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Skriven 2004-08-20 23:13:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Kerry
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20242-2004Aug20.html

Some Veterans Still Bitter at Talk of Crimes
Senator's Activism Made A Lasting Impression

By Josh White and Brian Faler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 21, 2004; Page A01

William Ferris was confined to a bed in a military hospital, his severed
sciatic nerve reminding him of the attack on his Navy Swift boat in a Vietnam
river. A shot from a recoilless rifle had pierced the boat's pilothouse and
then Ferris's body, leaving him in constant agony.

But it was what appeared on Ferris's television that really pained him. John F.
Kerry, a decorated fellow Swift boat driver, was testifying before Congress
about atrocities in Vietnam, throwing his medals away, speaking at antiwar
rallies. Ferris, who was trying to rehabilitate himself back to active duty,
felt betrayed.


"I was livid," Ferris, 57, of Long Island, N.Y., said yesterday, recalling how
his dislike for the presidential candidate began in the early 1970s. "I said to
myself at the time, this is someone who is using his experience for his own
purposes, and this was long before he ever ran for office. I thought he was
using, actually manipulating, what he had done in Vietnam. Just like he's doing
now."

Ferris is one of 250 Swift boat veterans who in May signed an open letter to
the Massachusetts senator asking for full disclosure of his military records,
specifically focusing on events during a four-month tour in Vietnam for which
Kerry was awarded medals for bravery in combat. The veterans group -- Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth -- has criticized Kerry for using his military
experience as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, arguing that the
Democrat has exaggerated his experiences at war for political gain.

"I thought he was just another hot dog just trying to build his reputation,"
said Wayland Holloway of Searcy, Ark., who says he crossed paths with Kerry in
1969, one day before the future presidential candidate pulled Jim Rassmann from
a river. "The first time I met John Kerry, frankly, I thought he was a very
disingenuous person."

But while the group appears to be rooted in Republican politics and big money,
several veterans who signed the letter said in interviews yesterday that they
are casually into politics and generally are not convinced that Kerry is lying,
but they do not like the candidate because of his polarizing speeches in the
1970s.

James Zumwalt, who attended the group's first news conference in May, said he
joined the group solely to the set the record straight about the allegations of
war crimes included in "Tour of Duty," a Douglas Brinkley book about Kerry's
Vietnam service. Now, Zumwalt says, "I kind of have mixed feelings" about the
tone of the group's attacks. "I would not try to question the awards given to
him or his service."

Many of the veterans, scattered across the country, learned about the
anti-Kerry group through friends, at reunions for Swift boat vets or on the
Internet, and most have limited their involvement to signing the single letter
to Kerry. Some say they voted for Al Gore in the last election but are still
deeply hurt by what Kerry did when he returned from battle.

Kenneth Knipple of Erie, Mich., who served three years in Vietnam, backed Gore
in 2000 but joined the anti-Kerry movement after leaning about it from a fellow
vet. "For him to be wounded that many times and lie as many times as he did, I
don't want him to be president," said Knipple, who served on Swift boats, but
never with Kerry.

"I wasn't there at the time that happened," said Tony Gisclair, a veteran from
Poplarville, Miss., who signed the letter, referring to Kerry's combat in
Vietnam. "But look at what the man said about us when he came back."

Tony Snesko, a veteran in Washington, D.C., said he was "devastated" by Kerry's
antiwar efforts, prompting him to sign on to the group's anti-Kerry message.

Snesko said to see Kerry elected would give credence to the senator's claims
that those who fought in Vietnam were reckless baby-killers: "At the point that
he might possibly take over this country as president -- it would validate
everything that he said about us and would make it appear true."

The effort has gained momentum in the past month, as the veterans group began
airing a controversial television commercial questioning Kerry's version of his
service and asking him to disclose his military records. The Kerry camp has
been attacking Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, calling it a front for President
Bush's reelection efforts.

The May 4 letter arose out of a broader effort coordinated by a longtime Kerry
foe and Republican supporter, Texas lawyer John E. O'Neill, also a Swift boat
veteran. At the behest of the Nixon White House in 1971, O'Neill debated Kerry
on television about the war.

O'Neill, who co-wrote "Unfit for Command," an anti-Kerry book published this
week, gathered other Swift boat veterans to start the group and allowed word to
spread. The group's core membership -- which has met three times and has had
several conference calls -- includes a seven-member steering committee and
about 10 other members.

"We really got this thing going in the hopes the Democratic Party would listen
to us and perhaps nominate someone else," said Bill Lannom of Grinnell, Iowa,
whom O'Neill recruited onto the steering committee. Lannom bristles at the
thought of Kerry being elected to the presidency. "He's lying, and he's
betraying us," Lannom said. "He's telling untruths about us and his character.
He's talking about atrocities that didn't happen. And then he's using that same
experience to promote himself. He can't have it both ways."

Unlike casual participants, the most committed members say they are driven by
desire to expose Kerry as a fraud who doctored his record to win medals and an
early release from Vietnam. But they are a minority in the larger group.

John L. Kipp of Brown County, Ind., said he learned about the letter to Kerry
while surfing the Web and added his signature because he does not believe that
Kerry is telling the whole truth. Kipp, who commanded a Swift boat in Vietnam,
doubts that Kerry would have left his boat to attack an enemy, as he claims.
"It really bothered me when he started to ballyhoo his war record," said Kipp,
62. "You don't turn on your comrades and say these terrible, awful things that
I know I had never seen. There's something about keeping faith with those you
served with."

Don Hammer, a veteran from Bloomington, Ill., said he admires Kerry. Hammer
also said he believes Kerry was within his rights to speak out against the war.
But still, Hammer has questions. "My goal is to tell Mr. Kerry to open up his
service record," he said. "I don't know what happened. Nobody else knows what
happened."

Staff writer Jim VandeHei and research editor Margot Williams contributed to
this report.

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