Thiussat
04-02-2007, 02:44 PM
I saw this episode on LRW again. I had seen it before but forgotten the details. I know many of you think the segment is laughable.
First off, I think the notion that the guy was partaking in secret missions is ridiculous. As the Marine Corps guy said in the segment, people who are 19, not officers, and have no special training, are not selected for secret, clandestine missions (This is what the Army SF and Force Recon Marines are for). I agree with the Marine Corps spokesman, as I know what he said to be a fact. 19 year olds are just not selected for this stuff. You almost definitely would have to be an officer to be engaged in something like this, and Kurt was just an enlisted grunt.
The pictures the family saw, that they identified as Kurt, are obviously not him. The Marine Corps guy said that all people in all pictures had been identified and had been spoken to. I see no reason for him to lie about that. Also, the fact that the family claims to have seen photos of Kurt with his unit a full year after he supposedly died makes their entire story suspect. What I mean is, if the Marines had faked his death, why would they assign him to another regular unit that took pictures and then had them published in a magazine? Covert units don't pose for pictures and then have them published in the public domain.
The fact that the government had listed Kurt dead on 3 or 4 different dates really doesn't mean anything other than that their records are imperfect. A lot of people died over there, and I would bet this is not the only mistake the government had made in this regard.
One man is not that important. What I mean is, I don't think the government would waste resources on having DOD agents follow the father around because of something Kurt did in Vietnam decades earlier. I certainly don't think they would have agents follow a COUSIN to work. I also think it would be impossible for the agents to know if the cousin ran a credit check on Kurt. How is this possible? Were these agents professional computer crackers too? Did they have a laptop (remember this was the 80's) in their car? This seems like a huge waste of resources in order to track the family of ONE man.
The sister claims she was told by an anonymous source that Kurt was indeed living in the U.S., but was a "dangerous and disturbed man." The source made it sound like Kurt was out of control. If this was true, then the government certainly would not have such a loose canon working for them on covert operartions. (Remember the sister proclaimed that Kurt was STILL on covert assignments even after he got back from 'Nam.) I find this highly unlikely.
The sister claims to have seen Kurt in a red car on two occasions. I don't deny she saw this red car, but why would Kurt play such a game? Why not just walk up to her and say "Hey, this is Kurt." Also, the segment said she ran the license plate and it belonged to a guy who was not Kurt.
The father claims he had agents follow him around trying to get him to sign papers that changed Kurt's status from missing to KIA. If the government was involved in a cover-up, then WHY would they need the father's signature at all? Why not just change it themselves? This was a corny part of the segment.
I cannot say that Kurt was not alive and living in the U.S., but IF he was (and that's a big if), I don't think it was because he was involved in secret missions. It could be that he was just a disturbed man suffering from PTSD who never wanted contact with his family.
My dad was a Vietnam vet in the Army First Cav Airmobile. He was in some heavy, heavy combat in 1967. After he died a few years ago, I did some research on his days in 'Nam and found several photographs of guys that looked just like him. After seeing what units these guys were in, I was able to verify they were NOT him. My point is, it is easy to get confused when looking at photos, even if it is a close family member.
First off, I think the notion that the guy was partaking in secret missions is ridiculous. As the Marine Corps guy said in the segment, people who are 19, not officers, and have no special training, are not selected for secret, clandestine missions (This is what the Army SF and Force Recon Marines are for). I agree with the Marine Corps spokesman, as I know what he said to be a fact. 19 year olds are just not selected for this stuff. You almost definitely would have to be an officer to be engaged in something like this, and Kurt was just an enlisted grunt.
The pictures the family saw, that they identified as Kurt, are obviously not him. The Marine Corps guy said that all people in all pictures had been identified and had been spoken to. I see no reason for him to lie about that. Also, the fact that the family claims to have seen photos of Kurt with his unit a full year after he supposedly died makes their entire story suspect. What I mean is, if the Marines had faked his death, why would they assign him to another regular unit that took pictures and then had them published in a magazine? Covert units don't pose for pictures and then have them published in the public domain.
The fact that the government had listed Kurt dead on 3 or 4 different dates really doesn't mean anything other than that their records are imperfect. A lot of people died over there, and I would bet this is not the only mistake the government had made in this regard.
One man is not that important. What I mean is, I don't think the government would waste resources on having DOD agents follow the father around because of something Kurt did in Vietnam decades earlier. I certainly don't think they would have agents follow a COUSIN to work. I also think it would be impossible for the agents to know if the cousin ran a credit check on Kurt. How is this possible? Were these agents professional computer crackers too? Did they have a laptop (remember this was the 80's) in their car? This seems like a huge waste of resources in order to track the family of ONE man.
The sister claims she was told by an anonymous source that Kurt was indeed living in the U.S., but was a "dangerous and disturbed man." The source made it sound like Kurt was out of control. If this was true, then the government certainly would not have such a loose canon working for them on covert operartions. (Remember the sister proclaimed that Kurt was STILL on covert assignments even after he got back from 'Nam.) I find this highly unlikely.
The sister claims to have seen Kurt in a red car on two occasions. I don't deny she saw this red car, but why would Kurt play such a game? Why not just walk up to her and say "Hey, this is Kurt." Also, the segment said she ran the license plate and it belonged to a guy who was not Kurt.
The father claims he had agents follow him around trying to get him to sign papers that changed Kurt's status from missing to KIA. If the government was involved in a cover-up, then WHY would they need the father's signature at all? Why not just change it themselves? This was a corny part of the segment.
I cannot say that Kurt was not alive and living in the U.S., but IF he was (and that's a big if), I don't think it was because he was involved in secret missions. It could be that he was just a disturbed man suffering from PTSD who never wanted contact with his family.
My dad was a Vietnam vet in the Army First Cav Airmobile. He was in some heavy, heavy combat in 1967. After he died a few years ago, I did some research on his days in 'Nam and found several photographs of guys that looked just like him. After seeing what units these guys were in, I was able to verify they were NOT him. My point is, it is easy to get confused when looking at photos, even if it is a close family member.