Kerry is Correct, Bush Campaign is Lying about 'Swift Boat' Vets
By Mike Hersh, Aug 20, 2004

By now, most Americans know John Kerry volunteered for dangerous combat duty in Vietnam, where he won five medals for heroism and honor. The Atlantic Monthly magazine reports:

Kerry enlisted in the Navy in February of 1966, months before he graduated from Yale. In December of 1967 Ensign Kerry was assigned to the guided-missile frigate USS Gridley; after five months of service in the Pacific, with a brief stop in Vietnam, he returned to the United States and underwent training to command a Swift boat, a small craft deployed in Vietnam's rivers.

In June of 1968 Kerry was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade), and by the end of that year he was back in Vietnam, where he commanded, over time, two Swift boats. He received the Purple Heart three times for wounds suffered in action, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Navy's Silver Star for gallantry in action. Kerry was discharged from the Navy in January of 1970...."

See: Douglas Brinkley, Tour of Duty, The Atlantic Monthly, December 2003: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/12/brinkley.htm

Many voters know George W. Bush did not serve in Vietnam, and some realize he "missed" several months of duty - going absent without leave or "deserting" from the National Guard. Bush admits he left the state of Texas to help a family friend run for office in Alabama - which did not have facilities to support Bush's service as a pilot. There's no evidence Bush reported for duty in Alabama, or that he obtained permission to leave Texas while he was supposed to be serving in the guard. This is not about the nature of National Guard service. The question is why didn't Bush fully perform his duty to serve in the guard. See: http://www.awolbush.com.

Kerry is a war hero - he sent himself into combat, risked his life and saved lives. On the other hand, Bush is an AWOL deserter and/or a draft dodger - someone who pulled strings and relied on family ties to stay out of Vietnam by sneaking into the National Guard ahead of 100s on a waiting list, but then didn't bother to show up when he didn't feel like putting down his drink long enough to sober up. Bush even flunked a drug test by refusing to take it, and was then grounded by the Guard after taxpayers spent $100,000s training him to fly. See: http://democrats.com/smokingjet.

All this presents a serious problem for the false-macho Bush and his political Svengali Karl Rove. How to distort the record enough to blunt war hero Kerry's support among military personnel and hide Bush's shameful actions and policies from the 1970s to today?

As usual, Team Bush turned to the Republican Dirty Tricks Play Book. Decades ago, master manipulator Richard Nixon used other Vietnam Vets to slam Kerry. When war hero John McCain beat Bush in the 2000 New Hampshire Primary, Rove et al resorted to dirty tricks, including a shameful whispering campaign that McCain suffered irreparable psychological harm as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War which made him unfit for the White House. Combining these loathsome tactics created "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," a bunch of people who served in the same general area as Kerry willing to attack his war record.

McCain - who is currently supporting Bush - demands the Bush-Cheney campaign condemn and terminate these ads, but Kerry and his supporters seem eager to engage Bush on their war records and related issues. This because Kerry knows the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" are really a swift talking, vote-grabbing dirty-trick operation closely linked to the Bush 2004 effort, despite Bush campaign denials. Bush backers are lying and lying about supporting liars. They're also "flip-flopping" on what makes someone fit or unfit and other critical issues of war and peace to cover up disturbing facts about Bush's own record.

The Associated Press reports MoveOn.org "is airing an ad accusing Bush of using family connections to avoid the Vietnam War. It also asks the president to denounce an ad that aired early this month by 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' [that claims] Kerry exaggerated his actions to win Vietnam War medals. Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said the charge that Bush was in league with the group criticizing Kerry’s war record 'is absolutely and completely false.'" See: Kerry blasts Bush over veterans' ad, Says president allows others to do 'dirty work,' The Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5758982/

However, the facts demonstrate Schmidt's denial is "absolutely and completely false" - there are intimate ties between the "Swift Boat" group and the Bush campaign. The AP also found Kerry's "medals are supported by Navy documents and the memories of all but one of the swift boat crewmates who served beneath Kerry, then a Navy lieutenant. The anti-Kerry group, funded by Republican donors, includes several veterans who say they witnessed Kerry’s actions from nearby swift boats. One of his most vocal critics, Larry Thurlow, has disputed Kerry’s Bronze Star-winning assertion that he came under fire during a mission in Viet Cong-controlled territory. But Thurlow’s own military records contained several references to small arms fire that day...." See: Kerry blasts Bush over veterans' ad.

Kerry Strikes Back

The 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' [group] isn't interested in the truth - and they're not telling the truth. They didn't even exist until I won the nomination for president. But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know - he wants them to do his dirty work.

Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented my service in Vietnam and awarded me the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam. I'm not going to let anyone question my commitment to defending America then, now, or ever. And I'm not going to let anyone attack the sacrifice and courage of the men who saw battle with me.

