Crewmates Attest to Kerry’s Mettle as Wartime Commander

Fred Short only needs two minutes. He’ll take more if you give it to him, but it’s not really necessary.

The abridged version of his harrowing tale, delivered in a honeyed Arkansas drawl, has been honed to accomplish the tasks at hand: burnishing Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry’s national security credentials, showcasing his humanity and defending against attacks on his Vietnam War record.

“In 1969, I was Sen. Kerry’s gun mate atop of the Swift boat in Vietnam,” he told the Mississippi delegation at a Democratic National Convention breakfast. “And I just wanted to let everyone know that, contrary to all the rumors that you might hear from the other side, Sen. Kerry’s blood is red, not blue. I know, I’ve seen it.”

The campaign is betting that the mettle of the candidate, as seen through the eyes of Short and other former crewmates, will help erode the Republicans’ traditional strength on foreign policy and cut into voters’ belief, as reflected in many polls, that President Bush is better equipped to handle the war on terrorism.

The crewmates’ goal also has been to assuage voter fears about switching commanders in chief in the middle of combat, as well as to woo the nation’s 26.5 million veterans.

Short has campaigned for the Massachusetts senator before, but this week has been different for the unassuming computer programmer and the small fraternity of Vietnam veterans who say they saw Kerry earn every one of his medals the hard way -- as Short describes it, while providing target practice to the Viet Cong.

“If it weren’t for Sen. John Kerry, on the 28th of February 1969, the day he won the Silver Star ... you and I would not be having this conversation,” he told the North Carolina delegation at another breakfast. “My name would be on a long, black wall in Washington, D.C. I saw this man save my life.”

This week, perfect strangers have approached him to say thank you. Women he has never met before have walked up and kissed him in public. He has addressed hundreds of delegates and told his story on radio, television and in print.

And tonight, Short said, viewers from across the country will see the men “who served with Sen. Kerry when he got three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star” on stage with him as he accepts the nomination for president.

“That,” he said, “speaks volumes.”

Sometimes, as they will be tonight, Kerry’s former Navy crewmates are silent props. As living bridges to the candidate’s past, their presence sets up an unspoken comparison: Kerry fought in Vietnam; Bush did not. They have also offered stories to validate his combat decorations, at least one of which has been contested by Kerry’s critics, who say it was awarded for a minor wound.

The men who served on Kerry’s two Swift boats in the Mekong Delta offer a glimpse of the lanky candidate that no one -- not even his family -- can provide.

David Alston, during a prime-time convention address: “I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.... Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never lost his cool.”

Short, telling the Mississippi delegation about the aftermath of a firefight: “I had to sit on my hands, I was shaking so hard.... He went to every man on that boat and put his arm around them and asked them how they’re doing. I’ve never had an officer do that before or since. That’s the mettle of the man, John Kerry.” Several recent polls indicate that the Democrats’ bet on Kerry’s war record could pay off. A Los Angeles Times survey of 1,529 registered voters released last week showed that 53% of those polled believe Kerry’s combat experience “demonstrated qualities America needs in a president.”

But Steve Schmidt, spokesman for the Bush campaign, argued that Kerry was actually “a figure of enormous controversy” among veterans. And veterans support the president, he insisted, because Kerry has been unable to articulate a coherent policy on the war in Iraq.

“Everybody admires John Kerry’s service from 35 years ago to the nation,” Schmidt said. “But it is interesting that he can’t point to anything in his 20-year Senate career that demonstrates leadership.”