A television ad that has aired in three key battleground states and a new book have created a political furor over Sen. John Kerry’s Vietnam War record, calling into question his character, credibility and a central tenet of his campaign – that his combat experience helps qualify him to be president.
The claims – that Kerry lied about his war experiences, didn’t deserve his medals and betrayed soldiers everywhere by protesting the war after serving in it – also have been recited in the mainstream media, along with denials of the allegations.
What military documentation exists and has been made public generally supports the view put forth by Kerry and most of his crewmates – that he acted courageously and came by his Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts honestly. This view of Kerry as war hero is supported by all but one of the surviving veterans who served with him on the two boats he commanded.
None of the critics quoted in the ad actually served on the boats with Kerry. Some of them also have given contradictory accounts and offered conflicting recollections.
But what actually happened about 35 years ago along the remote southern coast of Vietnam remains murky. Some of Kerry’s own recollections over the years, as presented in two biographies and many interviews, also have been inconsistent.
Most of the documents offered by critics of the Democratic candidate are signed affidavits by 13 Swift boat veterans – notarized memories of events that they say they witnessed from a boat or two away.
The Kerry campaign has launched a vociferous defense, denying the charges raised in the ad. It also denounced the group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as a Republican-backed effort. His staff has directed critics to the Massachusetts senator’s military records, which have been posted on his Web site.
“The Swift boat ad is full of lies. Thirteen men who never served with John Kerry lie about knowing him and viciously attack his record,” said Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill in an e-mail to supporters last week. “It is a new low for the Republicans.”
A liberal independent organization weighed in on the controversy with a new ad Tuesday, demanding that President Bush urge that the ad be taken off the air.
The Bush campaign, for its part, says it has nothing to do with the Swift boat group attacking Kerry and has kept a distance – neither endorsing nor denouncing the ad, which is airing in Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia. When asked about it Thursday on “Larry King Live,” Bush said he had not seen it.
Kerry, long accused of hair-splitting and nuance in his political positions, has left himself open to criticism by giving subtly varying accounts over the years of his Vietnam service and postwar activism. But his critics also have provided conflicting recollections.
“War is by definition chaotic, and people are not taking notes in battle,” said Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. “In terms of the type of evidence that might be ideal for making a convincing case, there probably are some holes. They give an opening for people who want to say Kerry was embellishing.”
The group’s leaders confirmed that Robert Perry, a Texas homebuilder, was their biggest original financier. Perry has given money to Bush’s last four campaigns and is a major GOP donor in Texas.
John O’Neill, a former Swift boat commander who served in Vietnam and is a longtime Kerry foe, has been promoting his book – “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry” – on cable-TV talk shows such as “Crossfire” and “Hardball.”
Many in the Swift boat group seem to be motivated as much by anger about Kerry’s protest activities as they are about his actions in combat. In their affidavits, several write about Kerry’s testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Since the anti-Kerry ad first surfaced, Kerry’s crewmates have fanned out in his defense.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a Vietnam veteran who has endorsed Bush, called the ad “dishonest and dishonorable.” He said that, “none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded,” adding that he believes, “John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam.”
Associated Press
Retired Adm. Roy Hoffmann appears in an ad criticizing Sen. John Kerry’s war record. Kerry has called the ad “dishonest.”
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