WASHINGTON, 24 April 2004 — As a senior at Yale, John Kerry harbored doubts about the war in Vietnam, and as a navy veteran he became famous for opposing it. But in between, he fought aggressively during an extraordinary four-month tour in that country, earning some of the nation’s highest commendations for valor — and then he abruptly returned to the United States.
Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, was in the navy from 1966 to 970, leaving with the rank of lieutenant, and a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. Those medals — plus three Purple Hearts for wounds he received in combat — were all awarded during his command of two “swift boats’’ on Vietnam’s perilous coastal waterways.
Today, that record has become both an asset and an issue for him as he seeks the presidency. Kerry has used it to define his qualifications for the office, his experience in foreign policy, his leadership — and, regarding the conflict in Iraq, his firsthand knowledge of war.
But his critics have also cited it as evidence that he was opportunistic and have questioned whether he deserved one of his medals. An examination of his record, supplemented by interviews with the candidate, his crewmates and some of his skeptics, found little to undermine Kerry’s portrayal of his service.
Veterans of various wars greet him at the airport on his campaign stops, and a campaign aide said thousands of them have signed up to support Kerry. With few exceptions, those who fought by his side, and the other veterans who support him today, are startled that anyone would question his valor.
Kerry’s service evaluations, may of which were posted on his website this week, effusively cite his gallantry, his commitment to his service and the admiration of his men. In the coming weeks, his campaign will launch a series of ads promoting his military record — an indication that he will continue to run on his military resume.
But a group of Vietnam veterans, some of them partisans, portray him as a conniving young sailor who strived to collect undeserved Purple Hearts for minor injuries and then used those medals to cut short his tour. A military policy allowed those who received three Purple Hearts, regardless of the extent of their injuries, to leave Vietnam. Kerry could have requested to stay but did not.
There is now a website — vietnamveteransagainstkerry.com — dedicated to raising questions about his record and reminding voters that he returned home to become a leader in the anti-war movement, which critics allege demoralized the very troops he fought beside.
The issue made its way into the presidential contest this week when the Kerry campaign, facing Republican pressure to provide a more detailed account of his combat experience, decided to make public all of his military records, except for medical reports.
Those documents did not add materially to information that had already been given to some specific news organizations on request, including the Washington Post last year.
Throughout the last decade of his political career, his crewmates have jumped to his defense when his credentials and record have been questioned; they are now campaigning for him. In a recent interview, Kerry dismissed the current questions about his Purple Hearts as partisan politics. He also said he left early because he had turned on the war. One of his crewmates, Michael Medeiros, said Kerry ensured that his men were given a nonthreatening assignment before he left Vietnam.
“For anybody to say that anyone who commanded a swift boat went there to earn medals is just ludicrous. They were totally exposed ... If anything, they went there to get killed,’’ said Jim Rassman, a Green Beret whom Kerry, wounded himself, pulled out of the water while under fire — the act for which he received the Bronze Star. “John Kerry is lucky to be alive.’’
Kerry’s tour in the Navy began in August 1966 at Officers Candidate School, in Rhode Island and then in California. In the class oration he had delivered at Yale that spring, Kerry voiced his doubts about the reach of American power into Southeast Asia.
But throughout his senior year he had been surrounded by fellow members of Skull & Bones, Yale’s most elite club — young men with rich legacies of family military service. He and three of his closest friends had already decided to serve.
“Everyone wants to talk about this excruciating decision, but by and large it was four guys with some sense of family tradition in military,’’ said David Thorne, one of those friends, who also joined the Navy. “There was no ‘anything but the military’ sentiment at that time.’’
The anti-war movement was just coalescing. Thorne recalled that that summer, the two of them watched a swelling crowd protest the war in Century City, Calif.
“We just didn’t understand what was happening in the country,’’ Thorne said. “We were shocked that the police opened up and attacked the crowd without any provocation.’’
But they were in no position to oppose the war, he said. “It’s hard to explain, but you just couldn’t go there,’’ said Thorne. “You were in.’’