Kerry dispute sharply divides Nevada veterans

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

The controversy over John Kerry's military record is splitting friendships and bringing to mind painful memories among many in Nevada's large veteran community.

Johnathan Abbinett, a leader of Veterans for Kerry, paused Tuesday to collect himself as he talked about several veteran friends who have stopped returning his calls because he is supporting the Democratic presidential nominee.

These are guys, he said, that he usually shoots the breeze with every week.

"Friendships should be priceless but so many of the guys are not politically astute enough to understand what's happening," Abbinett said. "Smear campaigns work."

The debate could intensify this week. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that has attacked Kerry's service in Vietnam, has targeted Nevada and two other states for a new ad titled "Sellout."

It quotes several Vietnam veterans lamenting the now-famous testimony Kerry gave that criticized the Vietnam War.

"John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I, and many of my comrades in North Vietnam, in the prison camps, took torture to avoid saying," veteran Paul Gallanti said. "It demoralized us."

The group's Web site, swiftvets.com, says the group is targeting states where Kerry has touted his military service.

Other veterans in the group have called into question Kerry's three Purple Hearts as well as his Silver and Bronze Stars, saying his wounds and encounters with enemy fire were exaggerated.

In anticipation of the upcoming ad, Kerry supporter and swift boat skipper Wade Sanders traveled to Las Vegas and Reno on Tuesday to give his account of Kerry's performance in the war.

Sanders and Kerry first met while stationed briefly in San Diego, when Kerry became "the permanent thing on my couch," Sanders said. They later served together as swift boat skippers in Vietnam.

Working on a swift boat was the most dangerous assignment in the Navy, Sanders said. He remembers Kerry perfecting a maneuver to turn his boat into the line of fire, not away from it, so that the boat's two 50 caliber machine guns could better protect the swift boat.

"He was brilliant, capable and dependable," Sanders said. "The thing is, we had to operate as a team. I knew I could depend on him. I knew he was capable."

Sanders also said he used to be friends with some of the core veterans accusing Kerry of exaggerating his record.

"I'm sad," he said. "I wish I could be more eloquent about it. It really saddens me."

North Las Vegas Vietnam veteran and advocate Ed Gobel said he volunteers for a veteran suicide prevention line that has taken dozens of calls lately from veterans upset about the controversy.

"It's a really serious thing for people to have to go through and have it challenged," said Gobel, who added that he has faced questions about the Purple Heart he said he earned in the Vietnam War.

"While they think they are attacking John Kerry, it's attacking all veterans and all Vietnam veterans who have served," Gobel said.

Some efforts at peace have been made between the local chapters of Veterans for Bush and Veterans for Kerry. Abbinett, who is supporting Kerry, and Paul Adams, chairman of Nevada's Veterans for Bush, have spoken about the ads.

Adams said he has told local Bush supporters to choose between joining Veterans for Bush and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

"I think it's very tragic," Adams said of the ongoing debate. "Because we seem to have lost sight of the fact that there is a very large group of fanatics out there that wants to kill us and destroy our lives. And we're arguing over what happened 35 years ago."

Adams said he would rather talk about what the two candidates would do for veterans' benefits and national defense.

"The whole debate over what Sen. Kerry did or didn't do on a particular day in Vietnam, I think, is absurd," he said. "The whole discussion of whether or not this wound amounted to a Purple Heart and should have been awarded a purple heart is absurd."

Some veterans have a problem with calling into question a fellow veteran's medals.

"Here's a bunch of people who are questioning the chain of command in Vietnam," said Louis Rothenstein, a 65-year-old Henderson Vietnam veteran who said he is an undecided voter. "You know, awards aren't just normally given out. There's some documentation. There's statements. Nobody knows better than his crew."

Others wonder if a military record from decades ago is pertinent to a White House run.

Sanders said he thinks Kerry "has seen death" and would have a more personal perspective when sending troops to war than President Bush, who did not see combat while serving in the National Guard.

"I don't think he feels it to the depth that John Kerry does," Sanders said. "Nor does he understand the depth of his decisions."

But Kerry's fellow swift boat veterans have said Kerry's actions under pressure make him unfit for the presidency.

Fellow swift boat veterans such as George Elliott have said Kerry made up or exaggerated the atrocities he said he saw in Vietnam. Others, such as veteran Steve Gardner, said he served alongside Kerry "and watched as he made indecisive moves with our boat, put our boats in jeopardy, put our crews in jeopardy.

"If a man like that can't handle that six-man crew boat, how can you expect him to be our commander-in-chief?" Gardner asked in a press conference announcing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Sanders pointed out that some of the veterans, including Elliott, have defended Kerry's service in previous years.

"They're either lying now or they were lying then," Sanders said. "I can't quite figure out when they were lying."

While the issue plays out, Rothenstein said he's becoming less inclined to vote for Bush because he believes the anti-Kerry push is backed by major Republicans and is "hurting Vietnam veterans in general."

Gobel said he expects to hear rumblings from veterans upset about the controversy.

"There are a few honest people that are just very hurt by that," he said. "They constantly have to relive it."