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The Boston Herald, July 29, 2002

Kerry woos vets on campaign trail

WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry, borrowing a page from war hero and close friend Sen. John McCain's 2000 campaign playbook, is reaching out to veterans in key primary states as he preps for a likely White House run.

"Anyone who has worn the uniform will tell your that nothing keeps you grounded in the stuff of real life more than talking with our fellow veterans," said Kerry (D-Mass.), a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. "There's a bond there which is hard to explain."

McCain's status as a Vietnam War hero helped propel the Arizona Republican's insurgency in a string of early presidential primaries two years ago.

The same dynamic is boosting Kerry as he makes exploratory trips to states where he must overcome perceptions he's a Yankee liberal.

"It does open the door for Kerry," John Weaver, a senior strategist for McCain's 2000 campaign, said of Kerry's war heroics. "People who might not do so otherwise are willing to take a fuller look at the guy."

Kerry enjoys a warm friendship with McCain, whose popularity as a truth-telling maverick has endured since 2000. Speculation abounds in party circles that Kerry and McCain might even pair up as running mates on the 2004 Democratic ticket.

Both men downplay the notion, but Kerry plans to spend a weekend at McCain's Arizona ranch, probably next month during Congress' annual summer recess.

"Our friendship crosses this particularly difficult era (Vietnam)," said Kerry. "It's really one of the joys of my service in the Senate."

Kerry and the conservative McCain struck up a fast friendship after they began working together several years ago on the POW-MIA issue.

"When I came to the Senate, John Kerry and I were not friends," said McCain, appearing at a recent joint Capitol Hill event with Kerry. "But frankly, he did a job (on POW-MIAs) that amazes me to this day. John Kerry and I committed ourselves to healing the wounds of the Vietnam War."

McCain worked hard to organize veteran support as he launched his presidential bid two years ago, organizing Veterans for McCain groups in some cities down to the precinct level.

In recent visits to key presidential primary states such as New Hampshire, South Carolina and California, Kerry met with several veterans groups - laying the groundwork for a nationwide political organization.

Kerry, 58, has already won pledges of political support from former crew members of the Navy Swift boats he commanded - evoking memories of how the late John F. Kennedy's old PT-109 crewmates helped JFK on the campaign trail back in 1960.

Kerry has used his Vietnam experiences as a way to introduce himself to voters in states where he is largely unknown - states such as South Carolina where he might otherwise be dismissed as too liberal, too rich and too slick to win votes.

On the campaign trail, Kerry uses Vietnam as a rhetorical stepping off point to talk about broader issues such as character and the special "bond of service" he shares with other vets.

Kerry, who won the Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, does not trumpet his own combat exploits.

But a slick 14-minute biographical campaign video that precedes his speeches features footage of his Vietnam days. He's shown as a rifle-toting naval officer on patrol in the Mekong Delta. There are also scenes of Kerry back home, leading the Vietnam Veterans Against the War protesting on Capitol Hill.

Weaver noted that McCain rarely spoke about his experiences as a POW who was tortured and beaten for refusing to cooperate with his captors.

"It's a story others ought to tell about you," Weaver said. "You never saw John McCain talking about his service record. Others did that."

As he makes his introductory moves on the national stage, Kerry has revealed a deeper, more personal side about his war experiences than most Massachusetts voters have seen.

In South Carolina a few weeks ago during a party dinner, Kerry praised the machine-gunner on his gunboat, Rev. David Alston, as one of the bravest men he's ever known.

"We were extremely exposed - always shot at first and the gunner was the first target," Kerry told the crowd of Democrats.

Nearly 100 rounds ripped into the aluminum turret where Alston, who became a preacher after Vietnam, manned twin 50-caliber guns, Kerry recalled.

"This gunman kept firing even though he was wounded - one bullet going through his helmet, grazing his head and another hitting him in the arm," said Kerry. "I had no idea there was a holy man on those guns."

Kerry used a California Democratic Convention speech earlier this year to recall the night he returned to America after serving in Vietnam - the same night in Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968.

"I was on my ship returning to Long Beach from the Gulf of Tonkin," he said. "On the first crackling of the radio we picked up the end of the Robert Kennedy victory speech - the shots fired in the kitchen - the chaos.

"It was strange, I will tell you, leaving a place of violence to return home to violence."

Kerry rarely mentioned Vietnam in his tough 1996 re-election race against former Gov. William F. Weld. But he seems more comfortable talking about the war now as he travels the country meeting voters who know little about him.

"There's a realization that every day after Vietnam is extra - and you're liberated to say the things which are important and let the chips fall where may," said the senator.

Still, at times Kerry seems torn discussing his Vietnam experience in a personal way - perhaps wary he will be seen as boastful or seeking to exploit the war for easy political gain.

"In a campaign, you take the piece of your life and you try to connect with people," he said in a recent interview. "This is a piece, and it's a nice piece, but it's not the only piece. I do the same thing with environmentalists, prosecutors, fishermen."

But Kerry's voice grows animated as he describes the extraordinary personal bonds he developed with the two crews he commanded.

"It's hard to put into words what it was like to serve with them," he said. "They're my buddies and I love to spend time with them. Standing with them after all these years is all the honor I need in my life."