William B. Rood is a city editor for the Chicago Tribune. He was also one of the officers in charge of the action on February 28, 1969 for which John Kerry was awarded a Silver Star. Several veterans who were not there have claimed that John Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star for his actions that day. Most notably, Kerry shot and killed a fleeing Viet Cong who was armed with a rocket launcher and orchestrated an attack on river ambushers on the Dong Cung.

While Rood has remained silent about the events for thirty years, he published an account of what happened that day in today's issue of the Tribune (registration required to view the story). Rood's account is meticulous and only describes the events for which he was present.

Rood's story contradicts the stories of people who weren't even there who claim that Kerry didn't deserve his Silver Star. Hopefully this will put an end to critics' groundless accusations. Rood has no political reasons for putting this information forward. His credibility is enhanced by the fact that he has refused requests to talk about this even from reporters at his own paper. As he says in his essay, "What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it." This is not free Kerry publicity, but a clarification of the facts from a first-hand participant.