any rogue power in check (like their failure with the Serbs), but also keep itself among the power elite by morally upstaging America.

i'm anxious to see if the Timmerman book addresses whether Europe and the French government's coddling of extremist Islam is also part of a strategy to counter-balance America's military and economic advantage.

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i have one week left before law school orientation week begins.

Excitement!

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Just a blurb on the nightly news to most of us? Twenty seconds of footage and then on to the next story? Hell, i'm just as guilty of it as anybody -- taking for granted what our guys are going through over there. Back here on the home front, we're so easily distracted by the election follies. We're bored. We have short attention spans.

Ironically, the mainstream media, often criticized for sensasionalizing the news, is partly to blame. Stories like this seem so sterile, mundane. Oh no, more fighting, we think. A soldier died. Damn, we were going good there for a few days. Maybe we say a prayer. Maybe we don't. Either way our ass is still on that comfy couch while it's someone else's in a sweat soaked DCU.

But then a blog like CBFTW's will jolt me back to reality.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to go back. Fuck that shit, I don't want to get killed. That was the last place on earth I wanted to be. I was scared to death. But we had to go back, and we did.

And thank the United States Army and Marines.

Via Blackfive, who else?

Update: The story is much more personal for Sarah.

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That line works much better with the visual aids.

Picture nabbed from INDC Journal. Read about Kerry's football faux pas there.

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Who is this guy Bronco Bomber everybody is talking about? Sounds like a wrestler to me.

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i've been critical of Paris Hilton in the past, but no woman should be hit, if indeed that's what happened to her.

The longer Paris Hilton remains silent on the cause of her two black eyes and that cut lip, the worse it's getting for boy band singer Nick Carter.

While Carter and his attorney continue to strongly deny the singer had anything to do with the reality show star's injuries, the rumors of an ugly altercation between the couple -- perhaps when the hotel heiress dumped Carter -- continue to circulate in Hollywood and New York.

Carter, well known for having an extremely short fuse and anger-management problems, is said to be close to a breakdown, brought on by the negative publicity splashing him across the front pages of every supermarket tabloid in the country. Music industry sources also say Carter's career -- which has been built on a "good guy image" -- could be hurt unless this story is quickly buried.

*A new report from the syndicated TV show "Extra" claims Hilton's injuries were caused during a catfight in a Los Angeles nightclub with 'a renowned Hollywood party girl.' Hilton's publicists have denied that story outright.

i have no way of knowing whether they've been photoshopped. On the one hand, i can't understand why Paris would leave the house and be seen in public with marks like that on her face and arms, assuming the pictures haven't been embellished. But on the other hand, maybe she wants everyone to see what a certain bastard did to her.

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A quick one today, 'cause i'm very busy. Today's selection was written by the 19th century American poet Richard Watson Gilder. i thought it was kinda amusing.

A Woman's Thought

I am a woman—therefore I may not
Call to him, cry to him,
Fly to him,
Bid him delay not!

Then when he comes to me, I must sit quiet;
Still as a stone—
All silent and cold.
If my heart riot—
Crush and defy it!
Should I grow bold,
Say one dear thing to him,
All my life fling to him,
Cling to him—
What to atone
Is enough for my sinning!
This were the cost to me,
This were my winning—
That he were lost to me.

Not as a lover
At last if he part from me,
Tearing my heart from me,
Hurt beyond cure—
Calm and demure
Then must I hold me,
In myself fold me,
Lest he discover;
Showing no sign to him
By look of mine to him
What he has been to me—
How my heart turns to him,
Follows him, yearns to him,
Prays him to love me.

Pity me, lean to me,
Thou God above me!

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The Democratic Party is the party of anti-Christian hatred, their false "inclusiveness" rhetoric at the convention notwithstanding.

On July 23, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced the appointment of Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson as the Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach; she is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Brenda has dedicated her life to showing us all how religion and politics intersect with integrity . . . We are proud to have her join the DNC, in order to spread John Kerry's positive vision to people of all faiths."

Unfortunately, that's complete bullshit.

