Got to fight with you a bit, Clay. I am OK that this is a mission gone bad. No doubt about it. But let me say this. I am intimately familiar with the training that these SEALS went through. To suggest that they lined these people up and shot them is ludicrous. Didn't happen. To suggest that Kerry and his team got antsy and fired willy nilly is just as ridiculous. There is a reason why SEAL teams suffered much lighter casualties, and inflicted damage far in excess of our numbers. We believed in the principle of overwhelming fire superiority. We also believed that when you were in a firefight, there was a problem. As to the AO, Tan Phong is on the Delta. One must cross the Mekong to get to it. I don't like justifying our governments activities in 'Nam, but I will defend the warriors. In this particular area, anyone encountered was presumed to be VC. It is exactly the type of AO that SEALS operated in.

Your comment about Kerry's Medal of Honor seems to suggest that you don't know the details of actions he took that caused the medal to be issued. His actions just getting to the target were heroic enough to probably merit a Silver Star. The actions he took with one of his feet blown off most certainly elevated him to the level of Medal of Honor.

Mick