Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (Hardcover)

Customers buy this book with The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi

+

Price For Both: $30.90

Show availability and shipping details

• This item: Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry by John E. O'Neill

  In Stock.
  Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
  Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  

• The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi

  In Stock.
  Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
  Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,699)  $13.75

The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate by David Freddoso 4.1 out of 5 stars (222)  $21.24

Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Self-Serving Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Forei by Dick Morris 3.6 out of 5 stars (220)  $11.55

Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security by Robert Patterson 3.4 out of 5 stars (487)  $16.11

To Set the Record Straight: How Swift Boat Veterans, Pows and the New Media Defeated John Kerry by Scott Swett 4.7 out of 5 stars (42)  $19.17

› Explore similar items

Amazon.com Review
Due to the timing of its publication, Unfit for Command could be dismissed as the sort of controversial, loaded book typical in a presidential election year: Either courageous and necessary, or untruthful and malicious, depending on one's political point of view. Filled with interviews of men who served in Vietnam at the same time as John Kerry, the book poses the following question: "Why do an overwhelming majority of those who commanded or served with John Kerry oppose him?" (Note that the issue of "service" has sparked investigation into its definition--in other words, just how close was the interaction between Kerry and those cited in the book during Kerry’s Vietnam tour of duty?)

The charges leveled against Kerry in this book are severe and include filing false operating reports; lobbying for and receiving three Purple Hearts for minor wounds, two of which were self-inflicted; receiving a Silver Star under false pretenses; offering false confessions of bogus war crimes in both print and testimony; and recklessness in the field, including the burning of a village without cause or direct order. The book also claims that Kerry left Vietnam after serving just four months instead of the usual one year tour and that he returned home and accused his fellow soldiers of atrocities without offering any evidence, endangering POWs in the process.

It is debatable whether the book will change any minds, or votes. Instead, readers will likely reach one of two conclusions: Either John Kerry grossly misrepresented his military service or the authors are spinning the interviews that they conducted for ulterior motives. There is a third option, however; readers will further investigate both sides of the debate, and by doing so, may reach conclusions independent of partisan extremes. --Brian Neff

From Publishers Weekly
"What sort of combination of hypocrite and paradox is John Kerry?" ask the authors in this heated critique of the Democratic presidential candidate’s Vietnam–era military service and antiwar activism. O’Neill, a lawyer and swift boat veteran, and Corsi, an expert on Vietnam antiwar movements, argue that Kerry misrepresented his wartime exploits and is therefore incompetent to serve as commander in chief. Buttressed by interviews with Navy veterans who patrolled Vietnam’s waters, some along with Kerry, the book claims he exaggerated minor injuries, self-inflicted others, wrote fictitious diary entries and filed "phony" reports of his heroism under fire—all in a calculated quest to secure career-enhancing combat medals. They also maintain that Kerry, whom they call a "moral coward," committed atrocities that alarmed his peers and superior officers during his four-month tour of duty. Yet his activities on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War clearly raises the authors’ hackles the most, and they present Kerry’s post-war actions as additional, damning evidence of his "total unfitness," claiming that his testimony against the war "caused more deaths and prolonged the war in Vietnam by undermining support at home and contributing directly to a Vietnamese Communist victory." The battle that lies at the heart of this book is the decades-old feud between antiwar veterans and their my-country-right-or-wrong counterparts. The authors’ conservative take on the war is palpable: the U.S. military failed to unleash "massive, indiscriminate bombing" to force North Vietnam’s capitulation; the conflict was a struggle against communism, not a civil war; and the dissenting soldiers undermined homefront morale. Consequently, this overwrought and repetitive polemic seethes with a resentment that compromises the otherwise eyebrow-raising testimonies. Further, without access to Kerry’s full military and medical records, the authors rely heavily on 35-year-old recollections and recent Kerry biographies by Douglas Brinkley and a Boston Globe reporting team. Those looking for a thorough, unbiased investigation into Kerry’s wartime record would do best to wait for more objective, methodical chroniclers who have access to the relevant documents.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
winter soldier investigation, daily world, inactive duty, operating report, antiwar activities Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Kerry, United States, Purple Heart, Viet Cong, Swift Boat, North Vietnamese, Coastal Division, Vietnamese Communists, Vietnam War, Tour of Duty, Fulbright Committee, Kansas City, The New Soldier, Dewey Canyon, Cam Ranh Bay, Naval Reserves, More Fraudulent Medals, Silver Star, Testimony of Lies, Boston Globe, Kerry's Antiwar Secrets, President Nixon, John O'Neill, South Vietnam, Senator Kerry Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

