The incident involving LT Kerry occurred on March 13, 1969.
1LT Rassmann was XO of Detachment A-404 at Cao Lanh from November 5, 1968 to July 1, 1969. A-404 ran the Airboat Training Center for B-40, and maybe airboat operations as well.
1LT Rassmann then was Detachment Commander of A-405 from July 1, 1969 to September 9, 1969. A-405 ran LRRP/Airborne Training Center at Ha Tien.
In his recent Wall Street Journal piece, Rassmann says two things:
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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.
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and
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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.
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There is one inconsistency noted elsewhere - some reports have him on PCF-3, the one that hit the mine, others on Kerry's boat.
Assuming this SEALORDS operation to which he refers the same as the IV Corps Mike Force insertions, he may have legitimately been there, though others have hinted he wasn't on a mission but just along for the ride. My understanding is that Mike Force insertions were done by PBRs, not the larger PCFs, but I suppose PCFs also did insertions from time to time.
There is nothing in Rassmann's account to indicate he's lying to cover Kerry (or himself), but there is enough to say his own recollections are hardly probative. He was in or under water for much of the events described. As others have noted, he may simply have mistook the suppressive fire the Swifts laid down on the bank for fire coming from the bank, so he really is not in a position to contradict other Swifties' statements that there was no enemy fire. His "I was left all alone" statements may be what he believes, but the fact is (a) there were sailors in the water too being rescued and (b) all of the sources, even Kerry, confirm that the Swifts stayed on the scene to pull the crewmen to safety (the discrepancy is over whether Kerry's boat left and returned, with some Swifties hinting darkly that Kerry bugged out).