Thurlow's citation claims that he came under "constant enemy small arms fire," a description seized on by Kerry backers to discredit all the Swiftvets' claims.

Thurlow maintains, however, that the citation was inaccurate.

Fellow Swiftvet Andy Horne backed Thurlow's claim on Thursday, saying that the reason for the discrepancy was because Kerry himself wrote up the skirmish after-action report, exaggerating Thurlow's valor along with his own in order to secure the decoration.

"Nobody saw the after-action message that generated any awards out of that action until very recently," Horne told radio host Steve Malzberg, who was filling in for Linda Chavez on the Liberty Broadcasting Network.

Horne said that when Kerry's account of the skirmish turned up on his campaign Web site, the reaction from a number of Swiftvets was "Wait a minute, it didn't happen that way."

Kerry was in the habit of writing up the after-action reports himself, Horne told Malzberg, "and John Kerry's message then becomes the basis" for the enemy fire claim.

"The Navy system trusts officers to write the truth," Horne said, indicating that in Kerry's case, that trust was misplaced.

The Swiftvet said that Thurlow didn't even receive his Bronze Star citation until he was back home in Kansas, at which point the "enemy fire" discrepancy seemed like a moot issue.

Editor's note: