WASHINGTON - Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events.

In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has strongly disputed Kerry's claim that his boat came under fire during a mission on March 13, 1969. Kerry won a Bronze Star for his actions that day.

But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released Wednesday to the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at the five-boat flotilla.

Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."

As one of five swift boat skippers who led the raid up the Bay Hap River, Thurlow was a direct participant in the disputed events. He is also a leading member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a public advocacy group of Vietnam veterans that has aired a controversial television advertisement attacking Kerry's war record.

In interviews and written reminiscences, Kerry has described how his 50- foot patrol boat came under fire from the banks of the Bay Hap after a mine explosion disabled another U.S. patrol boat. According to Kerry and members of his crew, the firing continued as an injured Kerry leaned over the bow of his ship to rescue a Special Forces officer who was blown overboard in a second explosion.

Last month, Thurlow swore in an affidavit that Kerry was "not under fire" when he fished Lt. James Rassmann out of the water. He described Kerry's Bronze Star citation, which says that all units involved came under "small arms and automatic weapons fire," as "totally fabricated."

"I never heard a shot," Thurlow said in his affidavit, which was released by Swift Boats Veterans for Truth.

A document recommending Thurlow for the Bronze Star noted that all his actions "took place under constant enemy small arms fire which LTJG THURLOW completely ignored in providing immediate assistance" to the disabled boat and its crew. The citation states that all other units in the flotilla also came under fire.

Thurlow told the Post that he had received the award for helping to rescue the boat that was mined. "This casts doubt on anybody's awards," he said Wednesday night. "It is sickening and disgusting."

Two other swift boat skippers who were direct participants in the March 13, 1969, mine explosion on the Bay Hap, Jack Chenoweth and Richard Pees, have said they do not remember coming under "enemy fire." A fourth commander, Don Droz, was killed a month later.

The incident featured prominently in an anti-Kerry television ad produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth earlier this month. The Bronze Star controversy is also a major focus of an anti-Kerry book by John E. O'Neill, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry."

© Copyright 2004 San Francisco Chronicle

###