I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring
of 1969. He and his swift boat crew assisted in inserting our
Special Forces team and our Chinese Nung soldiers
into operational sites in the Cau Mau Peninsula of South Vietnam.
I worked with him on many operations and saw
firsthand his leadership, courage and decision-making ability under fire.
On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership saved my life.
While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along
the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat.
Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the
river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast
blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing
me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over,
I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed
there as long as I could hold my breath.
When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left,
and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire,
I repeatedly swam under water as long as I could
hold my breath, attempting to make it to the north bank of the river.
I thought I would die right there. The odds were
against me avoiding the incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the
river,
I thought I'd be captured and executed. Kerry
must have seen me in the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky,
to turn the boat around. Kerry's boat ran up
to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a cargo net to the
lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside
down, I couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging
out in the open, a perfect target. John, already
wounded by the explosion that threw me off his boat, came out onto the
bow,
exposing himself to the fire directed at us from
the jungle, and pulled me aboard.
For his actions that day, I recommended John for
the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for bravery under fire.
I learned only this past January that the Navy
awarded John the Bronze Star with Combat V for his valor. The citation
for
this award, signed by the Commander of U.S. Naval
Forces, Vietnam, Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, read, "Lieutenant
(junior grade) Kerry's calmness, professionalism
and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest
traditions of the United States Naval Service."
To this day I am grateful to John Kerry for saving my life. And to this
day
I still believe that he deserved the Silver Star
for his courage.
It has been many years since I served in Vietnam.
I returned home, got married, and spent many years as a deputy sheriff
for Los Angeles County. I retired in 1989 as
a lieutenant. It has been a long time since I left Vietnam, but I think
often of
the men who did not come home with us.
I am neither a politician nor an organizer. I
am a retired police officer with a passion for orchids. Until January of
this year,
the only public presentations I made were about
my orchid hobby. But in this presidential election, I had to speak out;
I had
to tell the American people about John Kerry,
about his wisdom and courage, about his vision and leadership. I would
trust
John Kerry with my life, and I would entrust
John Kerry with the well-being of our country.
Nobody asked me to join John's campaign. Why would
they? I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years I have largely
voted for Republicans. I volunteered for his
campaign because I have seen John Kerry in the worst of conditions. I know
his
character. I've witnessed his bravery and leadership
under fire. And I truly know he will be a great commander in chief.
Now, 35 years after the fact, some Republican-financed
Swift Boat Veterans for Bush are suddenly lying about John Kerry's
service in Vietnam; they are calling him a traitor
because he spoke out against the Nixon administration's failed policies
in Vietnam.
Some of these Republican-sponsored veterans are
the same ones who spoke out against John at the behest of the Nixon
administration in 1971. But this time their attacks
are more vicious, their lies cut deep and are directed not just at John
Kerry,
but at me and each of his crewmates as well.
This hate-filled ad asserts that I was not under fire; it questions my
words and
Navy records. This smear campaign has been launched
by people without decency, people who don't understand the bond
of those who serve in combat.
As John McCain noted, the television ad aired
by these veterans is "dishonest and dishonorable." Sen. McCain called on
President Bush to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans
for Bush ad. Regrettably, the president has ignored Sen. McCain's advice.
Does this strategy of attacking combat Vietnam
veterans sound familiar? In 2000, a similar Republican smear campaign was
launched against Sen. McCain. In fact, the very
same communications group, Spaeth Communications, that placed ads against
John McCain in 2000 is involved in these vicious
attacks against John Kerry. Texas Republican donors with close ties to
George W. Bush and Karl Rove crafted this "dishonest
and dishonorable" ad. Their new charges are false; their stories are fabricated,
made up by people who did not serve with Kerry
in Vietnam. They insult and defame all of us who served in Vietnam.
But when the noise and fog of their distortions
and lies have cleared, a man who volunteered to serve his country, a man
who
showed up for duty when his country called, a
man to whom the United States Navy awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star
and
three Purple Hearts, will stand tall and proud.
Ultimately, the American people will judge these Swift Boat Veterans for
Bush and
their accusations. Americans are tired of smear
campaigns against those who volunteered to wear the uniform. Swift Boat
Veterans
for Bush should hang their heads in shame.
Mr. Rassmann, a retired lieutenant with the Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department,
served with the U.S. Army 5th Special Forces
Group in Vietnam 1968-69.
Corrections & Amplifications:
This commentary misstated the name of a group of Vietnam veterans; the correct name is the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.