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Skriven 2004-07-30 18:00:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Kerry
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http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040729-111509-4130r.htm

Kerry's exploits in Vietnam are disputed in best seller


By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Democrats capped Sen. John Kerry's presidential nomination last night by
showing a Hollywood-produced movie of his life, featuring amateur film clips
and testaments about his service in Vietnam as commander of a Navy river patrol
boat.
    But a group of former sailors who served with Mr. Kerry are telling a
different story. Rather than depicting Mr. Kerry as a war hero, they are quoted
in a new book accusing him of exaggerating and falsifying his experiences.

The group says that of 23 crew members photographed with Mr. Kerry more than 30
years ago in Vietnam, only one supports his presidential campaign. They will
announce a nationwide campaign by "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" to tell the
American public about what they say is Mr. Kerry's true war record.
    The biographical movie shown last night, "A Remarkable Promise," shows
"family and friends talking about the courage he has shown as a soldier and a
veteran, the fights he has waged for middle-class values and the faith in
family he has exhibited as a father and husband," the Kerry campaign said
before its prime-time convention appearance.
    The film was produced by James Moll, a partner of director Steven
Spielberg.
    The book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry," from Regnery Publishing, is written by John E. O'Neill. Mr. O'Neill
served in Vietnam at the same time as Mr. Kerry and followed him as commander
on the swift boat.
    Mr. O'Neill, riled by what he considered Mr. Kerry's false charge in 1971
of widespread war crimes committed by U.S. troops, has waged a public debate
with the politician dating back to the "Dick Cavett Show" that year.
    The book quotes Mr. Kerry's fellow combatants as saying two of his Purple
Hearts came from friendly fire, not the enemy. The veterans also will dispute
other stories Mr. Kerry has told.
    "Unfit for Command" will not be released until Sept. 25, but the online
Drudge Report yesterday broke news of what it called a "bombshell book." The
book hit No. 2 on Amazon.com's best-seller list. Radio and TV hosts were
clamoring for Mr. O'Neill to appear.
    Regnery, which boasts a long list of best-selling conservative books, has
put a tight hold on information until the official release.
    Some of the book's charges have been aired by Veterans for Truth.
    Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, who commanded Mr. Kerry's task force in
Vietnam, is one of the book's sources.
    Adm. Hoffmann said yesterday he has supplied several instances of Mr.
Kerry's purported lies. One example, he said, is Mr. Kerry's contention that he
warned admirals of the folly of a certain river operation. Adm. Hoffmann said
he and others were at the meeting, and that Mr. Kerry never made such a
statement.
    "The real truth is he didn't say a ... word," Adm. Hoffmann said.
    Mr. Hoffmann is chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which plans what
it calls a grass-roots campaign.
    "We're going to tell the truth  the fact that he was a perpetual, habitual
liar," Adm. Hoffmann said. "I don't care whether it was perjury or lying before
the Senate of the United States, or that two of his Purple Hearts are at least
very specious, if not absolutely false, because he filed false after-action
reports."

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