Sailors Recall Day Kerry Killed Soldier

June 24, 2004 -- Sen. John Kerry talks about his four months in Vietnam — it's a centerpiece of his presidential campaign — but there's one thing he won't talk about: the day he killed a Vietcong soldier at close range and earned a Silver Star.

"It's a key part of him," said a Kerry friend. "It was a pivotal moment in his life. But he doesn't talk about it."

Added another source close to Kerry, "it's the reason he gets so angry when his patriotism is challenged. It was a traumatic experience that's still with him, and he went through it for his country." It affects the way Kerry lives his life every day, the source said, since "he knows he very well would not be alive today had he not taken the life of another man [he] never ever met."

In past interviews, Kerry has responded vaguely to questions about how he earned the medal. "You know, I got it — surviving, I guess, is the best way to put it," Kerry told CBS' 60 Minutes, adding: "I just am not comfortable going into the story."

When asked by Univision if he had to kill somebody, Kerry answered: "It is a matter of record, what I did in Vietnam. And over the months that I was in combat, yes, we know that we were responsible for the loss of enemy lives. But that's war."

He would not acknowledge the impact this had on him. "Well, I think it affects anybody who carries a gun in another country, shooting at other human beings," he said of the incident. "Unless you're insensitive, it has an impact on you."

Even his family has not heard much about the incident. His daughter Vanessa, 27, told MTV News that when she was growing up her father told her the enemy ran away. She only learned the truth as an adult, she said.

Since Kerry will not talk about the day he killed a man, four of Kerry's crewmates from the Navy Swift boat he commanded sat down with Nightline to try to explain what happened, though not one was eager to revisit the events of that day.

A Dangerous Mission

They had been on a mission that sent Navy Swift boats deep into enemy territory.