See: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?ReleaseID=34918

The New York Times confirms Kerry is accurate while the Bush campaign's denials of ties to the Swift Boat groups are lies: "Interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove. Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's" and "the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis [riding in a tank.]"

The NY Times reports, "on close examination, the accounts of 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' prove to be riddled with inconsistencies. In many cases, material offered as proof by these veterans is undercut by official Navy records and the men's own statements. Several of those now declaring Mr. Kerry 'unfit' had lavished praise on him, some as recently as last year." Bush and his campaign try to cast Kerry as a "flip-flopper," but the Vietnam Veterans they're using to slime Kerry could win the gymnastics gold in the Olympics with their amazing rhetorical acrobatics.

The Times article quotes Swift Boat vets leader, retired rear admiral Roy F. Hoffmann as saying Kerry is "a good man'" and the actions that won him the Silver Star "took guts, and I admire that" in a March 2003 interview. Hoffmann is hardly the only one of this Swift Boat crew making swift course changes. Adrian L. Lonsdale, another Vietnam veteran now speaking out [against Kerry] as calling Kerry 'among the finest of those Swift boat drivers.'" Now he's among those bad-mouthing the man he once praised effusively. See: Friendly Fire, The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad, Kate Zernike and Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, August 20, 2004: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html?hp

The Times notes that, "In an evaluation of Mr. Kerry in 1969, Mr. Elliott, who was one of his commanders, ranked him as 'not exceeded' in 11 categories, including moral courage, judgment and decisiveness, and 'one of the top few' - the second-highest distinction - in the remaining five." Elliot's official reports on Kerry described him as "unsurpassed," "beyond reproach" and "the acknowledged leader in his peer group." Elliott "flew from his home in Delaware to Boston in 1996 to stand up for Mr. Kerry [saying] the action that won Mr. Kerry a Silver Star was 'an act of courage.'" Now, he's just another former Kerry fan who recently turned into an attacker. See: Friendly Fire, The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad.

Not only are these Bush-backed Swift Boaters playing fast and loose with the truth, they've changed their stories completely! Kerry's war record hasn't changed, so why is their story changing? Just more toxic dishonesty and dirty tricks from 'Bush's Brain' Karl Rove. Of course Team Bush is lying about how they assembled this crew to lie about Kerry. Their dishonesty denying ties with the Swift Boat group and its shady backers makes sense. Campaign coordination with a 507 group is illegal. The Kerry Campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission on this point.

Bush should be ashamed of this tactic - its deception and dishonesty - as well as its main thrust questioning Kerry's Vietnam service. Especially considering he, Cheney and Rove all refused to serve in Vietnam while Sen. Kerry volunteered for two tours of combat duty.

The Nation Magazine reports, "Senator John F. Kerry often cites his service in Vietnam as a formative element of his character. A new account of his time there - based on interviews with those who knew him well, and on his never-before-published letters home and his voluminous 'war notes' - offers the first intimate look at a traumatic and life-altering experience." According to an authoritative biography reviewed by the Nation:

Kerry challenged Bush: "Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on!" Bush would clearly lose that debate badly. Author Ian William reports, "Backed by big right wing money and the conservative media, the authors of "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" look poised to storm the bestseller charts and keep the issue of what John Kerry might or might not have done as a swift boat commander in the Vietnam War alive. As Newt Gingrich recently said on The O'Reilly Factor, this book and these vets will cause a 'mess throughout the election' for John Kerry."

Williams' new book Deserter: George W. Bush's War On Military Families, Veterans And His Past exposes disturbing facts about "George Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard and as Commander in Chief. Drawing on extensive research on the President's still mysterious military career, Williams convincingly argues that our Commander in Chief is guilty of breathtaking hypocrisy. While George W. Bush supported the Vietnam War, his family influence got him into the Texas Air National Guard, which, short of World War III breaking out, guaranteed that he would never see military action. Even in this safest of positions, Lieutenant Bush broke under the strain and went AWOL in Alabama for the better part of a year...."

By contrast, Bush's Administration "calls up contemporary national Guardsmen for front-line action in Iraq, and extends their terms in a form of backdoor conscription. The Administration ships home the dead and disabled under cover of darkness; those who do eventually return in one piece find their veterans' medical benefits and facilities axed."

Veterans and veterans groups endorse Williams' book. Bobby Muller, Nobel Prize laureate and president of the Vietnam Veterans of America writes: "Williams describes a President who inhabits a world where the soldiers are tin, where our brave men and women are reduced to photo opportunities in service not of their country's security but the President's warped political and foreign policy agendas. As a veteran I cheer Williams's courage even as I lament the exploitation of our troops." Buy Deserter: George W. Bush's War On Military Families, Veterans And His Past.

Jim Rassmann, a Vietnam Vet and a retired lieutenant from the LA County Sheriff's Department who served with the U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam wrote this for the Wall St. Journal:

I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring of 1969... On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership saved my life. ... 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. When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks.

[...]

