Navy records detail Kerry Vietnam duty

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, under pressure to make his military records public, yesterday released dozens of pages from his four years of service in the Navy, including evaluations that characterized him as an outstanding and aggressive officer.

One document said Kerry was "unofficially credited with 20 enemy killed in action" in December 1968 while he commanded a naval "swift boat" near Cambodia. Kerry's unit was involved in an ambush and fighting that broke out at the time of a shaky "Christmas truce."

But both of the commanding officers who signed that fitness report said in telephone interviews yesterday that they do not recall an event at that time in which 20 enemy were killed. Kerry himself has never publicly claimed to have killed such a high number of enemy combatants. Campaign spokesman Michael Meehan said, "Senator Kerry recalls killing one enemy face to face. He does not dispute the fitness reports. He was the skipper of a craft that killed many enemy." The one enemy Kerry recalled killing was the Viet Cong that he killed in a separate event for which he received the Silver Star.

The release of records on Kerry's campaign website did not include a copy of a medical report related to the shrapnel wound that led to his first purple heart; Kerry aides have shown that document to some reporters but have not made it publicly available.

Overall, the records portray the former Navy lieutenant as a courageous officer. Kerry's commanders described him as "top notch," "intelligent," "polished," and "brilliant." The records cover the period when Kerry was an officer from 1966 to 1970. The Kerry campaign yesterday said that it was trying to collect as many documents as possible and might post more in the future, indicating that the document delivery was not complete.

When Kerry was asked in a Sunday appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press" whether he would disclose all military and medical records, he said, "I have" and added that the records were available for examination at his campaign headquarters. The next day, however, his campaign backed away from that commitment.

Finally, after public pressure grew -- especially from Republican officials -- Kerry posted the records on the campaign's website: www.johnkerry.com/about/military_records.html.

"In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed," wrote one of Kerry's commanding officers, Lieutenant Commander George Elliott. "He constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. . . . LTJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach."

Kerry's Vietnam service has been a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Kerry's combat tour began in November 1968 and lasted about five months, involving more than two dozen combat missions, including many in which Kerry and his crew faced enemy fire. During this period, Kerry was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action, and the Bronze Star for valor. He also earned three purple hearts for combat wounds, which enabled him under the regulations to leave combat more than six months early.

As reported last week, this newspaper reviewed Kerry's combat record in preparation for a book written by a team of Globe reporters, "John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography," to be published next week. The review found that Kerry acted heroically and under fire in many situations, and also found that questions were raised about the circumstances of Kerry's first purple heart. Kerry's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard, told the Globe that he raised questions about whether Kerry and his crew received enemy fire and about the minor nature of the wound, which Hibbard said resembled a fingernail scratch. Hibbard said he recalled that there was some correspondence about the matter and that Kerry eventually received the purple heart.

The records released yesterday did not include any correspondence indicating that questions were raised about the purple heart. The campaign earlier this year showed the Globe a document verifying that Kerry was treated for a shrapnel wound that led to the first purple heart, but a campaign official was quoted by the Associated Press yesterday as saying Kerry did not plan to post that document on the website because it was viewed as a private medical record. Given that decision, it is not clear whether the campaign has other documents that it is not posting due to their personal nature.

The campaign also did not post a copy of the official card describing the first purple heart wound or the after-action report for that event, which occurred on Dec. 2, 1968. The Navy Historical Center has said that it cannot locate a copy of the card or after-action report for the first purple heart, although it has verified that Kerry did receive the award.

In that first purple heart event, Kerry and two sailors were on a small boat, similar to a Boston Whaler, when they spotted men running from a boat along a beach. Kerry has said he believed he was facing the enemy and ordered the crew to open fire. During this event, Kerry has said, he was hit by a piece of shrapnel. The Kerry campaign has declined to respond to a question about whether Kerry believed he was hit by enemy fire, and Kerry has been quoted as saying he didn't know where the shrapnel came from.

The campaign did post an evaluation of Kerry by Hibbard. Hibbard's evaluation was brief and incomplete because Hibbard oversaw Kerry's service for only about two weeks. Kerry's duty under Hibbard included "counter infiltration operations against Viet Cong forces. Engaged in combat operations." Hibbard marked a few performance categories, noting that Kerry's initiative, cooperation, and bearing ranked among the top few. But unlike other evaluators who wrote about specific actions by Kerry, Hibbard did not do so, providing this explanation: "The short period LTJG Kerry was attached to Coast Division 14 prevents further evaluation."

After leaving that division, Kerry went on to command six-man swift boats. One of the evaluations from that period says that Kerry, in an event during what was supposed to be Christmas truce, "effectively suppressed enemy fire and is unofficially credited with 20 enemy killed in action." The report was signed by two of Kerry's commanders: George Elliott and Joseph Streuli. But both said in telephone interviews yesterday that they did not recall the fighting.

"That number is so high I just don't recall anyone coming back and saying we got 20 of the enemy," Elliott said, adding that the timing of the fighting meant it would have happened when Streuli oversaw Kerry. Streuli, however, said, "I just don't remember it."

One of Kerry's crewmates, Steven Michael Gardner, said he remembers the firefight but does not recall 20 enemy killed. He said the crew would not have been able to verify the deaths.

Kerry, in interviews with the Globe, has not claimed to have been responsible for 20 enemy dead. The Globe has previously described the event, quoting a Kerry crewmate who said the crewmate had killed an old man in the crossfire and citing reports that two South Vietnamese allies were wounded or killed and a machine-gun nest manned by a dozen Viet Cong was silenced. Kerry provided the Globe last year with a lengthy diary entry about the event. It describes the firefight, but it does not mention 20 enemy being killed.

Michael Kranish can be reached at kranish@globe.com