ABC TV has produced and will air next week a documentary on the Vietnam War fight that has both distinguished and dogged John Kerry's presidential campaign.
Kerry has not hesitated to invoke his status as a war hero, gained partly for a 1969 incident when he was commanding a river boat in Vietnam, in seeking to win Democratic Party's nomination and in campaigning against President Bush, ABC News reported Friday.
But the 1969 incident for which Kerry won a Silver Star has also been the focus of one of his most virulent enemies, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who charge that all the senator-to-be did that day was shoot one wounded Vietnamese teenage boy in the back as he fled.
Recently ABC interviewed survivors of that skirmish, and it plans to broadcast the results of those interviews on Thursday at 11:35 p.m. EDT.
Interviewees include those who witnessed Kerry's boat approach the village of Nah Vi, saw fighting and knew both casualties and survivors.
An anti-Kerry documentary focusing on his anti-war activities is also expected to air over Sinclair Broadcasting channels before the election.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