Kerry must have seen me in the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky, to turn the boat around. Kerry's boat ran up to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a cargo net to the lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside down, I couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging out in the open, a perfect target. John, already wounded by the explosion that threw me off his boat, came out onto the bow, exposing himself to the fire directed at us from the jungle, and pulled me aboard.

For his actions that day, I recommended John for the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for bravery under fire. I learned only this past January that the Navy awarded John the Bronze Star with Combat V for his valor. The citation for this award, signed by the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam, Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, read, "Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry's calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." To this day I am grateful to John Kerry for saving my life. And to this day I still believe that he deserved the Silver Star for his courage.

[...]

Nobody asked me to join John's campaign. Why would they? I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years I have largely voted for Republicans. I volunteered for his campaign because I have seen John Kerry in the worst of conditions. I know his character. I've witnessed his bravery and leadership under fire. And I truly know he will be a great commander in chief.

Now, 35 years after the fact, some Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans for Bush are suddenly lying about John Kerry's service in Vietnam; they are calling him a traitor because he spoke out against the Nixon administration's failed policies in Vietnam. Some of these Republican-sponsored veterans are the same ones who spoke out against John at the behest of the Nixon administration in 1971. But this time their attacks are more vicious, their lies cut deep and are directed not just at John Kerry, but at me and each of his crewmates as well. This hate-filled ad asserts that I was not under fire; it questions my words and Navy records. This smear campaign has been launched by people without decency, people who don't understand the bond of those who serve in combat.

As John McCain noted, the television ad aired by these veterans is "dishonest and dishonorable." Sen. McCain called on President Bush to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad. Regrettably, the president has ignored Sen. McCain's advice.

Does this strategy of attacking combat Vietnam veterans sound familiar? In 2000, a similar Republican smear campaign was launched against Sen. McCain. In fact, the very same communications group, Spaeth Communications, that placed ads against John McCain in 2000 is involved in these vicious attacks against John Kerry. Texas Republican donors with close ties to George W. Bush and Karl Rove crafted this "dishonest and dishonorable" ad. Their new charges are false; their stories are fabricated, made up by people who did not serve with Kerry in Vietnam. They insult and defame all of us who served in Vietnam.

But when the noise and fog of their distortions and lies have cleared, a man who volunteered to serve his country, a man who showed up for duty when his country called, a man to whom the United States Navy awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, will stand tall and proud. Ultimately, the American people will judge these Swift Boat Veterans for Bush and their accusations. Americans are tired of smear campaigns against those who volunteered to wear the uniform. Swift Boat Veterans for Bush should hang their heads in shame.

See: Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush, John Kerry saved my life. Now his heroism is being questioned. Jim Rassmann, Wall St. Journal, August 10, 2004: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005460

As Rassmann notes, people familiar with Rove's dirty tactics see his mark on this operation. We've seen this dirty tricks campaigning at its worst from Republicans three times in the last three election cycles. In 2000, some of these same people bailed out Bush's failing candidacy with vicious smears against war hero John McCain mentioned above. Two years ago, Republicans linked war hero Max Cleland to terrorists and Saddam Hussein. Now, the Bush/Cheney/Rove chicken hawk coop enlisted Vietnam Vets - whose service they mock and whose health care they slashed - to blast Kerry with lies.

They did not serve with Sen. Kerry in Vietnam. Not one of them served on a boat with Kerry. Nothing they say has anything to do with Kerry's Vietnam War record. These partisan critics are nursing grudges dating back to John Kerry's anti-war activism after he returned from Vietnam which might have saved their lives by getting them out of that failed conflict. If they really cared about Vietnam service, they'd be supporting hero Kerry against Chicken Hawks Bush and Cheney.

All this proves that even long after a war is over, truth remains a casualty. Voters and viewers get the campaigns and coverage we deserve. If we put up with it, the Republicans will continue to lie and cheat their into power and the media will help cover for it. It's up to you to demand better campaigns and truthful news coverage - not cover-ups. Write and call any reporter, network or show that airs or writes anything crediting the vicious smear campaign against Sen. Kerry. Demand the media report these "Swift Boat" mud slingers are lying.

You must demand that the media do their job and ask why Bush and Cheney refuse to repudiate these dirty tricks attacks against Sen. Kerry. Tell the media to question Bush and Cheney about their own records during the Vietnam era. Find contact information for dozens of reporters, news papers, and networks at the Media Watch Project home page: http://democrats.com/media where you can join the Media Watch Project to demand professional, unbiased reporting.

Join Democrats.com's effort to demand that Bush condemn these lies attacking John Kerry's Vietnam medals. Pointing out that Bush promised to "be a uniter, not a divider" who would "restore honor and integrity to the White House" and "change the tone in Washington," they demand that Bush, Cheney and others stop tacitly condoning these disgusting attacks and lying about their connections with these "Swift Boat" dirty tricks.

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