For Immediate Release
August 19, 2004
Kerry-Edwards Campaign Debunks False Swift Boat Attacks; Sets the Record Straight With New AdFormer Green Beret, Lt. Jim Rassmann: “When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine.”Washington, DC – In response to the false and dishonest attack ad from Republican supporters of President Bush, the Kerry-Edwards campaign released a new television ad to set the record straight, featuring former Green Beret Lt. Jim Rassmann testifying to John Kerry's heroic and honorable service in Vietnam. In the ad, long-time registered Republican, former Lt. Jim Rassmann relives his experience on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam the day that Lt. John Kerry saved his life. The 30-second spot, “Rassmann,” is airing in the states where the false claims were first aired, including Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
John Kerry served two tours of duty during Vietnam, during which he was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star with Combat V and a Silver Star. The Republican attack group that has produced the false negative assault on John Kerry’s service isn’t interested in the truth. The truth is that official United States Navy reports document John Kerry’s service in Vietnam, and these Republicans, with help from the Bush attack machine’s biggest patrons, have attacked the integrity of the United States Navy itself and all who served on the Swift Boats.
Kerry’s crewmates have responded to these attacks with the truth – they were on the Swift Boat with Kerry and they know what happened. “These assertions are garbage, these people weren’t there with John Kerry,” said PCF 94 crewmate Gene Thorson. “We were. If John Kerry hadn’t made the right command decisions, in my opinion, we would be some of the names on that wall.” Del Sandusky, senior enlisted man on the PCF 94 added, “It was an horrific firefight, I don’t know how these guys could stretch the truth like this.”
“The fire was strong enough to knock out Tommy Belodeau’s machine gun…I was in the middle of the firefight,” Rassmann has said of the false claims that there was no fire that day and that other boats rescued people from the water. “There was one person in the water that day and that was me, anyone who is telling you otherwise is giving you a lie.”
Republican lies about John Kerry’s record will not stop him from fighting for issues that matter to the lives of everyday Americans: the skyrocketing costs of health care, the need to create good paying jobs, and the real fight to make America secure in a dangerous world – the very issues the Bush Administration is afraid to put at the center of this election.
A group falsely labeled “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” is trying to smear John Kerry’s military service and the service of those who served in great danger with him on the Navy’s Swift Boats. This group of “Swift Veterans for Bush,” isn’t interested in the truth – and they’re not telling the truth. Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented John Kerry’s service in Vietnam and Navy commanders decorated him for his service. Thirty five years ago, this was the truth, and it’s still the truth today.
This truth knows no party labels. In fact, Republican Senator John McCain called the television ad run by these Bush supporters ‘dishonest and dishonorable,’ and called on President Bush to condemn it. Nearly two weeks later, the President still refuses to join Sen. McCain in setting the record straight – just as he refused to disavow or condemn hateful and vicious attacks on Sen. McCain’s military record during the Republican primary in South Carolina in 2000.
John Kerry made a commitment today to the American people. He said Republican lies about his military service record will not stop him from fighting for jobs, health care, and America’s security. These are the issues that really matter to the American people, and that’s why John Kerry’s going to keep fighting for them.
To view “Rassmann,” visit www.johnkerry.com. Scripts and back-up can be found below.
-30-
Script "Rassmann"John Kerry:
“I'm John Kerry and I approved this message.”
Narrator:
The people attacking John Kerry’s war record are funded by Bush’s big money supporters. Listen to someone who was there, the man whose life John Kerry saved.
Lt. Jim Rassmann:
It blew me off the boat. All these Viet Cong were shooting at me. I expected I’d be shot. When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine.
Narrator:
The Navy documented John Kerry’s heroism, and awarded him the Bronze Star. Today, he still has shrapnel in his leg from his wounds in Vietnam.
Swiftboat Veterans for Bush Ads UnmaskedOfficial Navy Records and Eyewitness Testimony Debunk Bush-Republican Backed Attack John Kerry: “I’m John Kerry and I approve this message.”
Narrator: “The people attacking John Kerry’s war record are funded by Bush’s big money supporters.”
· Fox News: O’Neill’s funders “are Republicans who have contributed to and backed various Bush campaigns and causes over the decades” “Kerry’s military service was an asset during the primaries; critics hoped to transform it into a liability now. The GOP says it’s not involved with the veterans criticizing Kerry, but many of them are Republicans who have contributed to and backed various Bush campaigns and causes over the decades.” (Fox News, Special Report, Cameron, 5/4/04)
· Donor Harlan Crow is a Trustee to the “George Bush Foundation” and “Faithful” & “Consistent” Bush Donor. For his generous contributions to the Foundation honoring former President George H.W. Bush, Harlan Crow was named a “Trustee.” “Crow is a faithful donor to Republican candidates and causes, ranging from President George W. Bush to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.”-- In his 1978 failed bid for Congress, George W. Bush received contributions from “Harlan Crow, of the Trammell Crow real estate family, who would be consistent financial backers of Bush pere et fils for decades.” (American Prospect, “George W’s Compassion”; 9/99-10/99; New Jersey Law Journal, 6/6/02; http://www.georgebushfoundation.org/bush/asp/OverView/Trustees.asp)
· Texas’ Biggest Republican Donor antes up $200K. A major Texas donor to the Republican Party and President Bush has given another $100,000 to an independent group challenging John Kerry's military service in Vietnam. Houston homebuilder Bob Perry provided much of the early money for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which recently launched a television ad and book accusing Mr. Kerry of fabricating his war record. Mr. Perry's latest donation brings to $200,000 the amount he has given the organization. … Mr. Perry is a prolific GOP donor who backed Mr. Bush in his races for governor and president and has contributed more than $5 million to state candidates and causes in Texas since 2000 and several hundred thousand dollars to national candidates and the Republican Party. (Dallas Morning News, 8/18/2004)
· Karl Rove “Carefully Cultivated” O’Neill Donor Bob Perry “By the mid-nineties, Rove had got himself into a highly unusual position for a political consultant-functioning more in the manner of an old-fashioned political boss than of a for-hire member of the service sector. Rather than his pitching candidates for their business, candidates pitched him for his commitment. The key to his power was that he had a particularly solid connection to the money side of politics. He carefully cultivated Texas's biggest Republican donors, people like Peter O'Donnell and Louis Beecherl, in Dallas, and Bob Perry and Kenneth Lay (before the fall of Enron), in Houston; they saw him as someone whose clients usually won, and made their decisions about whether or not to invest in a candidate partly on the basis of Rove’s decision whether or not to work for the campaign.” (New Yorker, “THE CONTROLLER; Karl Rove is working to get George Bush reelected, but he has bigger plans”; 5/12/03)Narrator: “Listen to someone who was there, the man whose life John Kerry saved.”