Catholic League president, Dr. William Donohue said:

Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson was one of thirty-two clergy members to file an amicus curiae brief in behalf of Michael NewdowÂ’s attempt to excise the words ‘under GodÂ’ from the Pledge of Allegiance. The brief shows infinitely more concern for the sensibilities of atheists like Newdow than it does for the 90 percent of Americans who believe in God. And this is the person the Democrats want to dispatch to meet with the heads of religious organizations? Are they out of their minds? Would they hire a gay basher to reach out to homosexuals? [link omitted]

Thanks Dems. There should now be no doubt about where you stand.

Link via Bill.

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Regarding stem cell research, at the Democratic Convention, Ron Reagan said:

[I]t does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the health and well-being of the many. And how can we affirm life if we abandon those whose own lives are so desperately at risk?

It is a hallmark of human intelligence that we are able to make distinctions. Yes, these cells could theoretically have the potential, under very different circumstances, to develop into human beings — that potential is where their magic lies. But they are not, in and of themselves, human beings. They have no fingers and toes, no brain or spinal cord. They have no thoughts, no fears. They feel no pain. Surely we can distinguish between these undifferentiated cells multiplying in a tissue culture and a living, breathing person — parent, a spouse, a child.

But Ron, you failed to directly answer the central question. The one question that must be answered before anyone goes tinkering around in this area. The most important question of all: Is it a human life?

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The Kerry sisters are apparently all lubricated over that has-been-never-was actor Matt Ben Afflack. (Apparently, they never saw Daredevil, which can cure any starstruck Afflack worshiper of their unfortunate condition.)

The felling seems mutual, as Ben is probably seeing Benjamins in the eyes of the two ketchup queens. Or maybe he's simply all ga-ga over Alex's ta-tas. Or, perhaps most likely, he envisions himself as the next Peter Lawford or Arnold Schwarzenegger, and plans to make the leap from entertainment to the world of power politics via strategic marriage.

Here's a window into Ben Afflack's idea of wit and charm, for what it's worth:

In the new issue of Harper's Bazaar, Ben blathers that he finds the sisters 'funny,' 'smart' and 'absurdly beautiful.'

Affleck, who interviews the duo for the maggie, admires Alexandra's 'soft features, brown hair and a gentle, willowy carriage that complements her demeanor.'

As for Vanessa, he raves: 'She looks, with her flaxen hair, almost like a Nordic milkman's child.'

Gag us.

'Ben and Vanessa were in the front of the box in the external seating . . . He had his mom with him but he and Vanessa were yukking it up. They were laughing and having a good time. Very cozy. They looked like affectionate pals.

'Within 15 minutes, Alexandra waltzes in, she sees them and lunges across the partition to get in between them. She greets Ben with the big hug and kiss. This was clearly making Vanessa very uncomfortable, she would walk away and come back. It was like two junior high school girls vying for his attention. This was clearly a case of sibling rivalry.'

Via Son of Nixon.

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From NRO, a column by a Los Angeles Police officer makes the following points:

[C]ops and firefighters are inherently conservative in that they understand the importance of following society's rules. Unlike John Kerry, they don't find 'nuance' in every question that confronts them. In their daily duties they see the often-deadly consequences that result when people fail to do what society expects of them. Nearly every call to 9-1-1 is the result of someone concluding that these rules, be they the criminal laws or the fire codes, can be ignored. They did a good job of hiding it last week, but the Democrats are the party of libertinism, the price of which is well known to those who come when people call for help.

Second, cops and firefighters are, if the women in the ranks will forgive the expression, Regular Guys. They drink beer, not wine, and certainly not French wine. They played football and baseball in high school, not lacrosse. Regular Guys think Al Sharpton is a fraud and Michael Moore (who pretends to be a Regular Guy) is a fool, and they think Ted Kennedy is a criminal. Regular Guys do not blame Secret Service agents (who are Regular Guys) for knocking them down on the ski slopes, especially when those agents are there to take bullets for them. And Regular Guys relate to and prefer the company of other Regular Guys; they do not invite people like Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck to their conventions.

Even with the piles of dough they're sitting on, both George Bush and Dick Cheney still come across as Regular Guys, the kind of men you might find hanging around the fire station or the detective squad room. And with his recent suggestion to Pat Leahy on how he might spend his idle time, the vice president climbed several notches on the Regular Guy scale. John Kerry, on the other hand, owing to his valorous service in Vietnam, might have been a Regular Guy years ago, but he surrendered his membership when he came home to join the Jane Fonda crowd and brand his former comrades as war criminals. And whatever tenuous grip he may have had on Regular Guy status since then was lost when he married his current wife. Old-fashioned notions of chivalry prevent me from offering my full opinion on her here, but Regular Guys do not under any circumstances marry women like Teresa Heinz Kerry.