Search Inside This Book:

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

3,111 Reviews 5 star:  (1,761) 4 star:  (172) 3 star:  (59) 2 star:  (33) 1 star:  (1,086)           Average Customer Review 3.5 out of 5 stars (3,111 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   598 of 671 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars take it from someone who actually was there, August 31, 2004 By  Douglas Carpenter (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews Since I wasn't there, let's take the word of a Republican and retired police officer who actually was. I print below the op-ed article from the Wall Street Journal's opinion page: Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush John Kerry saved my life. Now his heroism is being questioned. BY JIM RASSMANN Tuesday, August 10, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring of 1969. He and his swift boat crew assisted in inserting our Special Forces team and our Chinese Nung soldiers into operational sites in the Cau Mau Peninsula of South Vietnam. I worked with him on many operations and saw firsthand his leadership, courage and decision-making ability under fire. On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership saved my life. While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat. Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I could hold my breath. When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water as long as I could hold my breath, attempting to make it to the north bank of the river. I thought I would die right there. The odds were against me avoiding the incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the river, I thought I'd be captured and executed. Kerry must have seen me in the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky, to turn the boat around. Kerry's boat ran up to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a cargo net to the lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside down, I couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging out in the open, a perfect target. John, already wounded by the explosion that threw me off his boat, came out onto the bow, exposing himself to the fire directed at us from the jungle, and pulled me aboard. For his actions that day, I recommended John for the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for bravery under fire. I learned only this past January that the Navy awarded John the Bronze Star with Combat V for his valor. The citation for this award, signed by the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam, Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, read, "Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry's calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." To this day I am grateful to John Kerry for saving my life. And to this day I still believe that he deserved the Silver Star for his courage. It has been many years since I served in Vietnam. I returned home, got married, and spent many years as a deputy sheriff for Los Angeles County. I retired in 1989 as a lieutenant. It has been a long time since I left Vietnam, but I think often of the men who did not come home with us. I am neither a politician nor an organizer. I am a retired police officer with a passion for orchids. Until January of this year, the only public presentations I made were about my orchid hobby. But in this presidential election, I had to speak out; I had to tell the American people about John Kerry, about his wisdom and courage, about his vision and leadership. I would trust John Kerry with my life, and I would entrust John Kerry with the well-being of our country. Nobody asked me to join John's campaign. Why would they? I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years I have largely voted for Republicans. I volunteered for his campaign because I have seen John Kerry in the worst of conditions. I know his character. I've witnessed his bravery and leadership under fire. And I truly know he will be a great commander in chief. Now, 35 years after the fact, some Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans for Bush are suddenly lying about John Kerry's service in Vietnam; they are calling him a traitor because he spoke out against the Nixon administration's failed policies in Vietnam. Some of these Republican-sponsored veterans are the same ones who spoke out against John at the behest of the Nixon administration in 1971. But this time their attacks are more vicious, their lies cut deep and are directed not just at John Kerry, but at me and each of his crewmates as well. This hate-filled ad asserts that I was not under fire; it questions my words and Navy records. This smear campaign has been launched by people without decency, people who don't understand the bond of those who serve in combat. As John McCain noted, the television ad aired by these veterans is "dishonest and dishonorable." Sen. McCain called on President Bush to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad. Regrettably, the president has ignored Sen. McCain's advice. Does this strategy of attacking combat Vietnam veterans sound familiar? In 2000, a similar Republican smear campaign was launched against Sen. McCain. In fact, the very same communications group, Spaeth Communications, that placed ads against John McCain in 2000 is involved in these vicious attacks against John Kerry. Texas Republican donors with close ties to George W. Bush and Karl Rove crafted this "dishonest and dishonorable" ad. Their new charges are