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John Edwards is supposed to be a great lawyer, but at the recent Democratic convention he made a rookie mistake: He raised a question without knowing the answer. "If you have any questions about what John Kerry's made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him," he said. Edwards meant Kerry's "band of brothers" -- the small entourage of vets who served under him in Vietnam and now support him for president. Evidently, Edwards did not know at the time that almost every officer who commanded Kerry or served alongside him opposes his candidacy. Worse, they...

Last week I used this space to explore the history of dirty tricks in American politics. As you would remember, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had released a sequence of advertisements on television casting doubt on Senator Kerry's much vaunted Vietnam War record. Today, as I sat down to submit my article, I noticed an item in the news concerning the swift boat vets once again. Early yesterday, Max Cleland, a former US Senator from Georgia ventured down to the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to deliver a letter to Bush requesting him to personally denounce the Swift Boat...

JOHN KERRY wants us to believe he can effectively defend America, but based on the way he is struggling to defend his own reputation these days, you have to wonder about his grasp of focus, tactics, and threat analysis. Here's what I'd like to hear him say: "Here we have a president who the whole country knows deliberately avoided service in Vietnam, using his family's connections to get into the National Guard before going AWOL, permitting his surrogates to question whether the enemy fire I was subjected to in combat was thick enough to justify a citation for valor, or...

What if both sides are right? That thought comes to mind repeatedly as I try to hash out the battle between veterans who attack John Kerry's Vietnam combat record and those who defend it. Out of the fog of war, politics and old memories, long ago events have become the focus of an ugly election year mud fight as a group of swift boat veterans and others contend that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for various actions. Watching and reading the various conflicting accounts of what happened or didn't happen,...

..........McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was among the first to condemn the veterans group for challenging Kerry's combat record and spoke out against the ad throughout his 90-minute luncheon interview. But he also said Kerry had invited scrutiny of his record by putting so much emphasis on Vietnam at the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month. "His critics are saying, 'Look, you made it fair game,' " McCain said. "I mean, that's very legitimate, and I think there's a risk that he took when he made it such a centerpiece. He may be paying a very heavy...

We formed Swift Boat Veterans For Truth for one purpose: to present to the American public our conclusion that John Kerry is not fit to be commander in chief. Why have we come forward? As explained in "Unfit For Command," Mr. Kerry grossly exaggerated and lied about his abbreviated four-month tour in Vietnam. He disgraced all legitimate Vietnam War heroes when he falsely testified to Congress that we were war criminals, daily engaged in atrocities that had the full approval of all levels in the chain of command. So, once Mr. Kerry decided to apply for the commander in chief's...

Retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. said Thursday in his first on-the-record interview about the Swift boat veterans dispute that "I was absolutely in the skimmer" in the early morning on Dec. 2, 1968, when Lt. (j.g.) John Kerry was involved in an incident which led to his first Purple Heart. "Kerry nicked himself with a M-79 (grenade launcher)," Schachte said in a telephone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. He said, "Kerry requested a Purple Heart." Schachte, who also was then a lieutenant junior grade, said he was in command of the small Boston whaler or skimmer,...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTORThe View From the BoatBy JUDITH DROZ KEYESPublished: August 27, 2004 an Francisco — On Feb. 28, 1969, my husband was the commander of one of three Swift boats traveling the Dong Cung in Vietnam to carry troops and supplies upriver. The events of that day, and what happened almost two weeks later on another Swift boat patrol, have become a source of controversy in the presidential campaign, with a group of veterans saying that John Kerry did not deserve the medals he won for what he did then. I know my husband thought otherwise.The other two commanders -...

It is absolutely critical that we all remember to VOTE for Kerry in November and "Keep the dream alive !!" This message not endorsed by any candidates......... Enjoy .......

My GOODNESS! Venting first on Kerry. WTH is going on these days? Let's see, a billion flip flops served on just this one topic. Vets coming out of the woodworks like some bad Platoon or Full Metal Jacket remake. Lawyers in the wings waiting to snatch up and destroy the veterans that John Kerry wanted to relate too. The madness is a bit frightening? It's just baffling me how anyone can see the flailing, kicking and back stabbing Kerry is trying to dish out and still want to support him? It's as if stupidity is the norm on the left...

Someone on John Kerry's boat said John lied about everything on Rush Limbaugh today, now the dems can't say no one from swift boat was on John's boat.

Let’s approach this as a black and white issue. Mr. Kerry admitted that he had participated in atrocities – war crimes – during his tenure in Vietnam. Said Kerry: "There are all kinds of atrocities and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed ... " Yet, curiously, Mr. Kerry has never been brought up on charges for these atrocities. It seems to me that the Uniform Code of Military Justice is pretty clear about those in uniform who commit war crimes. In addition to admitting...

This might be a duplicate...but if not here it is coming to a swing state near you.

Does anyone have the names of the Swift boat people. There are 22 of them and I was interested in the list, if it exists on the net. I could not find it.

Swiftees launch third torpedo ad at John Kerry and his campaign.

Still Seeking a CorrectionIn a front-page article on August 20, the Los Angeles Times made this incorrect statement: None of the men in the Swift boat group behind the anti-Kerry ad, including [Larry] Thurlow, served on Kerry's patrol boat during the war. I wrote an e-mail to Jamie Gold, the "Readers' Representative" at the Los Angeles Times, pointing out that Steven Gardner, a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, served on one of Kerry's patrol boats during the war. It has been six days, and I have received no response, and have seen no correction. We have seen...

Eagle Point vet who was there backs Kerry’s assertion that bullets were flying the day he won two medals on a river in VietnamBy PAUL FATTIG Robert E. Lambert doesn’t plan to vote for John Kerry. But the Eagle Point man challenges claims by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that there was no enemy fire aimed at the five swift boats, including the one commanded by Kerry, on March 13, 1969 on the Bay Hap River in the southern tip of what was then South Vietnam. Lambert, now 64, was a crew member on swift boat PCF-51...

Until recently, I regarded the Swift Boat Veterans book and ad campaign with indifference generally reserved for Justin Timberflake's latest album. Kerry's constant touting of his Vietnam medals and the Swift Boat Veterans campaign seemed to be a he-said/they-said deal, and since I wasn't there, I have no way to know who was telling the truth. Furthermore, whether Kerry was a war hero or not made no difference to me regarding his views on future policy, such as his vigorous defense of abortions and his openness to same-sex marriages. This type of let's-stick-to-the-issues sentiment was expressed by Sen. John McCain...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrat John Kerry has lost ground with voters in their perceptions of his honesty, leadership skills and Vietnam experience during the heated debate over his war record as a swiftboat commander, a poll found. Ads paid for by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have questioned Kerry's Vietnam service and claim he lied about his actions while piloting a swiftboat on a Vietnam river in the late 1960s. The Kerry campaign has rebutted the claims with Navy documents and other veteran accounts, and Kerry has accused President Bush of being behind the ads paid...

Local veterans have mixed views on the validity of recent political attacks on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's military record in Vietnam. John Mezes, who served in the Air Force from 1956 to 1960, was suspicious of how Kerry could have won three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in a four-month period. "How did he win so many medals in so short a time?" asked Mezes, who owns a Bridgeport business that refurbishes trucks. "Isn't it suspicious it happened in only four months?" In contrast, Marine veteran Kingsley McAlpine of Bridgeport doesn't question Kerry's heroics in...