They did not respect or appreciate him at all. I have a lot of respect, those guys could have just sat at home and not said anything, and at least one paid the price for speaking out, losing his job.
I appreciate what they did.
Back when I was a GWB supporting neocon stooge, I did a guerrilla political protest at Union Station in Cincinnati against Kerry. I leveraged my Teamsters union card to get within 30’ of Kerry. Mid speech, I began heckling Kerry about his military service. I was manhandled by three sheet metal worker members before the cops saved me. I made a decent splash locally in the news and got his despicable Vietnam record into the articles. I have the same name as one of the Swift Boat guys. The Kerry campaign released a statement condemning me and identifying me as the Swift Boat member. Great fun!
Absolute best monetary political contribution I ever made was to the SBVfT.