Kerry Awards A Fellow Veteran The Right To Criticize.

According to John Kerry, not everyone has a right to criticize him. You have to earn that right. One man whom Kerry has genrously bestowed that right upon is John O'Neill. O'Neill is very upset about Kerry's smear of his fellow Vietnam veterans.

"His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies." So says John O'Neill, who served in the same unit in Vietnam.

The dispute arises from John Kerry's 1971 allegations that he and many other servicemen committed atrocities in Vietnam.

"His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies," said O'Neill, adding that other former sailors from the same unit also plan to come forward to take on Kerry, whose Vietnam service has figured prominently in his campaign for the White House.

What does John Kerry's spokesman have to say about this?

"He was a young man who came back, had seen a lot in Vietnam, wanted this country to end that war and came back worked very hard to bring that war to an end," Meehan said.

"Mr. O'Neill has certainly earned his right, through his service, to speak whatever he wants and have his opinions," Meehan said. "We would disagree with some of his characterizations. Sen. Kerry volunteered to go to Vietnam. ... [He] won a Silver Star for bravery, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts leading that division."

Maybe there's a good reason that John Kerry has been trying to conceal his military records.