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1 Regular Guys donÂ’t get 3 Purple Hearts for three bandages placed over three scratches. Regular Guys have to spend weeks in a hospital before they get a Purple Heart.

Posted by: Jake at August 03, 2004 12:09 PM (h4tU8)

2 "Unlike John Kerry, they don't find 'nuance' in every question that confronts them"...I think that the kind of work people do has an immense influence on their political and philosophical beliefs. People who work with things that are "real" and inflexible--farmers, machinists, engineers--don't tend to worship nuance. This *doesn't* mean that they don't understand it. An aeronautical engineer knows well that there is no perfectly good design; that there are "shades of gray" and tradeoffs among many factors....but he also knows that at some point the tradeoffs must be resolved, decisions must be made, and metal must be cut. People who spend their entire lives in a purely verbal environment often fail to recognize this. I think the "lifestyle" factors (beer vs wine, etc) are secondary to this factor.

Posted by: David Foster at August 03, 2004 02:38 PM (XUtCY)

3 I'm a full-time fireman at a fairly large city (250k), and I'm also one of the ones that actually goes into fires. Sadly, my city is one of those liberal stains on the map, and I'd guess a full half of our dept (about 400 FFs) falls into the Kerry column. Unfortunately, of those voting for Kerry, the overwhelming majority of them are just voting lockstep. Most of them are actually conservative, just as Dunphy implies, but at the same time couldn't imagine voting for Bush. It's a sad reality that the union mentality (or lack thereof) has brainwashed these men. If these guys (and their civilian counterparts) could resolve the internal conflict of BEING conservative, but THINKING of themselves as democrats, the GOP would win by a landslide. Every time. Only fear mongering and demagoguery keeps the Kerry (or Gore, in the past) troops in line. As for me, I was a Republican long before I got this job ten years ago, and it never occurred to me to vote the IAFF party line. I even have a "Firefighters for Bush" bumper sticker on my truck. Incidentally, IAFF never inquired as to my party affiliation. Asshats. Incidentally, regular guy that I am, I can appreciate beer AND wine.

Posted by: Andy at August 03, 2004 09:01 PM (bpH79)

4 Heavens. I am certainly not a regular guy, but I think a lot of any man who is willing to marry a strong, opinionated, spunky woman like THK. In terms of a conversation partner, I'd rather be married to her than Laura Bush (based on what I can tell!)

Posted by: Hugo at August 04, 2004 08:55 AM (ntfdi)

5 "Opinionated" is good, but only when the individual has thought seriously and deeply about their opinions...otherwise, it is just blather. Opinionated human beings--male or female--are not rare at all; what is much rarer is the individual who (a)listens to others and (b)thinks seriously and self-critically about their own opinions.

Posted by: David Foster at August 04, 2004 12:44 PM (E+yz/)

6 I'm sure JK can tap into an infinite supply of patience, understanding and nuance just by thinking fondly of 500+ million dollars.

Posted by: Andy at August 05, 2004 06:54 AM (bpH79)

7 Find the whole truth: http://www.regularguysforbush.org http://www.cheesesteakveteransfortruth.org

Posted by: REgular Joe at October 15, 2004 05:58 AM (AaBEz)

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Whatever happened to Rip On Matt Iglesias Week? While doing the research for the upcoming, and feverishly anticipated feature, i discovered that he is actually very boring, despite his impressive credentials. So i lost interest in the idea.

Coming next? A string of teasers related to a blog future feature entitled: Bang On Kevin Drum Week.

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On this day, sixty one years ago, the United States Navy motor torpedo boat number 109, commanded by Lieutenant, Junior Grade John F. Kennedy, was struck and cut in half by the 1750 ton Japanese destroyer Amagiri.

