Former colleagues rally around embattled Kerrey

Former Senator Bob Kerrey speaks at a press conference on Thursday in New York.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Senate colleagues of Bob Kerrey expressed little interest Sunday in probing charges that Kerrey led a Vietnam War raid that killed civilians.

TIME magazine, meanwhile, reported Sunday that Kerrey is considering returning the Bronze Star awarded for the mission. Kerrey spokesman Michael Powell denied the report Sunday.

Kerrey was awarded the Bronze Star for the 1969 mission on the village of Thanh Phong. But a member of Kerrey's unit told The New York Times Magazine that at least 13 civilians were killed on Kerrey's order because he feared they would alert the Viet Cong.

MESSAGE BOARD Share your thoughts on Kerrey and Vietnam     RESOURCES Kerrey's Medal of Honor citation     VIDEO Former Sen. Bob Kerrey defends war mission, but expresses sorrow and guilt for women and children that were killed (Part 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Former Senator Bob Kerrey defends war mission, but expresses sorrow and guilt for women and children that were killed (Part 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey discusses the killing of civilians when he was a Navy Seal in Vietnam (April 25) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Witnesses' description of 1969 raid in Vietnam differs from Kerrey's TIME.com: Bob Kerrey: Ghosts of Vietnam

"To now talk about an investigation, it seems to me, is just the wrong way to go," Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, told ABC's "This Week." "There are too many veterans in this country who still haven't had people say, 'Thank you' and 'Welcome Home.' And I think that's the road we ought to go," said Kerry, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran.

The former Nebraska senator and Democratic presidential hopeful was a Navy officer who went on to win the Medal of Honor and lose part of his right leg in Vietnam. Kerrey left the Senate in January and leads New School University in New York City.

In the magazine article, Gerhard Klann -- a member of Kerrey's Navy SEAL team -- said that at least 13 women, children and elderly were killed intentionally because Kerrey feared they would alert the Viet Cong to their whereabouts if released. A Vietnamese woman who said she saw the event gave a similar account, the article said.

Kerrey and five of his former squad members met Friday and issued a joint statement about the raid, saying they fired only after being fired upon.

"No order was given or received to execute innocent women, old men and children, as has been described by some," said the statement signed by the six former SEAL members. "We took fire and we returned fire. Our actions were in response to a dangerous situation that we know for certain could have resulted in our deaths," they said.

"One of the men in our squad remembers that we rounded up women and children and shot them at point-blank range in order to cover our extraction. That simply is not true."

Several of Kerrey's former colleagues said they didn't want to see a Pentagon investigation of the incident, despite the accusations.

"I just hope that our young Americans out there who suffered through this feel a sense of healing and that they take courage from a guy like Bob Kerrey, who came out and spoke out as he did," said Sen. Max Cleland, D-Georgia, a member of the Armed Services Committee who lost both legs and part of an arm during combat.

Added Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel, another Vietnam veteran, "What is the point? I don't think it serves any purpose to open up any kind of investigation."

But Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who spent five years in a Vietnamese prison camp, said neither Kerrey nor any of the other members of his SEAL team should fear an inquiry.

"I don't feel that Bob or the members of his team would feel any discomfort associated with an investigation if particularly the American people feel that's necessary," he told ABC.

Kerrey talked publicly about the incident last week, in advance of the New York Times magazine story. He said he has been haunted by the incident since it happened.

Kerrey could not be reached Sunday to comment on the TIME report that he may surrender the Bronze Star. A spokesman for Kerrey had no immediate reaction, but said the award has never meant much to the former senator, and that the military can have it back if it wanted it.

Asked at a news conference last week about returning it, Kerrey said, "It is not my intent to do so. I have been asked the question, and I am only trying to say to you that the medal has meant nothing to me."

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