WASHINGTON

1969 NAVY REPORT SUPPORTS KERRY’S VERSION OF DISPUTED INCIDENT

A Navy report filed five days after a disputed incident in Vietnam supports John Kerry’s version and contradicts critics who say the Democratic presidential nominee never came under enemy gunfire when he won two medals.

The Navy task force overseeing Mr. Kerry’s swift boat squadron reported his group of boats being fired on during the March 13, 1969, incident. Some of Mr. Kerry’s critics, including several men who were on other boats that day, say there was no enemy gunfire during the incident that won Mr. Kerry a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart.

The March 18, 1969, weekly report from Task Force 115, which was located by the Associated Press during a search of Navy archives, is the latest document to surface that supports Mr. Kerry’s description of the event. Crew members on Mr. Kerry’s boat and a Special Forces soldier Mr. Kerry pulled from the water that day insist there was enemy fire, and they have appeared on behalf of the Kerry campaign.

The task force report twice mentions the incident and both times calls it “an enemy initiated firefight” that included automatic weapons fire and underwater mines used against a group of five boats that included Mr. Kerry’s.

Task Force 115 was commanded at the time by retired Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann, the founder of the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has been running ads challenging Mr. Kerry’s account of the episode.

A member of the group, Larry Thurlow, said he stood by his assertion that there was no enemy fire that day. Mr. Thurlow, the commander of another boat who also won a Bronze Star, said task force commanders probably relied on the initial report of the incident. Mr. Thurlow says Mr. Kerry wrote that report.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON POST MANAGING EDITOR RESIGNS

Steve Coll, the Washington Post’s managing editor since 1998, is stepping down to focus on writing books, the paper reported yesterday.

Mr. Coll said he made his decision after he finished writing “Ghost Wars,” which was published this year and details the CIA’s involvement in Afghanistan in the years before the September 11 terror attacks.

“This is the work I feel like I’m supposed to be doing, what I do best, where my passion lies,” Mr. Coll told the Post. “I was not unhappy in my job,” he added, but “there are certain aspects of management no sane person would enjoy.”

Mr. Coll, 45, said he would continue on as a part-time editor and writer.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

GOVERNOR MCGREEVEY MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE SCANDAL

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Governor McGreevey made his first public appearance yesterday since his stunning resignation announcement, signing two bills to promote economic development but never mentioning the sex scandal.

A crowd of politicians, labor leaders, and about 300 union members who sat in risers behind the stage greeted the governor with polite applause for about 30 seconds as he rose to speak.

“Please. I’ve only got 80 days left,” said Mr. McGreevey, who spoke for about five minutes before signing the bills designed to help the economy of this gambling town. Mr. McGreevey announced on August 12 that he is “a gay American” and that he had had an extramarital affair with a man. He said he planned to resign on November 15.

After signing the bills, Mr. McGreevey shook hands with those in the front row and was quickly escorted off the stage by his state police detail. Reporters called out to the governor, but Mr. Mc-Greevey never acknowledged them as he walked quickly behind a blue curtain on the stage.

Several of the union workers who cheered on Mr. McGreevey said the governor’s sexual orientation and extramarital affair were of no concern to them.

“It’s how he treats the unions that’s important. Who cares if he’s gay nowadays,” said union carpenter Mickey Jones, 66.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

LAW YER: CREMATORY OPERATORS DISRESPECTED DEAD

ROME, Ga. – The former operators of a Georgia crematory where hundreds of bodies were improperly disposed showed no respect for the dead, attorneys for nearly 1,700 family members said at the start of a civil trial in the case. “These bodies were buried in mass graves, dumped in vaults” and “strewn across the grounds,” said Kathryn Barnett, an attorney for the families. Brent Marsh and the estate of his late father, Ray Marsh, are being sued 2 1 /2 years after 334 bodies were found at the Tri-State Crematory, which served Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The trial will determine only liability. If the 10-member jury rules against the Marshes, a second trial will be held to determine how much they should pay in damages. Brent Marsh also faces 787 criminal charges in a trial set for October 11.

– Associated Press

FLORIDA MAN BURNS MARINE VAN AFTER BEING TOLD SON DIED IN IRAQ

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A distraught father who had just been told his Marine son was killed in combat in Iraq set himself on fire in a Marine Corps van and suffered severe burns yesterday, police said. Three U.S. Marines went to a house in Hollywood and told the parents of a 20-year-old Marine that their son died had Tuesday in Najaf, police said. The father, Carlos Arredondo, 44, then walked into the open garage, picked up a can of gasoline, a propane tank, and a lighting device, police Captain Tony Rode said.He smashed the van’s window with the propane tank and doused the van with gasoline before setting it ablaze. “The father was in disbelief, same as any of us would be after hearing this kind of news,” Captain Rode said. “But then the father basically loses it.You can only imagine what this father was going through. He snapped to say the least.” Television news stations identified the son as Private First Class Alexander Arredondo. Captain Rode did not confirm that. Calls to the Marine Corps were not immediately returned. Mr.Arredondo was listed in serious condition with severe burns to his arms and legs in the burn unit of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.

– Associated Press