Vietnam veteran stumps for Kerry

Kirsten Searer

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 8:16 a.m.

Jim Rassmann, the Vietnam veteran credited with helping John Kerry show a more emotional side, made a stop in Nevada Thursday to tout the Democratic presidential candidate.

Kerry pulled Rassmann out of a Vietnam river 35 years ago during the war, when Rassmann was under enemy fire and sure he was about to die.

The two men lost contact but were tearfully united in January before the crucial Iowa caucus, which Kerry later won.

Rassmann, who was a registered Republican until January, said Thursday that he is traveling the country to talk about veterans' benefits and the handling of the war in Iraq.

Kerry, he said, would do a better job of taking care of veterans such as National Guard members, who are returning home to find restricted access to medical care.

Rassmann also worries that people in the military are not re-enlisting, meaning the younger generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will not be around to become senior noncommissioned and commissioned officers.

"If they don't re-enlist in sufficient numbers, than we end up with a gap," he said.

He said Kerry has the rapport with allies around the world to help deal with the situation in Iraq. Rassmann, a retired police officer and expert on orchids, said he thinks many people outside of the United States view the Bush administration as arrogant.

Kerry, he said, "will have an opportunity to repair much of the damage the Bush administration has done. These people really want to have good relationships with the United States."

Rassmann, who served in the Army, was doing reconnaissance work with Kerry's crew when their boat was attacked. Rassmann was propelled into the water and he dove down to avoid bullets and the boat's propellers.

When he emerged, the boats had moved on, but he was still under fire.

"I thought I was dead," he said. "I was swimming for the north bank."

Even if he had made it to land, he likely would have been captured and possibly killed, he said. But when he came up out of the water for air another time, he saw Kerry poised at the side of his boat, offering his hand.

Kerry pulled him to safety, despite his own injured arm.

When they reached safety, Kerry was flown for medical treatment. Rassmann, who had lost Chinese citizens working with him, was covered in blood.

He tried to write Kerry in 1984, offering him dinner if he ever was in Los Angeles, where Rassmann worked. But the letter didn't make it to the senator, and the two men didn't connect until January, when Rassmann volunteered to help the campaign.

Rassmann helped work phone banks in Reno and Las Vegas this week. The Kerry campaign hopes to organize 1 million veterans for the election, including 8,400 veterans in Nevada, said spokesman Sean Smith.