Gephardt in Error on Viet Veterans’ Suicide

A fund-raising letter by Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt saying more Vietnam veterans have died by suicide than were killed in the war was a mistake, but the Democratic presidential candidate does not plan to issue a retraction, aides said.

The statement in a July mailing “slipped through” the campaign’s checking system, Don Foley, Gephardt’s press secretary, said.

In the nationwide mailing, Gephardt said: “The Reagan Administration has cut aid to veterans while more Vietnam veterans have committed suicide than were killed in the war.”

“It is not true,” Foley told the Tampa Tribune on Thursday. “We regret the error, and we certainly will not repeat it and will do what we can to see that it does not get further play.” He said that despite the error Gephardt did not intend to mail a retraction.

Barry Kasinitz, a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans of America, said the claim about suicide is “a very old and unfortunate statement that got circulated” and continues to surface.