Kerry used soldier's funeral to solicit campaign help

Authors say representative asked parents to speak out against President Bush

Sen. John Kerry solicited the families of slain soldiers at their sons' funerals as part of his campaign to undermine the president's policy in Iraq, charges Melanie Morgan and Catherine Moy in their new book "American Mourning".

The authors raised the issue today amid the fallout over a comment Kerry made Monday night that is being widely interpreted as an insult to U.S. troops.

Moy said the book documents an April 2004 incident in which a Kerry campaign representative visited parents of a fallen U.S. soldier at his funeral to ask them to speak out against President Bush.

"A woman, who had also lost her son in the war and who represented the local Kerry campaign, approached the Johnsons at their son � Justin's � wake. Justin was laid out in his Army uniform as the woman began her speech about hating Bush and helping Kerry. She asked the Johnsons to speak out against President Bush," the authors said in a statement today.

The Johnsons are the family of Justin Johnson, one of two war heroes who died in Iraq and have been honored in the book.

Justin Johnson and the other soldier, Casey Sheehan, and their lives are profiled in the story of how their families' responses are poles apart, just as Americans are split over the war.

The book describes how the Johnson family drew together after Justin's death, with his father even volunteering for duty in Iraq to continue his son's role in the war on terror. Cindy Sheehan, Casey's mother, meanwhile, exploded into anti-U.S. activism, describing her own nation as "thugs" and honoring the terrorists who killed her son as "freedom fighters."

The authors issued a statement responding to Kerry's comment to college students in California Monday, which seemed to suggest that if they don't study hard, they'll end up in the military.

"This is yet another disgusting attempt to politicize soldiers from a man with a long history of disrespecting our troops. It is especially difficult for those who genuinely support our troops such as Morgan, who spent yesterday helping to put together 2 TONS of coffee, Gatorade, beef jerky and cookies in individual packages to send to soldiers serving in Iraq as a thank you for their sacrifices," the statement said.

In an interview with WND, Moy said anyone who has watched Kerry's career shouldn't have been particularly surprised by his comment.

"John Kerry has always been about himself. He showed his true colors back in Vietnam when he turned on his own brothers in arms. It's all about John Kerry," Moy said.