Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush

[Guest guest]

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB109209179651686933-IJjfYNplaZ3opysZHqHb\

aWGm5,00.html

 

Shame on the Swift Boat

Veterans for Bush

 

By JIM RASSMANN

August 10, 2004; Page A10

 

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

 

I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring of

1969. He and his swift boat crew assisted in inserting

our Special Forces team and our Chinese Nung soldiers

into operational sites in the Cau Mau Peninsula of

South Vietnam. I worked with him on many operations

and saw firsthand his leadership, courage and

decision-making ability under fire.

 

On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership

saved my life.

 

While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the

Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift

boat. 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. To avoid the

incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water as long

as I could hold my breath, attempting to make it to

the north bank of the river. I thought I would die

right there. The odds were against me avoiding the

incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the river,

I thought I'd be captured and executed. 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.

 

It has been many years since I served in Vietnam. I

returned home, got married, and spent many years as a

deputy sheriff for Los Angeles County. I retired in

1989 as a lieutenant. It has been a long time since I

left Vietnam, but I think often of the men who did not

come home with us.

 

I am neither a politician nor an organizer. I am a

retired police officer with a passion for orchids.

Until January of this year, the only public

presentations I made were about my orchid hobby. But

in this presidential election, I had to speak out; I

had to tell the American people about John Kerry,

about his wisdom and courage, about his vision and

leadership. I would trust John Kerry with my life, and

I would entrust John Kerry with the well-being of our

country.

 

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.

 

Mr. Rassmann, a retired lieutenant with the Los

Angeles County Sheriff's Department, served with the

U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam 1968-69.

 

Corrections & Amplifications:

 

This commentary misstated the name of a group of

Vietnam veterans; the correct name is the Swift Boat

Veterans for Truth.