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GREENSBORO, NC
Anti-Kerry ad by vets loses credibility
Kathryn Spangler _____
W&N Editor
The recent release of military
records of a prominent member
of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a
public advocacy group of Vietnam vet
erans who opposed Democratic presi
dential candidate John Kerry's anti-war
activism, has cast doubt over the
group's anti-Kerry television advertise
ments, which began airing earlier this
month.
Larry Thurlow commanded a Navy
Swift boat with Kerry during the
Vietnam War. Both men were awarded
Bronze Stars for actions taken March
13, 1969, when Viet Cong forces on
the banks of the Bay Hap fired on their
boat after a mine explosion hit another
U.S. craft. Kerry received his Bronze
Star for rescuing Lt. James -
Rassmann, a Special Forces officer
who went overboard after a second
explosion hit his boat, while Kerry him
self was injured and still under fire.
Thurlow was awarded the Bronze Star
for aiding a disabled Swift boat while
he was also under fire.
Thurlow swore in an affidavit last
month and has said in several inter
views and in John O'Neill's new book
Unfit for Command: Swift Boat
Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry that his and Kerry's boat was
never under fire. "My personal feeling
was always that I got the award for
coming to the rescue of the boat that
was mined," Thurlow, a registered
Republican, said in a telephone inter
view with The Washington Post.
The Post, however, obtained
Thurlow's military records, including a
Bronze Star recommendation that
says his actions "took place under
constant enemy small arms fire which
LTJG THURLOW completely ignored
in providing immediate assistance" to
the disabled Swift boat and its crew.
Lt. Cmdr. George M. Elliott, who sup
ports Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,
signed Kerry's and Thurlow's Bronze
Star recommendations after receiving
after-action reports at his base in the
Gulf of Thailand (Thurlow has accused
Kerry of having undue influence over
those reports).
Jack Chenoweth and Richard Pees,
two other Swift boat skippers who
were with Kerry and Thurlow, have
disputed the documented "enemy fire"
on the Bay Hap.
Commander Don Droz, a fourth wit
ness to the events of March 13, died
WORLD & NATION
in April 1969 in Vietnam.
Rassmann, who appeared alongside
Kerry during the Democratic National
Convention in Boston, has affirmed
that he was under fire after he went
overboard and as Kerry rescued him.
On Aug. 22, Kerry's campaign
began airing a television advertise
ment of its own accusing President
George W. Bush of supporting the
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth adver
tisements. Stephanie Cutter, the com
munications director of Kerry's cam
paign, told The New York Times that
the ad would air in the same states as
Swift Boats for Truth's advertisement:
Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The ad's narrator reads, "Bush
smeared John McCain four years ago.
Now, he's doing it to John Kerry.
George Bush: Denounce the smear.
Get back to the issues. America
deserves better" (the ad refers to
Arizona Senator John McCain's loss in
the 2000 South Carolina Republican
primary after Bush supporters aired
advertisements accusing McCain of
ignoring veterans).
The Bush campaign has denied any
link to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a
"527 group" which, per federal election
law, may raise funds and air advertise
ments attacking candidates, but is pro
hibited from aligning with a presiden
tial campaign. However, several high
profile Bush supporters have reported
ly financed the group, which has
received over $450,000 in donations
since it began airing the anti-Kerry
ads.
According to The Dallas Morning
News, Houston developer Bob Perry,
a supporter of President George W.
Bush's gubernatorial and presidential
campaigns whom Bush's chief political
aide Karl Rove describes as a friend,
sent two checks for SIOO,OOO each.
The New York Times reported that
Texas businessman Harlan Crow,
another Bush backer, has also donat
ed funds. Retired colonel Kenneth
Cordier, a former member of Bush's
veterans advisory panel, appeared in
a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth adver
tisement (according to members of the
Bush campaign, he participated in the
advertisement without their knowl
edge; Cordier resigned from the veter
ans advisory panel last weekend).
On Aug. 23, Bush spoke to reporters
from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and
criticized the advertisements of "527
groups," calling them "bad for the sys
tem." He did not, however, directly ask
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Kerry, top row center, with fellow soldiers in Vietnam.
the group to stop airing the anti-Kerry
advertisement.
President of the campus chapter of
College Democrats, sophomore Adam
Waxman, is also critical of the ads,
and of the controversy over Kerry's
military record.
"I just think that it's a way for Bush
to distract debate from issues we need
to be talking about, like the failing
economy and the war in Iraq," he said.
Jerry Joplin, an associate professor
of justice and policy studies who
served in Vietnam 1968 - 69, agrees.
"To me, the ads themselves seem to
be purely politically motivated," he
said. "These guys that want to say
something now - why didn't they say
this when it happened? They've waited
until a few months before the general
HH^GUILFORDIAN
Corrections
In the August 20 issue of The Guilfordian, Adrienne Craig's name was misspelled as
"Andrienne Craig" in the "Staff positions filled" box on page 3. Also, the main exten
sion for Campus Life was misreported as x2lOl on page 8. The correct number is
x 2186. The Guilfordian would like to apologize for these errors.
The Guilfordian strives to maintain accuracy and balance in our reporting. If you
should discover any factual error printed in this edition, please leave a detailed mes
sage for Editor-in-Chief Taleisha Bowen in The Guilfordian office, x 2306, or e-mail the
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AUG 27, 2004
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election to make these comments."
Jopiin accused both campaigns of
resorting to "attack ads."
"In a way, (the MoveOn PAC) is
doing the same things against Bush,"
he said. "I may find that less objection
able, but it's just not a healthy cam
paign, and that's my big objection to it
Who needs this stuff? Nobody."
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
advertisement in question accuses
Kerry of lying about his actions in
Vietnam for which he received a
Bronze Star, a Silver Star, and three
Purple Hearts.
This article is the first in a weekly
series covering the upcoming presi
dential election.