The PT boat was creeping along to keep the wake and noise to a minimum in order to avoid detection. Around 0200 with Kennedy at the helm, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri traveling at 40 knots cut PT 109 in two in ten seconds. Although the Japanese destroyer had not realized that their ship had struck an enemy vessel, the damage to PT 109 was severe. At the impact, Kennedy was thrown into the cockpit where he landed on his bad back. As Amagiri steamed away, its wake doused the flames on the floating section of PT 109 to which five Americans clung: Kennedy, Thom, and three enlisted men, S1/c Raymond Albert, RM2/c John E. Maguire and QM3/c Edman Edgar Mauer. Kennedy yelled out for others in the water and heard the replies of Ross and five members of the crew, two of which were injured. GM3/c Charles A. Harris had a hurt leg and MoMM1/c Patrick Henry McMahon, the engineer was badly burned. Kennedy swam to these men as Ross and Thom helped the others, MoMM2/c William Johnston, TM2/c Ray L. Starkey, and MoMM1/c Gerald E. Zinser to the remnant of PT 109. Although they were only one hundred yards from the floating piece, in the dark it took Kennedy three hours to tow McMahon and help Harris back to the PT hulk. Unfortunately, TM2/c Andrew Jackson Kirksey and MoMM2/c Harold W. Marney were killed in the collision with Amagiri.

Because the remnant was listing badly and starting to swamp, Kennedy decided to swim for a small island barely visible (actually three miles) to the southeast. Five hours later, all eleven survivors had made it to the island after having spent a total of fifteen hours in the water. Kennedy had given McMahon a life-jacket and had towed him all three miles with the strap of the device in his teeth. After finding no food or water on the island, Kennedy concluded that he should swim the route the PT boats took through Ferguson Passage in hopes of sighting another ship. After Kennedy had no luck, Ross also made an attempt, but saw no one and returned to the island. Ross and Kennedy had spotted another slightly larger island with coconuts to eat and all the men swam there with Kennedy again towing McMahon. Now at their fourth day, Kennedy and Ross made it to Nauru Island and found several natives. Kennedy cut a message on a coconut that read '11 alive native knows posit & reef Nauru Island Kennedy.' He purportedly handed the coconut to one of the natives and said, 'Rendova, Rendova!,' indicating that the coconut should be taken to the PT base on Rendova.

Kennedy and Ross again attempted to look for boats that night with no luck. The next morning the natives returned with food and supplies, as well as a letter from the coastwatcher commander of the New Zealand camp, Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans. The message indicated that the natives should return with the American commander, and Kennedy complied immediately. He was greeted warmly and then taken to meet PT 157 which returned to the island and finally rescued the survivors on 8 August.

Kennedy was later awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroics in the rescue of the crew of PT 109, as well as the Purple Heart Medal for injuries sustained in the accident on the night of 1 August 1943.

For a more detailed and prosaic version of the story, here's the transcription of a 1944 article by John Hersey in the New Yorker about the events.

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Maybe i'm getting cynical watching the Scott Peterson debacle prosecution in progress, but i'm anxious to see how the Salt Lake DA fucks up this open and shut case.

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Here's some amazing war reportage from an artist embedded with the 1st Infantry Division in Baqubah, Iraq.

ThereÂ’s a huge bang; the 113 rocks and Ledlow, Cliat and Camp fall to the floor. IÂ’m afraid theyÂ’re dead. An RPG has just hit the side of our vehicle, between Cliat and Gayer, the driver. GayerÂ’s fallen too, and Theis is shouting at him through his headphones to get up. Smoke and the acrid smell of magnesium powder are everywhere.

Doc saw the RPG round fired at us by a man from behind a tree, his head covered in a black hood. Later, he says it looked like a baseball coming straight for us. Pulling himself back up, he locates the shooter in his rifle sight, peering from around the tree. Doc fires off two rounds and sees the man fall, but canÂ’t tell if heÂ’s killed him.

. . .

The RPGs are coming from our left; Ledlow has relieved Camp to defend that side. ThereÂ’s another terrifying explosion against the 113, as a grenade lands low on our left track, damaging but not disabling it. An armor piercing round, it destroys one of the plates, but somehow misses the pin, which would have cut the track and rendered us unable to move. Nevertheless, the sprocket canÂ’t engage and weÂ’ve come to a halt: Gayer canÂ’t get the vehicle to move forward. Theis tells him to reverse it and we lurch backwards.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Cliat shouts at Theis. 'You donÂ’t never go backwards in a firefight! Move this fucking thing forward! Forward!'

Thanks yet again to Sarah for finding this.

Posted by: annika at 10:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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