Disabled veterans speak out against political ad by Clay

A band of disabled veterans cried foul Wednesday over a political ad by Calder Clay that suggests U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall doesn't support disabled veterans.

"This mudslinging, I do not like to see it," said Bill Johnson of Macon, a Vietnam veteran and one of about a dozen disabled veterans who attended a news conference Wednesday to defend Marshall, D-Macon.

At issue: a TV ad by Republican candidate Clay that began airing this week. It says, in part, "Jim Marshall leads a double life. In Georgia he runs ads claiming to support veterans. But in Washington he voted against funding for disabled vets."

Clay's campaign manager, Rufus Montgomery, said the ad refers to Marshall's vote on July 25, 2003, against an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. It would have increased funding for Veterans Administration medical and prosthetic research by $5 million and cut funding for Americorps grants by $12.2 million. It failed, 264-164.

"Jim Marshall may not like it but the facts are the facts. He had the chance to increase funding for research for disabled veterans and he said no," Montgomery said.

Marshall spokesman Doug Moore said the cut to AmeriCorps would have taken community police off the streets and given only part of the savings to veterans, which seemed a bad exchange.

"Calder Clay wants to take Jim Marshall standing up for community policing and say Jim Marshall is against disabled veterans. That's a fight (Clay) is going to lose," Moore said.

He said numerous Republicans voted against the measure, including Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Marshall campaign staffers helped coordinate the news conference at the Disabled American Veterans state headquarters. Bob Delzell, a volunteer aide to Marshall for veterans affairs, was the first to speak.

"We deserve an apology from Calder Clay, as veterans," he said.

Most of the veterans were from the Macon area, and most said they live in the 3rd District. But the group also included state DAV Commander Tim Hammonds of Marietta and longtime veterans advocate Tommy Clack of Atlanta. All spoke as individuals. The DAV does not make endorsements.

But Hammonds said he believes many veterans support fellow veteran Marshall, who was wounded in Vietnam and won the Purple heart and two Bronze Stars. Marshall has won awards from several veterans organizations, including the DAV and American Legion. This week he was endorsed by the National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition.

Clack, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, said Marshall helped force the House to take a vote and begin reversing "concurrent receipt," which for years subtracted disabled veterans' VA benefits from their pensions.

"Mr. Marshall in these past two years accomplished something that hadn't been accomplished in the previous 30 years with all of Congress combined," he said.

Clay's camp was undeterred.

"Our campaign has done nothing but point out Jim Marshall's hypocrisy in talking about his unwavering support of veterans and then voting against a measure that would increase their funding," Montgomery said.

He said, "It's unfortunate that Jim Marshall sent a group of veterans out to do his dirty work for him on this issue. We don't blame these men, but Marshall probably hasn't leveled with them on this vote either."