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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the primary role of skimmers?

2. What is a "skimmer"?

3. According to his own accounts, how did Kerry respond to orders instructing him to leave a French resort and report to a more dangerous river patrol?

4. What was the result of Kerry's congressional run after the Dick Cavett Show?

5. According to several Swift Boat officers, how did Kerry respond when the Swiftees were ordered into combat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were Kerry's reasons for choosing the Swift Boats to serve on?

2. What were the events surrounding the first Purple Heart medal that Kerry received, and why do the authors question its validity?

3. What is the significance of O'Neill's suggestion that the readers of the book view the video of the debate between him and Kerry?

4. What happened in the infamous sampan incident, where a mother and her child were found, and how did Kerry respond?

5. How did the debate between O'Neill and Kerry begin, and what was the outcome?

6. How was Kerry awarded the third Purple Heart, and why was it significant?

7. What question did Lt. Ted Peck ask of Kerry shortly after he returned home, and why is Kerry's response revealing?

8. What was the content of Kerry's testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, and why did it anger O'Neill so much?

9. What does Captain Plumly report about Kerry's service, and how does that correspond to the reports of his trips to Saigon?

10. What was the conversation between Kerry and the Captain of an LST en route to An Thoi, and why do the authors dispute it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the questions the authors ask at the end of the Introduction? Why are the answers to them critical to the effectiveness of the authors' main points? What do the authors hope to accomplish with the rest of the book? How have they proven their sincerity in the Introduction, and how does that make them more credible?

Essay Topic 2

After reading Unfit for Command, did the authors achieve their objective? Why or why not? Describe 3 examples of the strongest and most convincing parts of their presentation. Is this a book that every voter should have read before the 2004 election? Overall, did O'Neill and Corsi prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their positions were accurate and worth bringing to the attention of the American people? How?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Kerry's actions in the sampan incident. What was the setting for it and why is that relevant? What should Kerry have done differently? What were the results of his actions and the significance of the people in the sampan? In an attempt to explain the situation, who does Kerry blame? How did Kerry report the incident and what were his reasons for doing so? Why is the sampan incident one of the most effective examples of how the authors' opinion of Kerry is substantiated?

(see the answer keys)

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