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Swift Boat Vets Want Their Name Back

Vietnam servicemen bemoan association with Kerry attack ad

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 30, 2008 6:06 AM CDT

(Newser) – These days, the phrase "Swift boat" has come to mean a vicious political attack of the kind suffered by John Kerry in the 2004 election. While the term has gained such currency that it's now used as a verb, one group is seriously miffed: the Navy veterans who, like Kerry, served on a Swift boat during the Vietnam war. The New York Times reports on the former servicemen looking to reclaim their honor.

"People don’t know about us; they know about those few TV advertisements," said one vet. Now those who served on Swift boats—a 50-foot patrol craft that could barely hold seven people—are trying to reclaim the term from the political attack that, they believe, has tarnished their own service. "It’s been besmirched," said one veteran of his service. "Whether they meant it or not."

A Swift boat in service in Vietnam. (Wikimedia)

John Kerry hugs a Vietnam Swift boat crewmate while surrounded by other Vietnam War crewmates who greeted him upon his arrival in Boston in this July 28, 2004 file photo. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, file)

John Kerry is joined by Vietnam Swift boat crewmates during an arrival ceremony in Boston in this July 28, 2004 file photo. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch, file)

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Swift Boat Vets Want Their Name Back

Vietnam servicemen bemoan association with Kerry attack ad

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

John Kerry • Navy • Swift Boat • Vietnam veteran • Vietnam War • US Navy • Swift Boating • Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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Kerry Fights Back on Obama 'Swift Boating'

Launches site to refute Corsi book, urges prompt rebuttal

Swift Boat Author Aims to Sink Obama

Attack book portrays candidate as having secret radical agenda

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War, security policy has blasted open gap created during '04 campaign

Pickens Stiffs Witnesses Against Swift Boat Ads

Oilman rejects evidence ads were false

Swift Boater Gets Recess Appointment

Bush slips three controversial conservatives past Senate

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