BOSTON (AP) – Sen. John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was torpedoed by critics of his Vietnam War record, said Friday he has personally accepted Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens’ offer of $1 million to anyone who can disprove even a single charge of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Pickens, who provided $3 million to bankroll the group during Kerry’s race against President Bush, responded by saying he won’t consider giving Kerry the reward unless he surrenders his combat films, additional military records and wartime journal.

“While I am prepared to show they lied on allegation after allegation, you have generously offered to pay one million dollars for just one thing that can be proven false,” Kerry wrote to Pickens. “I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt.”

The Massachusetts Democrat, a Navy veteran and former prosecutor, said he was willing to present his case directly to Pickens and would donate any proceeds to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

In an interview, Kerry added: “It’s beyond me; it’s important for all the vets who served with me, who cared about it, whose own records were lied about. The problem is, it’s the way they operate on the other side, and we have to end swift-boating forever. The way to do that is to have this public accounting.”

In his response, Pickens wrote: “I am certainly open to your challenge,” but he said he would not pay Kerry unless the senator first provided him with copies of his wartime journals, as well as movies he shot while on patrol and his complete military records for 1971 to 1978.

Pickens said such documentation, which the group has previously sought, would be needed to disprove its ads.

“When you have done so, if you can then prove anything in the ads was materially untrue, I will gladly award $1 million. As you know, I have been a long and proud supporter of the American military and veterans’ causes,” Pickens wrote.

He also proposed a counter-challenge: “If you cannot prove anything in the Swift Boat ads to be untrue, that you will make a $1 million gift to the charity I am choosing – the (Congressional) Medal of Honor Foundation.”

Pickens issued his challenge Nov. 6 in Washington, while serving as chairman of a 40th anniversary gala for American Spectator magazine, according to two Internet accounts of the gathering and Kerry, who said he spoke to people who were there.

In a letter sent to Pickens’ Dallas home, Kerry wrote: “I would be more than happy to travel to Dallas to meet with you in a mutually agreed upon public forum, or would invite you to join me in Massachusetts for a public dialogue and then together we could visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Norwood and see firsthand how we can put your money to good work for our veterans.

Copies of the letter, as well as Pickens’ response, were provided to The Associated Press.

First in the book “Unfit for Command,” and then in a series of television commercials, the Kerry critics challenged the circumstances for his military awards, accused him of doctoring reports and argued he never traveled into Cambodia as claimed.

While fellow veterans and reporters disproved many of the group’s claims at the time, Kerry refused to air ads responding to the criticism, and even his own response was muted for fear of legitimizing his critics’ attacks. The senator conceded after losing to Bush, the Republican incumbent, that his lackluster response likely cost him the election.

Ever since, Kerry has worked to lay the criticisms to rest.

In May 2005, he began signing the Standard Form 180, giving reporters access to his full Navy record personnel and medical records – something he refused to do during the campaign.

Subsequent reviews showed those records mostly duplicated documents Kerry released during the 2004 campaign. In addition, they included numerous commendations from commanders who went on to criticize Kerry’s service during the presidential race.

That disclosure renewed questions about why Kerry did not respond more forcefully with control over the White House at stake.

Kerry decided against launching a second bid for president, but during the 2006 midterms, and as the 2008 race has formulated, the senator proclaimed he will not only defend his own record, but prevent other candidates from being “Swift-boated.”

In his letter to Pickens, the senator challenged the billionaire’s honor.

“I trust that you are a man of your word, having made a very public challenge at a major Washington dinner, and look forward to taking you up on this challenge,” Kerry wrote.

AP-ES-11-16-07 1819EST