WASHINGTON, July 23 (AFP) - Democrats are expected to play the Vietnam card at their national convention next week, parading John Kerry's fellow combat veterans to testify to his leadership credentials as he is officially nominated to challenge President George W. Bush in the November 2 election.
As many as 10 percent of the some 5,000 delegates expected at the convention in Boston's Fleet Center Monday through Thursday are expected to be Vietnam veterans -- Kerry's "Band of Brothers" -- come to support their hero in his quest for the White House.
On Monday, they will include David Alston, sharing his memories of Kerry commanding a patrol boat through the dangerous waters of the Mekong Delta.
On Thursday, the vets will be expected to climb onstage and stand behind the senator as he delivers his acceptance speech.
Jim Rassman, a former Green Beret, has frequently recounted how Kerry, who was wounded three times in Vietnam and twice decorated for valor, turned his "Swift" patrol boat around and returned through enemy fire to pull him out of the water.
Rassman is a Republican disenchanted with the Bush administration and, according to John Hurley, head of Veterans for Kerry, he is not alone.
Veterans' support for Kerry is "unprecedented," Hurley said, and first became apparent during the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
"When we were in Iowa and New Hampshire, there was a sense among veterans that this is for us, that's he's our candidate, he represents us and he will stand for what veterans believe in," Hurley told a press conference this week.
"It really brought veterans out in an unprecedented fashion. A guy in Iowa said, 'I have not voted since 1968 but I am going to register to vote... for John Kerry.
"The number of people that come forward to us and say 'I voted for George Bush in 2000, I'm with John Kerry now,' is unprecedented," Hurley said. "It's more than just a trickle, it's a very steady stream."
Former senator Max Cleland, who lost both legs and his right arm in Vietnam, said more than 100,000 veterans have signed on to Kerry's campaign.
"Thousands of veterans will be pouring into Boston to support John Kerry," said Cleland, who has been chosen for the honor of introducing Kerry's keynote acceptance speech at the convention.
"This outpouring of support originates with Kerry's own life experience. The Band of Brothers is expanding."
In the United States today there are some 25 million veterans who, with their families, swing a formidable electoral weight, which University of New Hampshire professor David Corbin said could prove decisive in pivotal states like Florida and Arizona.
The war in Iraq "will be one of the two to three major issues in the campaign," said Corbin. And Kerry, "by focusing on Vietnam and the courage he showed as a soldier there, can satisfy the electorate.
"Kerry's problem has always been that he's statuesque, he looks like a president that's been dead for 200 years," said Corbin. "He's gotta show he's not just a face... that there's a character behind the face, behind the statue.
"And one of the best ways to show your character is by having other people who know you well talk about you."
"(Kerry) is clearly making use of his own experience as a Vietnam veteran as a way of saying he served the country even though he had questions about the Vietnam war," said Middlebury College professor Eric Davis, alluding to Kerry's anti-war activities when he returned from Vietnam.
"And although he doesn't say so, people who know the biographies of President Bush and Vice President (Dick) Cheney know that they did not serve. You don't have to say it."
Veteran support in Boston is aimed at showing Kerry "can be a commander-in-chief," said Davis. "He has had military experince, has been under fire, has led people in a hostile situation."
Bush's strong suit, said Davis, is the fact he "is the commander-in-chief, leader of the country in times of war, national security.
"The Kerry people recognize that what they need to do is close the gap with Bush on that issue," said Davis.