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John Kerry: What's the Truth?

By Joshua Bunton

August 23, 2004

You've heard it time and time again "I served in Vietnam." For those who didn’t know about it, I'm sure John will tell the world again soon!

While Mr. Kerry's service to his country is commendable, it is he who made Vietnam the central issue of his presidential campaign.

Recently, a group by the name of "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) emerged onto the media scene with their book titled "Unfit for Command", challenging John Kerry's war record.

The group challenges John Kerry's Silver Star, stating, "John Kerry earned it by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth." John Kerry's version was simply this in an ABC NEWS interview "It is a pivotal moment in my life, but I don't talk about it."

Another area the group challenges John Kerry on is how he ordered the destruction of small animals at a small hamlet along the Song Bo De River.

George Bates’ (an officer in Coastal Division 11 who participated in numerous operations with Kerry) account of this incident was described as follows:

"With Kerry in the lead, the boats approached a small hamlet with three or four grass huts. Pigs and chickens were milling around peacefully. As the boats drew closer, the villagers fled. There were no political symbols or flags in evidence in the tiny village. It was obvious to Bates that existing policies, decency, and good sense required the boats to simply move on.

"Instead, Kerry beached his boat directly in the small settlement. Upon his command, the numerous small animals were slaughtered by heavy-caliber machine guns. Acting more like a pirate than a naval officer, Kerry disembarked and ran around with a Zippo lighter, burning up the entire hamlet."

In an effort to be fair to both sides, I did a search for "Song Bo De River" on John Kerry's website and came up with nothing.

Since its release, "Unfit for Command" has become a national news story. However, to this date, besides the FOXNEWS channel, no other mainstream news network has invited any member of this group for an interview.

Additionally, the Swift boat group has begun running ads questioning John Kerry's Vietnam service. John Kerry's campaign responded by stating, "The group was a front for the Bush Administration."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan responded by stating, "The White House had already made it clear they were not related to this group." Mr. McClellan further suggested John Kerry was "losing his cool."

On August 20, 2004 John Kerry filed an ad complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, for violating the law with inaccurate ads that are illegally coordinated with the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign.

Additionally, it asked the FEC to warn the SBVT and the Bush campaign against "further violations" and oblige them to "repay their illegal contributions" as well as imposing a maximum fine.

It should be noted, as of today, the outcome of the Kerry campaign’s "FEC" complaint is unknown. Regardless of party lines, one thing is for certain. Mr. Kerry has a lot of explaining to do.

Josh Bunton is the former editor on ConservativeIssues.com. Josh's commentaries appear on many websites. Josh receives email at webmaster@readjjb.com

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