WASHINGTON (CNN) — A veterans group that has been sharply critical of Sen. John Kerry launched an ad Thursday that accuses the Democratic presidential nominee of lying about his Vietnam war record.

“John Kerry betrayed the men and women he served with in Vietnam,” former Lt. Shelton White, one of the veterans, says in the ad.

Kerry’s campaign quickly pointed out that not one of the men featured in the commercial served in the two patrol boats Kerry commanded in Vietnam…

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Cpl. John Phillip Pettigrew remembers:

I’ll never forget it. Mekong Delta. We were running a recon mission for HQ, humping it up the Toshow River in our swift boat. I was trying to keep our boat far away from Kerry’s - everyone knew he ran a loose ship, and I didn’t want my mens’ oars to get tangled up in his.

Around 6 PM, Danang time, we heard shots from the bank on our left. Fritzi, my buddy, ducked under the yard arm and returned fire. That’s when I heard a noise to our right: It was Kerry’s boat. The sunuvabitch had turned around and was using US for cover! I didn’t want to be any sumnabitch’s human shield, so I gave the order to dive.

When we came up, it was dark, and Kerry’s boat (we called it the “Mekong Princess.” Heh heh. Little joke of ours.) was gone. But those VC bastards were still there, pinning us down with their fire. They were using RPGs and M-80s and all kinds of ordinanceses. Our main mast was clipped. Fritzi took a bullet in the gut. I thought we were through.

All the sudden, I hear an aircraft. A single pilot fighter, an F-102. Damn thing strafes the bank, makes another pass, and drops a load of napalm that lit up the sky and barbecued Charlie crispy brown! “Charlie Brown” - heh heh. I know that might sound “politically incorrect,” but this was WAR. Pilot saved our asses. All of us.

The Delta Dagger flies in low and lands neatly on its pontoons right next to our swift boat. Really neat landing. The pilot jumped out on the wing, asked us if we were okay. Real considerate. “We’re all right,” I told him. “Thanks.”

Then I saw his face, illuminated by the light of a hundred burning Charlies. I’m a Texan, so I knew him immediately. “Hey,” I said, “Ain’t you George Bush’s son? George W? I thought you were in the National Guard - what’re you doing out here?”

Guy gives me a slow smile, puts one finger to his lips. “I thought I’d stop in, see if I could lend a hand. Gets kinda dull, stateside. In fact, I’m supposed to be drilling with the Guard in Alabama right now.”

“Damn!” I joked. “You’re AWOL!”

He laughed. “I reckon I am. Bet that’ll cost me some day. Anyway, I gotta be gettin’ back. You take care now. Semper fi.”

And with that he hopped back into the cockpit and took off. My men gave him a salute and vowed that we’d never tell what he was really doing when he was supposed to be doin’ some fancy-pants drills instead of saving our lives. Heroes want it that way, never takin’ any credit.

Not like that Kerry. By the time we got our mizzen mast repaired and limped back to HQ, Kerry was already drunk and bragging about all his “heroics.” Sometime that night a Vietnamese whore dug her nails a little too deep into his back, and the next day he parlays it into a purple heart. I thought about saying something, but George W. had taught me something the night before, when we were all in the shit together: A real hero waits for his opportunity, and acts when the time is right.

That’s why I’m tellin’ you all today. Because enough is enough, and it’s time that this sailor did his duty. Semper fi, as we say in the Navy, semper fi.