Kerry went from soldier to anti-war protester

The Baltimore Sun ^ | February 14, 2004 | Tom Bowman

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Owens and Zaladonis, the Kerry Swift boat crewman, doubt there were anywhere near as many war crimes as portrayed by those who took part in the "Winter Soldier" investigation, which was organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War in early 1971 in Detroit and formed the basis for Kerry's later testimony before the Senate.

Kerry attended the Detroit meeting but didn't testify. "My main objective was to educate myself," Kerry later told historian Douglas Brinkley for Tour of Duty, John Kerry and the Vietnam War, his recent book on the senator's Vietnam-era activities. "You might say I was on a fact-finding mission."

After Kerry testified before the committee, Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, an Oregon Republican, asked for an investigation into the alleged atrocities.

In his book, America in Vietnam, author Guenter Lewy noted a subsequent inquiry by the Naval Investigative Service that found that many of the veterans who spoke in Detroit refused to be interviewed even when offered immunity, and some who reported the most grisly atrocities were fake witnesses who had used the names of real veterans.

In an interview, Lewy termed the Winter Soldier project "completely unreliable and untrustworthy" and doubts that Vietnam War atrocities were officially condoned or as widespread as the Detroit testimony indicated.

Lewy said he does not recall if he saw a copy of the naval investigative report or was briefed on its contents. "I'm quite confident the information is authentic," he said. Paul O'Donnell, a spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said officials were searching for a copy of the report.

Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and a Marine Corps veteran of the war, worked with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He stands by the Winter Soldier project and was unaware of any investigation that called into question the truthfulness of the participants.

[much longer article at LINK]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

John Kerry at Valley Forge anti-war rally, sitting with group behind Fonda.

Kerry faces fight on security - For war hero, GOP looks at Senate voting record

[XHogPilot]

There are several elements necessary to prevail in warfare. Perhaps the most critical is the will to fight. I remember in 4th or 5th grade, 1966-68, a classmate telling me how his brother was collecting ears in Vietnam. The history channel had a recent program on WWII Pacific islands fighting. GIs told how they or there fellow soldiers avoided the dangers of capturing Japanese soldiers by executing wounded Japanese and collected teeth as souvenirs. None of it surprises me - war can bring out the worst in men. However, to portray any of these actions as common place, encouraged, or condoned at any or all levels of command is an outright lie. Kerry went out of his way to state exactly that - severely undermining this nation's will to fight, and in the same breath provided the label "Baby Killer" to every GI returning from Vietnam.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[schaketo]

The headline reads:

Kerry went from soldier to anti-war protester

Shouldn’t it read:

Kerry went from soldier to communist sympathizer

[alwaysconservative]

Gary Aldrich made a great statement on FOX the other night; he said that one MUST view the post-war conduct when using the term "war hero" about Kerry. He used an analogy to explain his reason. He asked if a hero fireman later became an arsonist, should we still call the arsonist a hero? That zinger put it in a nutshell for me! Kerry's stuck in a time warp, where his own personal experience and fears are more important than the safety of the citizens of this country.

[mewzilla]

I thought he was a commie sympathiser before he was a soldier. Which kinda puts Johnny's service in a whole new light if you think about it. Very Clintonesque is our Johhny, knowing what he wanted at a very early age and what he needed to do to get it. And draft-dodging wouldn't look very good on a campaign flyer, would it?

[ChadGore]

I prefer:

Kerry lead a capitulation movement against his own country.

[RottiBiz]

That zinger put it in a nutshell for me!

I had exactly the same reaction.

[Jacquerie]

1971: Kerry lead a capitulation movement against his own country.

2004: Kerry lead a capitulation movement against his own country.

[FreeAtlanta]

Has anyone ever self-inflicted wounds to leave combat?

Kerry had 3 flesh wounds in 3 occasions, 1 to a leg and 2 to his arm(s). Rumor has it, that he filed his own paper work for medals. (Would we still have those for public release?) The 3rd. purple heart, you get to go home. He was in combat for 4 months.

[Little Bill]

I was looking at some of the units that the people who were active in the VVAW served in. One, Bill Perry, was in D/1/506 at about the same time as a friend of mine, I will see if I can get some Skivvy.

[RottiBiz]

Lots of historical information in Bowman's longer article but definitely designed to glorify the despicable actions of Kerry and his supporters in the antiwar movement.

[FreeAtlanta]

By the way, I wonder if this is why Kerry seems to be trying to downplay the attacks on Bush's service, and I wonder if this is why President Bush has made a point to have all his own records released. Now, the Bush campaign can call on John Kerry to have his records released, and examined.... hand writing examined...

[XHogPilot]

One MUST view the post-war conduct when using the term "war hero" about Kerry. An analogy to explain: If a hero fireman later became an arsonist, should we still call the arsonist a hero?

Oh thank you for the clarity!

[secretagent]

Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and a Marine Corps veteran of the war, worked with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He stands by the Winter Soldier project and was unaware of any investigation that called into question the truthfulness of the participants.

"They gave names, dates and places," Muller said of those who testified. "My Lai was not a unique situation. The history is clear. The atrocities were part of the way we operated in Vietnam. We educated Americans to the reality of what was going on in Vietnam."

Let's have a real discussion on the Winter Soldier Testimony, and whether or not any of the witnesses lied, how many lied, and if Kerry knew they lied.

Let the healing begin.

[alwaysconservative]

Thanks! I'm going to try that out as a new tag, and see if it fits. LOL!

[FairOpinion]

"2004: Kerry lead a capitulation movement against his own country."

[FairOpinion]

"(If a hero fireman later becomes an arsonist, should we still call him a hero? Aldrich) "

===

Excellent to use it in a tagline!

[secretagent]

The link has expired, so I googled for some more text I found relevant:

"Zaladonis has mixed feelings. "I thought he was a damn good officer. I think
I would very much like to see him as president." But Zaladonis is uncertain
about whether he will vote for Kerry, partly due to political issues and partly
because of Kerry's work with antiwar protesters."

" "The more I hear about (the protests). " 'Did John say that? Did he do that?'"
said Zaladonis, a retired telephone technician in Florida. "I'm still studying
it." "

Another small excerpt. I know we can't archive the whole article, because of the lawsuit list.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thank you. Here's a site for a good laugh.

John Kerry for President - - of France