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Kerrey defends Vietnam raid
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Facing increasing questions about a 1969 raid in Vietnam, former Sen. Bob Kerrey expressed regret Thursday that women and children were killed, but emphasized his Navy SEAL unit was in a hostile area and it was not their "intent to kill innocent people." "I feel guilty because of what happened, not because of what we intended to do," Kerrey, a former Democratic senator and governor of Nebraska, said at a news conference. "Every person who has gone to war has struggled with the question of, 'did he do it right?' And I have struggled with that question privately since February of 1969." Kerrey, who received a Bronze Star for the raid, said he had no immediate plans to give the award back. But he said the medal "has meant nothing to me."
The citation that accompanied the medal said 21 Viet Cong were killed, two huts destroyed and two enemy weapons captured during the raid on Feb. 25, 1969. Kerrey said he was recovering from a wound in a Philadelphia hospital when he was notified of the Bronze Star. "I put it along with other memories as far behind me as I possibly could, and went back to try to live a private life," he said. "I'm only trying to say to you, the medal has meant nothing to me." Kerrey said he led the unit into what was known as a "free-fire zone" on a moonless night in the Mekong Delta. He said there was intelligence information that a district meeting of Viet Cong was being held there, and that no civilians were in the village. He said his unit opened fire only after coming under fire. "When we fired, we fired because we were fired upon. In short, we did not go out on a mission with the intent to kill innocent people," he said. He said his unit filed an operational report that indicated "civilian casualties had been taken." "It was not a secret to our commanding officer about what happened that night," Kerrey said. He had no explanation about how the information changed as it went up the chain of command, saying, "You're going to have to talk to the person who writes and makes decisions about the war." Pressed about why he wouldn't immediately return the medal, Kerrey asked for patience: "You're asking too much of me right now. ... I'm just trying to get a private memory, public." Why didn't he point out the discrepancy at the time of the award? Kerrey, whose lower right leg was amputated after a grenade exploded beneath him on a separate mission -- one for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor -- said, "For the first 10 years (afterward), I just tried to figure out how to get healthy again." At the Pentagon, spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said they expect servicemembers to tell the truth if a citation for an award is inaccurate. "We would expect servicemembers to relate the truth in all cases," he said. But he added that there were no immediate plans to investigate the Kerrey-led raid. Kerrey came forward with his story of the raid when he learned that one of his SEAL squadmembers on the mission had given a different account during an interview with The New York Times. The man said the squad, acting on Kerrey's orders, rounded up people and intentionally killed civilians. That report is expected to be published in Sunday's Times. Kerrey said his friend's account is not true, but he still is haunted about the incident. "I have never been able to justify what we did, either militarily or certainly not morally," he said. Kerrey, a father of two, said he recently told his children about what happened that night. "I told them what I did, and they told me that they still loved me. Their love heals, and makes me glad that I've begun to tell this story." RELATED STORIES:
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