false; their stories are fabricated, made up by people who did not serve with Kerry in Vietnam. They insult and defame all of us who served in Vietnam. But when the noise and fog of their distortions and lies have cleared, a man who volunteered to serve his country, a man who showed up for duty when his country called, a man to whom the United States Navy awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, will stand tall and proud. Ultimately, the American people will judge these Swift Boat Veterans for Bush and their accusations. Americans are tired of smear campaigns against those who volunteered to wear the uniform. Swift Boat Veterans for Bush should hang their heads in shame. Mr. Rassmann, a retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, served with the U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam 1968-69. Comment Comments (5) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   426 of 477 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Karl Rove is a Genius!, August 30, 2004 By  Lori Shannon - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Karl Rove is a genius. He has all of you reading a book about Vietnam instead of reading the reports of what is happening in Iraq today, or what about the lost jobs to other countries, the increasing poverty level, the increasing number of unemployed and uninsured and the growing disgust the world has for America. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look behind the George W. Bush curtain and you will find the mighty wizard Karl Rove controlling your every thought. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   47 of 48 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK, September 1, 2004 By  jeffery (Somewhere in Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews The book is well-researched, well-documented, and full of personal accounts from people who were actually there. Over 250 Swift Boat Veterans have endorsed the accounts in this book. This book is a serious work discussing Kerry's less than 4-month tour in Vietnam and his anti-war, anti-American activities after the war. It does not discuss Kerry's personal life and is not a smear. Every voter, especially our veterans, needs to read this book and make their own decision about Kerry's fitness to be the Commander-in-Chief. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 3,111 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening Book. This is a very informative and eye opening book, book is basically how John Kerry was/is a person you could not trust when it comes to major issues. Read more Published 4 months ago by Jose Lopez 5.0 out of 5 stars THE TRUTH ABOUT "SWIFTBOATING" THIS IS A DOCUMENTARY FROM THE "REAL" SWIFT BOAT DRIVERS, WHO WERE THE REAL HEROS OF THE VIETNAM WAR. THEY KNEW THE "REAL" JOHN F KERRY, THE PAPER HERO ... Read more Published 5 months ago by Richard Fredricks 1.0 out of 5 stars Could I give it a ZERO? This is not a piece of well-research journalism. It is a polemic against an honorable man by those who have to destroy anyone they disagree with. Read more Published 11 months ago by Frantic Reader 1.0 out of 5 stars Insulting to "True" Veterans As a disabled veteran, I am insulted to read trash like this. While my military background keeps me aboard the conservative party... Read more Published 13 months ago by Kenneth J. Mueller 5.0 out of 5 stars The Verdict of History Like a lot of conservatives, I purchased this book when it first came out, but unlike most of them I never got around to reading it straight through until a few weeks ago. Read more Published 13 months ago by fredtownward 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story This book helped defeat John "Traitor" Kerry. After I read this book, I donated $200 to the Shift Boat Vets. Read more Published 14 months ago by Brian J. Rueger 4.0 out of 5 stars better late than never I was given this book a few years ago and finally decided to go through it. The bottom line is that this book gives the other side of the story on John Kerry's story. Read more Published 14 months ago by ironman96 4.0 out of 5 stars Unfit For Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry As a VN vet, I've known about John Kerry for 25 years. I've known about the duplicitious behavior and creation of false stories for the Winter Soldiers testimony, more recently... Read more Published 18 months ago by J. Del Vecchio 5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting Revelations This book took guts to write--Not many would have the courage to speak out publically about such a powerful man. My hat's off to the writers of this book. Published 21 months ago by Marion Barrett 5.0 out of 5 stars A book made necessary by our times This book, using the words of the sailors who knew Kerry during his service in Vietnam, is a real eye-opener. Read more Published 22 months ago by James D. Crabtree Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 3,111 customer reviews...

• Books > History > Americas > United States > 20th Century
• Books > History > Asia > Vietnam
• Books > History > Military > Life & Institutions
• Books > History > Military > Naval
• Books > History > Military > Vietnam War
• Books > Nonfiction > Government > Congresses, Senates, & Legislative Bodies
• Books > Nonfiction > Government > Elections
• Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Ideologies
• Books > Nonfiction > Politics > U.S.
• Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Doctrines
• Books > Political Parties > Red Politics