By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer

PHOTO GALLERY

John Kerry at VFW Convention • Read Kerry's speech • View video of Kerry's speech

John Kerry brought his battle for the votes of his fellow military veterans to the national Veterans of Foreign Wars convention Wednesday.

In a speech to 10,000 veterans and their spouses at the Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center, the Democratic presidential candidate reminded delegates repeatedly that he is a veteran and a VFW member. He said the Bush administration has failed them and that if Kerry is elected in November, they will have a "true brother in arms" in the White House.

"It is clear that when it comes to protecting America's 26 million veterans and their families, we are far from being able to claim 'mission accomplished,' " Kerry said in a reference to the banner that hung behind President Bush last year when he stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared major fighting in Iraq to be over.

Kerry also tore into a plan announced by Bush at the exhibit hall two days earlier to withdraw 70,000 troops from Europe and Asia over 10 years and move them to U.S. bases.

He said the plan "does not strengthen our hand against terror."

But when the Massachusetts senator's 34-minute indictment of Bush's record on veterans' issues was over, it wasn't at all clear that he had changed many minds.

"I want to hear more,'' said Raymond Wong of San Francisco, who, like Kerry, is a Navy veteran of the war in Vietnam. "I have respect for him and for the president. It's a tough decision.''

Like the electorate at large, the thousands of veterans at the convention center seemed split over which man is best suited to lead the country in time of war.

As with the president's speech Monday, about half the VFW crowd stayed in its seats while the other half leapt to its feet and cheered.

Two Vietnam veterans - Jere Hill of Wareham, Mass., Kerry's home state, and Bob Gibson of Lexington, Ky., stood side-by-side during the entire speech with their backs turned to the Democratic presidential candidate.

"I am a registered Republican, but I have never voted a straight ticket,'' Hill said. "I have never voted for Kerry. Never will.''

Bill Self, a VFW member from Mount Airy, Md., who has yet to make up his mind, sat near the two and didn't appreciate their action.

"For most of us, our mothers taught us better manners than that,'' he said.

For Kerry, the speech was not only a chance to make a pitch for the votes of 26 million military veterans, but a chance to once again woo voters in Ohio, a state considered crucial. Wednesday's appearance was Kerry's 14th visit to Ohio this year.

After the VFW event, Kerry toured the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on Cincinnati's riverfront, as Bush had Monday. Kerry met there privately with local African-American ministers and political leaders.

In his speech, Kerry brushed off Bush's claim of progress in reforming the Veterans Affairs health-care system.

"Just saying the job is done doesn't make it so,'' Kerry said.

"The job will be done when 500,000 veterans are not excluded from the VA health-care system. The job will be done when veterans are not asked for increasing co-payments, enrollment fees and other charges to shift the burden of care to other veterans and drive more than a million veterans out of the system."

Kerry received his loudest applause when he vowed to end for all veterans a practice that has been in place since the Civil War, of reducing veterans' military pensions by the amount of their disability pay.

Monday, the president told the veterans he was "proud'' to have signed a "concurrent receipt'' legislation, but critics say that bill will be phased in over 10 years and apply to only the most seriously disabled veterans.

On the president's realignment plan, Kerry was most critical of moving 12,000 troops out of South Korea.

"Why are we unilaterally withdrawing 12,000 troops from the Korean peninsula at the very time we are negotiating with North Korea - a country that really has nuclear weapons?" Kerry asked.

Former state Sen. Eugene Watts of Columbus, a Vietnam veteran and one of the leaders of Ohio Veterans for Bush, stood in the back of the auditorium clutching a recently published book that claims Kerry has distorted his record as a decorated swift-boat captain in Vietnam.

"The fact is, the president has increased funding for the VA and the system is improving all the time,'' said Watts. "The record is clear.''

Many of the veterans and their spouses waited for more than an hour in long lines to go through metal detectors and bag searches to get into the convention hall.

Several veterans carrying small pocket knives were given a choice by police - take them back to their hotel rooms and go back through the long screening line or give them up and never see them again.

Most gave up the knives.

Jesse Willingham came from his home in Sycamore Township to listen to Kerry's speech sitting in the motorized scooter he often uses because of nerve damage in his legs caused by frostbite at the battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea 53 years ago. His wife had told him he should wear his medals - the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart- to the Kerry speech.

"Kerry is going to look out for veterans because he is one,'' said Willingham. "It's time for a change.''

Enquirer reporter Cliff Radel contributed. E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com