Newly released records dispute Kerry critic
Michael Dobbs, Washington Post
August 19, 2004 SWIFT0819

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John
Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential
candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict
his own version of events.

In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who
commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has strongly
disputed Kerry's claim that his boat came under fire during a mission in
Viet Cong-controlled territory on March 13, 1969. Kerry won a Bronze
Star for his actions that day.

But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released
Wednesday to the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act,
contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons
fire" directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his
own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing
assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."

As one of five Swift boat skippers who led the raid up the Bay Hap
River, Thurlow was a direct participant in the disputed events. He is
also a leading member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a public
advocacy group of Vietnam veterans dismayed by Kerry's subsequent
antiwar activities, which has aired a controversial television
advertisement attacking his war record.

In interviews and written reminiscences, Kerry has described how his
50-foot patrol boat came under fire from the banks of the Bay Hap after
a mine explosion disabled another U.S. patrol boat. According to Kerry
and members of his crew, the firing continued as an injured Kerry leaned
over the bow of his ship to rescue a Special Forces officer who was
blown overboard in a second explosion.

Last month, Thurlow swore in an affidavit that Kerry was "not under
fire" when he fished Lt. James Rassmann out of the water. He described
Kerry's Bronze Star citation, which says that all units involved came
under "small arms and automatic weapons fire," as "totally fabricated."

"I never heard a shot," Thurlow said in his affidavit, which was
released by Swift Boats Veterans for Truth. The group claims the backing
of more than 250 Vietnam veterans, including a majority of Kerry's
fellow boat commanders.

'Small arms fire'

A document recommending Thurlow for the Bronze Star noted that all his
actions "took place under constant enemy small arms fire which LTJG
THURLOW completely ignored in providing immediate assistance" to the
disabled boat and its crew. The citation states that all other units in
the flotilla also came under fire.

"It's like a Hollywood presentation here, which wasn't the case,"
Thurlow said Wednesday night, after being read the full text of his
Bronze Star citation. "My personal feeling was always that I got the
award for coming to the rescue of the boat that was mined. This casts
doubt on anybody's awards. It is sickening and disgusting."

Thurlow said he would consider his award "fraudulent" if coming under
enemy fire was the basis for it. "I am here to state that we weren't
under fire," he said. He speculated that Kerry could have been the
source of at least some of the language used in the citation.

In a telephone interview Tuesday evening after attending a Swift Boat
Veterans strategy session in an Arlington, Va., hotel, Thurlow said he
had lost his Bronze Star citation more than 20 years ago. He said he was
unwilling to authorize release of his military records because he feared
attempts by the Kerry campaign to discredit him and other anti-Kerry
veterans.

The Post filed an independent request for the documents to the National
Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, which is the central repository
for veterans' records. The documents were faxed to the Post by Records
Center officials Wednesday.

Thurlow and other anti-Kerry veterans have repeatedly alleged that Kerry
was the author of an after-action report that described how his boat
came under enemy fire. Kerry campaign researchers dispute that
assertion, and there is no convincing documentary evidence to settle the
argument. As the senior skipper in the flotilla, Thurlow might have been
expected to write the after-action report for March 13, but he said that
Kerry routinely "duked the system" to present his version of events.

For much of the episode, Kerry was not in a position to know firsthand
what was happening on Thurlow's boat, as Kerry's boat had sped down the
river after the mine exploded under another boat. He later returned to
provide assistance to the stricken boat.

Thurlow, an oil industry worker and former teacher in Kansas, said he
was angry with Kerry for his antiwar activities on his return to the
United States and particularly Kerry's claim before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee that U.S. troops in Vietnam had committed war crimes
"with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."

" 'Upset' is too mild a word," said Thurlow, a registered Republican, of
his reaction to Kerry then.

Members of Kerry's crew have come to his defense.
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