August 24, 2004 5:27 AM

Can we please talk about something that is important in the here and now??

Swift boat skipper: Kerry critics wrong

'This is what I saw that day'

Bush urges Kerry to condemn attack ads: President denounces ads in general

Bush campaign denies 'smear tactics': Kerry campaign compares swift boat ad to 2000 attack on McCain

Texan, GOP donor helps finance anti-Kerry veterans group

It's a sham and a travesty that has taken on a life of it's own. Many would dearly love to be able to stop talking about it, but the snowball is moving so fast downhill that NO ONE knows how to stop it.

There should be little doubt that John Kerry served in Vietnam with honor and bravery. That he still carries shrapnel in his body should be proof enough. Unfortunately, there are those out there willing to do George W. Bush's dirty work. Bush knows he cannot hold a candle to Kerry when it comes to having served his country- though Alabama may well be a safer place for it.

Personally, I find it beyond absurd that the events of 30+ years ago are playing such a major role in determinining our leader of today and the next four years. Don't we have enough issues to deal with today without the grossly misnamed "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" spreading their perversion of the truth? Of course, it's not as if the Bush campaign can hold their own with John Kerry on the issues of today. That really leaves them with only the character assassination option.

The truly sad thing about this whole sorry episode is the number of Vietnam veterans who have been forced to revisit a part of their lives at a time when most of them would probably prefer to let sleeping dogs life. People like the Chicago Tribune's William Rood, who broke 35 years of silence to come to the defense of John Kerry.

There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago--three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969.

One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other.

For years, no one asked about those events. But now they are the focus of skirmishing in a presidential election with a group of swift boat veterans and others contending that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star for what he did on that day, or the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for other actions.

Many of us wanted to put it all behind us--the rivers, the ambushes, the killing. Ever since that time, I have refused all requests for interviews about Kerry's service--even those from reporters at the Chicago Tribune, where I work.

But Kerry's critics, armed with stories I know to be untrue, have charged that the accounts of what happened were overblown. The critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what others did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us. It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there.

Even though Kerry's own crew members have backed him, the attacks have continued, and in recent days Kerry has called me and others who were with him in those days, asking that we go public with our accounts.

I can't pretend those calls had no effect on me, but that is not why I am writing this. What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it.

Rood does tell his story, and it is one in which Kerry acquitted himself admirably. In defense of the SBVFT veterans who have taken it upon themselves to impugn Kerry's actions, memories of combat can often vary widely from person to person. Throw in 30+ years in between said combat and this Presidential campaign, and those memories can sometimes fade and twist into something almost unrecognizable. Even so, this hardly excuses their transparent attempt at character assassination.

It doesn't need to be this way, and indeed, it shouldn't be this way. We should be discussing the issues that impact this country today, not debating the memories, the grudges, and the vendettas of 30+ years ago. The Bush campaign has been willing to let SBVFT do the dirty work of tarnishing John Kerry. Plausible deniability aside, does anyone really believe that if George W. Bush wanted SBVFT's campaign to end, it wouldn't end IMMEDIATELY? The fact that Bush and his campaign have been so noticeably silent on SBVFT can and should be taken as an indication that they are more than willing to let someone else get their hands dirty while they rise above the fray.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 24, 2004 5:27 AM.

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