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Vietnam veterans accuse kerry of civilian abuses Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/06/wus06.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/06/ixworld.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/06/wus06.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/06/ixworld.html Vietnam veterans accuse Kerry of civilian abuses By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 06/08/2004) A group of Vietnam veterans launched an assault on Senator John Kerry's war record yesterday as the fight for the presidency turned ugly. Thirteen men from the naval patrol squadron in which Mr Kerry served, calling themselves "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", appeared in a television advertisement accusing him of claiming falsely to be a hero. They said he lied to win his gallantry medals and alleged that he committed abuses against civilians in the Mekong Delta. Mr Kerry's campaign team retorted that none of the veterans had served in Mr Kerry's patrol boats. Mr Kerry has faced criticism for years within the fractious world of Vietnam veterans. Many have never forgiven him for his role as a leading anti-war activist who said his fellow American soldiers committed war crimes. But the new allegations are among the gravest he has faced and his public accusers now include the admiral who was in charge of his unit. Mr Kerry's war record is a cornerstone of the Democratic campaign, which has worked to make stars of the five surviving men who served on Mr Kerry's boats, calling them his "band of brothers". They appeared on stage before his key acceptance speech to the recent Democratic convention. One, Gene Thorson, told reporters: "These assertions are garbage. These people weren't there with John Kerry." Mr Kerry received backing yesterday from his friend Senator John McCain, who faced similar attacks over his Vietnam war record during his bitterly fought 2000 primary fight against George W Bush for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr McCain, who spent five years being tortured in a Hanoi prison camp, said the attacks on Mr Kerry were "dishonest and dishonourable" and urged the Bush campaign to condemn them. "It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me," said Mr McCain, referring to the rumours spread against him by Vietnam veterans and Bush supporters in 2000. Mr McCain and Mr Kerry are hated by some veterans for chairing a Senate investigation which rejected long-standing claims that there are still American prisoners of war hidden in Vietnam by the communist authorities. The "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" said in their new advertisement "John Kerry is no war hero" and "John Kerry cannot be trusted." The advertisement is to run in a handful of closely tied "swing states". A book, Unfit for Command, to be published next week, alleges that Mr Kerry lied to win his Silver Star for gallantry, stating: "Kerry earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth." It also alleges that Mr Kerry used a Zippo lighter to burn a village to the ground and ordered farm animals to be shot.

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