PORTLAND - Vietnam veteran Terry Kirsch fought in the streets of Saigon in 1968, was wounded twice and earned a pair of Purple Heart medals.

He said his Vietnam experiences led him to stand up for a fellow veteran - Sen. John Kerry - who has been criticized in recent television ads for exaggerating his war experiences for political gain.

On Monday, Kirsch was one of several other veterans who gathered on the Clackamas County Courthouse steps to call for one of Kerry's accusers to recant the statements he made in a prominent attack ad.

The veterans want Alfred French, a 20-year employee of the Clackamas County district attorney's office, to resign from his job for having appeared in an ad sponsored by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The 13 veterans appearing in the ad say they are not affiliated with either presidential campaign.

The protest by a dozen or so former soldiers ratcheted up the involvement of Oregon veterans in the campaign, with French leveling accusations against Kerry and fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Rassmann of Florence.

Rassmann has played a prominent role in the senator's bid for the White House with personal testimony of how Kerry saved his life 35 years ago. Another veteran, former Air Force Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak of Lake Oswego, is also appearing in ads supporting Kerry.

In Monday's protest, the group of Clackamas County veterans said that French inferred he had firsthand knowledge of Kerry's war actions, when in fact he heard about Kerry's actions from friends.

In the ad, French says: "I served with John Kerry ... . He is lying about his record."

The attack ad stopped airing last week but has lingered in the public spotlight as Kerry demanded President Bush repudiate its message. On Monday, Bush said he opposed all ads by independent political groups such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Protesters said that French was no longer fit to serve in a prominent role in the legal profession, because he allegedly lied in an affidavit.

Before recording the ad, French signed an affidavit that said: "I am able to swear, as I do hereby swear, that all facts and statements contained in this affidavit are true and correct and within my personal knowledge and belief."

It goes on to say: "Kerry has wildly exaggerated and lied about his record in Vietnam," and that Kerry received his Purple Heart medals "in the absence of hostile fire."

Kerry was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star as commander of a Swift boat in Vietnam.

In an interview with The Oregonian newspaper on Thursday, French said he relied on the accounts of three other veterans in making the statement about Kerry, and did not personally witness the events. French did not return two messages left at his office Monday.

"As a senior assistant district attorney, you know as well as we do that that kind of ridiculous statement would never pass muster in a court of law," veteran Terry Kirsch said of French's account.

"We question your fitness to serve as an enforcer of the law after swearing to facts in a legal affidavit that you do not know to be true," the Canby man said.

District Attorney John Foote released a statement Monday chiding French for bringing unwanted publicity to the suburban county's office, but stood by his employee.

"I do not personally share the opinions expressed by our prosecutor," Foote wrote. "However, all of our employees have the right to their own opinions on these subjects and to express their opinions on their own time."

Kirsch is on permanent disability from shrapnel wounds received during the Tet offensive on the Vietnamese capital in 1968.

He attempted to hand deliver a letter to French in the district attorney's office on Monday, but was told by a receptionist that French was busy.