SwiftVets.com

[Mary Ann Parker]

"Newspaper editors are men who separate the wheat from the chaff, and then print
the chaff."

--Adlai Stevenson--

This gentleman felt so strongly about this that he paid for a full page ad in
the Sept 6th Edition of the Army Times.

By Dexter Lehtinen,
an Army paratrooper and Ranger, severely wounded in 1971
while a reconnaissance platoon leader in Vietnam. He later graduated first in
his class from Stanford Law School and later served as a Florida State Senator
and the United States Attorney in Miami.

Here is his Full Page Advertisement:

John Kerry & Vietnam THE WOUNDS THAT NEVER HEAL

In 1971, I awakened after three days of unconsciousness aboard a hospital ship
off the coast of Vietnam. I could not see, my jaws were wired shut, and my
left cheekbone was missing, a gaping hole in its place.

Later, while still in that condition at St Albans Naval Hospital, one of my
earliest recollections was hearing of John Kerry's testimony before Congress.
I remember lying there, in disbelief, as I learned how Kerry told the world
that I served in an Army reminiscent of Genghis Khan's; that officers like me
routinely let their men plunder villages and rape villagers at will; that
"war crimes" committed in Vietnam by my fellow soldiers "were not isolated
incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness
of officers at all levels of command."

Then Kerry went to Paris, meeting with the North ! Vietnamese enemy officials,
all while our soldiers still fought in the field. The pain and disbelief I
felt listening to his words went deeper than the pain I felt from the enemy
fire which seriously wounded my face.

Eighteen months later I was discharged from the hospital, the wounds inflicted
by the enemy fully healed. But more than 30 years later, the wounds inflicted
by John Kerry continue to bring pain to scores of Vietnam veterans. Those
wounds--the bearing of false witness against me and a generation of courageous
young Americans who fought and died in Vietnam--are much more serious than any
wound warranting a Purple Heart. Those wounds go to the heart and soul.
Those wounds never go away.
Today, my son is a Marine Corps weapons officer, flying th e F/A 18 Hornet.
He belongs to the same Marine Corps Kerry ridiculed with his 1971 book cover
showing protestors simulating the Iwo Jima Memorial, raising an upside-down
American flag. He flies the same F/A 18 fighter jet that Kerry voted against
in the U.S. Senate. And today, Kerry's picture hangs in an honored place in
Saigon's war museum, as a hero to the Vietnamese Communists.

Yet, John Kerry shamelessly drapes himself in the imagery of Vietnam, military
service and the support of veterans' devoid of any media scrutiny. Meanwhile,
the criticism and disapproval of Kerry by scores of veterans continues to fall
on deaf ears. Worse yet, any legitimate criticism of Kerry's post-war record
is discredit! ed as a "personal" attack or an attack against his service.

John Kerry is quick to surround himself with a handful of veterans and claims
overwhelming support from the veteran community. He ignores, however, the
wounds he inflicted on millions of veterans, and he refuses to sign a waiver
to release his military personal records and medical records. This is the
portrait of a man who has failed to come to terms with his treacherous past.

I, Dexter Lehtinen, paid for this ad personally, without any connection to
other individuals or groups, because I want the public to know what John Kerry
did to our Vietnam veterans.

Dexter Lehtinen
7700 S.W. 88th St., Ste. 303

Miami, FL 33156