Lt. Jim Rassmann: “It blew me off the boat. All these Vietcong were shooting at me. I expected I’d be shot. When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine.”
· Eyewitness account from James Rassmann also details the fact that PCF-94 and other boats were under fire. In March of 2004, Rassmann, a registered Republican who had not seen Kerry in more than 30 years before their reunion in Iowa this year, recalled the following: “Viet Cong snipers fired at him, and Rassmann submerged over and over to avoid being hit. The bullets came from both banks, and Rassmann had nowhere to go. He began thinking his time had come, but the fifth time he came up, he saw the convoy had turned around. Kerry had ordered the boats back to pick up the man overboard. Kerry's boat, under heavy fire, sidled up to the struggling soldier. Rassmann tried to scramble up a cargo net at the bow but was too exhausted to make it all the way. He clung to the net as bullets whizzed past.” (Los Angeles Times, 3/13/04)Narrator: “The Navy documented John Kerry’s heroism, and awarded him the Bronze Star.”
· Kerry’s Bronze Star citation recounts the events of that day and includes this sentence, “In addition, all units began receiving small arms fire and automatic weapons fire from both banks.” Versions of this citation were signed by the Secretary of the Navy and the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam. This citation is available for the public to read at www.JohnKerry.com.
· Larry Thurlow, who also appears in the false Swift Boats for Truth ad, received a Bronze Star the same day. His citation says the action "took place under constant enemy small arms fire which LTJG THURLOW completely ignored in providing immediate assistance" (Washington Post, 8/19/2004) The Washington Post reported that “Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. 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.” (Dobbs, Washington Post, 8/19/04)Narrator: “Today, he still has shrapnel in his leg from his wounds in Vietnam.”
· Release of Kerry Medical Records Shows he Still Carries Shrapnel From Combat John Kerry has a piece of shrapnel in his left thigh from an injury he suffered in the Vietnam War, his doctor said Friday during a review of 36 pages of the Democratic presidential candidate's military medical records. … Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Doyle said if the shrapnel had hit Kerry in the eye, it could have blinded him. And Doyle said Kerry's third Purple Heart came from a dangerous situation on March 13, 1969, that could have been life-threatening. A mine had exploded near Kerry's swiftboat and enemy snipers were shooting around his boat. According to notes from a military doctor who treated Kerry three hours later, Kerry was thrown against the bulkhead, resulting in contusions on his right forearm. … Kerry also was wounded by a piece of shrapnel on Feb. 20, 1969, this time on his left thigh. Doctors decided to leave the shrapnel in place rather than make a wider opening to remove it. Doctors removed damaged tissue and the entry wound was closed with sutures, and no infection developed around the shrapnel, according to the records. (Pickler, Associated Press, 4/23/2004)Swift Boat Fact Sheet: Behind the trail of lies
35 years after John Kerry was awarded his medals in Vietnam, a Bush-sponsored group, the so-called “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” have embarked on a campaign of lies and distortions. Here are some of the facts you need to know:
· “Swift Boat Smears” – that’s the headline in The Washington Post (August 12, 2004) on the groups untrue attacks.
· “Dishonest and dishonorable” said John McCain. He called on President Bush to denounce the ads. The president has refused. The same public relations firm that attacked McCain in 2000 is handling the attacks against Sen. Kerry this year.
· Former Sec. of the Navy and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. John Warner said that John Kerry deserved the Silver Star. And former Gen. Tommy Franks called the attacks on Kerry “vitriolic” and “hyperbole.”
· Top Texas GOP donor Bob Perry and longtime Bush supporter is funding the Swift Boat attacks. He’s contributed $200,000 so far.
· John O’Neill, the co-author of a recently released book attacking Kerry’s service, never even met Kerry in Vietnam and no one quoted in the book served on John Kerry’s boat when he earned his combat medals. Their attacks are untrue.
· There are 13 veterans in the Swift Boat attack ad – none of the 13 ever served with Kerry when he earned his combat medals. Their attacks are simply not true. Two of the veterans attacking him now have praised Kerry in the past – George Elliot said Kerry was “unsurpassed” and Grant Hibbard wrote in a fitness report that Kerry was a “top sailor.”
· The Swift Boat Veterans attack John Kerry for his Bronze Star, but offer no proof of their attacks. The Navy documented John Kerry’s heroism and awarded him the Bronze Star.
· One attacker, Swift boater Larry Thurlow, won the Bronze Star on the same day Kerry did. Thurlow in their book falsely claimed that they were not under fire. In fact, the Washington Post (8/19/04) reports that Thurlow’s own Bronze star certificate confirms “all units” of the five boat flotilla were under "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire.” Seems that Thurlow, then and now, was under fire.
www.johnkerry.com
Paid for by Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
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