A US journalist who served alongside the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, in the Vietnam War has broken a 35-year silence and defended him against critics of his military record.
William Rood of the Chicago Tribune newspaper accused Mr Kerry's critics of dishonesty and said it had become impossible to stay silent about what he called the bogus attacks on his character.
Mr Rood was responding to a veterans' group that has accused Mr Kerry of embellishing his acts of heroism in Vietnam.
