Grant Hibbard
Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard, U.S. Navy (retired) is a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, established May 4, 2004, in opposition to John Forbes Kerry's candidacy for U.S. presidential election, 2004.
Hibbard and Kerry
Hibberd was division commander of then-Lt. j.g. John Kerry's Navy unit for two weeks including the period in which he was wounded in combat on December 2, 1968. In preparing a biography of John Kerry, Boston Globe reporters contacted Hibbard who said he had raised questions at the time about whether Kerry and his crew had received enemy fire. Hibbard also claimed that Kerry's wound resembled a fingernail scratch.
The Globe noted that Hibbard's evaluation of Kerry was brief and incomplete as "Hibbard oversaw Kerry's service for only about two weeks". However in the brief records Hibbard noted that Kerry's duty included "counter infiltration operations against Viet Cong forces. Engaged in combat operations".
The Globe noted that "Hibbard marked a few performance categories, noting that Kerry's initiative, cooperation, and bearing ranked among the top few. But unlike other evaluators who wrote about specific actions by Kerry, Hibbard did not do so, providing this explanation: 'The short period LTJG Kerry was attached to Coast Division 14 prevents further evaluation.'" [1]
In April 2004 Hibbard, who is a registered Republican, said that he opposed Kerry being awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded in combat in Vietnam on December 2, 1968. "There was just a little scratch on his forearm and he was holding a small piece of shrapnel [in his hand]. It didn't look like much of a wound to me," the New York Post reported. [2]
Hibbard claimed that he objected to Kerry getting a Purple Heart at the time but claimed he went over his head, the New York Post reported, to "petition Navy authorities for the medal."
In May 2004 NewsMax cited Hibbard as stating that "I received the report on the mission; there had been no enemy fire.". Hibbard claimed that perhaps Kerry had fired an M-79 grenade at the shore and got 'scratched' from his own friendly fire. "There was no medical treatment. To this day I have no information [re the medal] on how or whom," he claimed. [3]
External links
- Niles Lathem, "Testing Kerry's Medal", New York Post, April 15, 2004.
- Michael Kranish, "Navy records detail Kerry Vietnam duty", Boston Globe,April 22, 2004.
- Wesley Kanne Clark, "Medals of Honor", New York Times Op-Ed, April 28, 2004. (Sub req'd.)
- Dave Eberhart, "Swift Boat Veterans Condemn Kerry as Unfit to Command", NewsMax.com, May 4, 2004.
