Co-chair of "Wisconsin Veterans for Bush" blasts W over anti-Kerry ads

Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:

...this band of bothers turns up in books and television ads saying they served somewhere near Kerry in 'Nam and they think he's a no-good liar and an unworthy soldier. And, oh yeah, vote George W. Bush for president.

"I just think it's wrong."

That's not one of Kerry's fellow Democrats talking. It's Terry Musser, a Republican state rep, longtime chairman of the Assembly Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, and the co-chairman of Wisconsin Veterans for Bush.

Musser served two tours as a paratrooper in Vietnam, and he's disgusted by these attacks on Kerry. And he doesn't particularly like the Democratic presidential nominee.

"He was there. He did it. My opinion is that anybody who served anywhere is a hero. And we should not as a nation be trying to tear down people who served and are serving," Musser said when I reached him by phone Friday. He represents the Black River Falls area in the Legislature.

Bush ought to condemn the ads from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, even though he can't stop them, Musser said.

These self-proclaimed truth-seekers have questioned whether Kerry was under fire when he turned the boat around and went back to rescue Green Beret Jim Rassmann, and whether Kerry's boat ever was in Cambodia.

They're out of bounds, Musser believes.

"Kerry was saying he was in Cambodia, and you have some of the other ones saying he wasn't in Cambodia. It's like, who do you want to believe. I was in the Central Highlands. They could have sent us into Laos. I wouldn't have had a clue. There are no signs saying, 'Welcome to Thailand,' 'Welcome to Vietnam.'

"Just imagine going up and down any river how easy of a target you are. He was there."

Did Kerry really deserve his three Purple Hearts? Be careful in making that judgment.

"Even if you happen to be running into a bunker and hit your head on it during a mortar attack. I knew a guy who got a Purple Heart that way. Is it related to an enemy action? Yeah, you're trying to get the heck out of the road."