WASHINGTON — Amid the solemn atmosphere of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the place known simply as The Wall, Dewey Brown reaches up to touch one name among tens of thousands engraved in the polished black granite.
Ramrod straight at age 76, the retired Army colonel is not a man prone to tears. But his voice breaks in anger as he recalls that divisive war -- and what he terms Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry's disrespect for the men who fought and died there.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday February 28, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 83 words Type of Material: Correction
John F. Kerry -- An article Feb. 17 in Section A about the Vietnam War's legacy and Sen. John F. Kerry said that in his April 1971 testimony before Congress he accused fellow servicemen of committing wartime atrocities against Vietnamese civilians. In fact, Kerry was citing first-person accounts by veterans. The article also said that Kerry "later acknowledged" that he did not witness the alleged incidents. Kerry had said at the outset of his testimony that he was reporting the accounts of others.
Good soldiers do their duty and keep their mouths shut. They don't come home to criticize their country's mission while others are still fighting. But that, in his view, is what Kerry did.
Standing nearby, Vietnam veteran Brian Hoffman, 58, begs to disagree. To him, Kerry was a hero who performed the most difficult duty of all.
"John Kerry returned from battle to speak out against what he considered an unjust war," the Army veteran said. "Who can fault him for that?"
Almost three decades after America ended its involvement there, Vietnam is playing a pivotal, if fractious, role in the nation's presidential race.
As President Bush defends his service in the Air National Guard amid questions from Democrats about whether he fulfilled his duty, Kerry -- the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination -- faces criticism from some veterans and former POWs over his antiwar record.
Throughout his political career, the four-term senator has drawn heavily on his experience in Vietnam. He has talked of being wounded three times and of the hard lessons learned during a hazardous tour as skipper of a river patrol boat.
In his quest for the presidency, Kerry mentions the war in nearly every campaign speech. Flanked by fellow veterans he calls his "band of brothers" and endorsed by Max Cleland, a former senator from Georgia who lost three limbs in Vietnam, Kerry evokes cheers for his medals -- the Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.
But a topic Kerry mentions less often is his controversial role in the Vietnam era: that of a disillusioned activist.
Following his return from Vietnam in 1969, he led protesters on a Washington march not far from where The Wall stands today.
He testified before Congress and accused fellow servicemen of committing wartime atrocities against civilians. He also headed a demonstration in which he and other veterans threw war medals onto the Capitol steps.
