On Sunday he repeated the allegation, saying in a conference call to reporters, "First, the claim that John Kerry didn't serve his country honorably is a lie. Second, those attacks are being financed by friends of George Bush."

At a Monday campaign stop in Virginia, Edwards picked up the theme again, charging, "The argument and the claim that John Kerry did not serve this country honorably and proudly and courageously is a lie."

Not a difference of opinion from men who also served honorably in Vietnam. Not a conflicting account. Not a disputed version. But a lie.

Of course, Edwards himself hasn't always been forthright about his own military record - or rather, lack thereof.

In April, NBC "Today Show" host Katie Couric asked him where he was during Vietnam. The exchange went like this:

COURIC: Your military service, before we go?

EDWARDS: I - I did not serve in the military.

COURIC: You had a high lottery number, is that right?

EDWARDS: I did, and I came after - after the time that they were actually drafting from the lottery, Katie. I'm 50 years old. And because at the time I came along and graduated from high school and then - and then went to college, I was not drafted. [END OF EXCERPT]

A high lottery number? Not exactly. Pulling number 178 in the February 1972 Selective Service lottery drawing, Edwards' number was lower than more than half of those picked.

And what about the claim that he "came after the time that they were actually drafting from the lottery."

That's not strictly true either. The year Edwards became eligible for the draft, the military drafted 49,514 men, according to Selective Service records - tapping draftees who had lottery numbers as high as 95. The draft was abolished in July 1973.

But even that year, 646 young men born the same year as Edwards were inducted into the military.

His draft availability aside, Edwards could have enlisted in the military, following the example of the men he now calls liars. Or sign up for the National Guard, the way George Bush did.

John Edwards, however, did neither, enlisting instead in Clemson University, where, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, "He had a little fun . . . drinking beer with buddies . . . smoking marijuana a few times."

"His campaign would not provide more specifics other than to say Edwards' occasional marijuana use continued through law school but stopped after that," the Charlotte Observer reported in July.

To at least one Democratic consultant, the failure to serve in Vietnam constitutes a betrayal of America.

"He betrayed them when he didn't fight in Vietnam," Democratic strategist Maryanne Marsh said Monday night on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes." "When he had a chance to serve his country, he didn't."

Of course, Marsh was talking about George Bush, not John Edwards.

Editor's note: