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August 22nd, 2004
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Viet Cong Veterans Denounce Kerry |
'Sampan Veterans For Truth' Call Kerry Unfit For Command
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A Viet Cong sampan crew prepares to confront John Kerry's swift boat in combat |
Politics - A group of Viet Cong veterans has launched a series of television ads denouncing Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry as being a 'liar' and an 'incompetent soldier' whose war record demonstrates his unfitness for the Presidency.
The group calls itself 'Sampan Veterans For Truth,' after the small canoe-like boats, or sampans, they operated in the Mekong Delta while fighting against the U.S. during the Vietnam war. The advertisements blast Kerry for allegedly misleading the Navy and the American people about the battle in which he earned his Silver Star for heroism under fire.
"John Kerry claimed that he was taking machine gun and mortar fire during the battle," says Viet Cong soldier Nguyen Dinh Vay in one commercial. "I know this is not true, because I was one of the men attacking him. My fellow soldiers and I were armed only with spears and harsh language. And we almost won."
Nguyen goes on to say that Kerry's powerful swift boat did not face 'hundreds' of Viet Cong, as the candidate claims, but "a few ragtag soldiers in sampans."
"John Kerry, a war hero?" Nguyen asks rhetorically. "That's an insult to all of us who fought against him. If he was a hero, we'd have tried harder to kill him."
The commercial then ridicules Kerry for his lack of skill in combat, insinuating that he was not worthy of being a Navy lieutenant, let alone President of the United States. "Among the Viet Cong, he was known as 'Jittery Johnny' for his erratic behavior and inaccurate fire," says another Viet Cong veteran in the ad, Tran Binh Huong. "The sight of his swift boat was a sure sign that you were safe, because you knew that the American forces on board would be disorganized and impotent in battle. When we left the tunnels to go on hit-and-run missions, we used to kid each other by saying, 'be careful, or Jittery Johnny will get you!' Man, that one always killed me."
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| "John Kerry, a war hero? That's an insult to all of us who fought against him." |
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"Who do you want leading your country in time of war," the ad concludes, "a proven wartime President – or Jittery Johnny?"
Since the Sampan Veterans For Truth are all Vietnamese citizens who have never been to the United States, many observers are confused about why the group happens to be speaking out against Kerry during an election year thirty years after the war. Even more puzzling is the fact that the organization is concentrating its ads in key election swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.
The group is technically a so-called '527' committee, or an independent political organization with no direct ties to any candidate. Kerry supporters, however, have accused the Bush administration of colluding with, and even financing, the group.
"These accusations are utterly untrue," Nguyen said in a faxed response to the Kerry campaign's statements. "We are just a group of proud Viet Cong veterans who do not want our legacy tarnished by one man's self-serving lies. We want the truth to finally come out about John Kerry."
"Or, as we like to call him, Jittery Johnny," he added.
Nguyen did not explain how the group, which consists mostly of poor, elderly farmers living in remote Vietnamese villages, could afford the multimillion-dollar ad campaign, or where they plug in their fax machine.
The Bush campaign denied any connection to the group. "We have absolutely nothing to do with the Sampan Veterans For Truth," said Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman. "They are just a group of Americans – excuse me, Vietnamese – exercising their Constitutional right to express themselves. Apparently, in spite of the fact that they fought against us in the Vietnam War, they believe deeply in freedom – unlike some people I could mention."
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