[An.American.Expatriate]

Great Work!!!

I have ben following this story and trying to gather other info, but it all seems to be "repeats".

One thing bugs me though, and I still haven't seen this really discussed in full anywhere.

I have seen this quote a fews times:

…Mr.Camil speaks of his plan for an alternative to Mr.Kerry’s idea of symbolically throwing veterans’ medals over the fence onto the steps of the Capitol during the Dewey Canyon III demonstration in Washington in April of 1971.
“My plan was that, on the last day we would go into the [congressional] offices we would schedule the most hardcore hawks for last — and we would shoot them all,” Mr. Camil told the Oral History interviewer. “I was serious.”

my problem is - all of the discussion centers around the November meeting and not that Camil's [original] plan was designed for April 71, not December 71 (as was supposedly voted on in November 71).

What happened to the original plan? Was it tabled for later?
If it was an alternate plan to Kerry's (a primary organizer), when was it presented? Wouldn't Kerry have known about it?

I believe Kerry knew about this for a long time and that his resignation from the group had more to do with personal differences with Al Hubbard than with ideology - he still remained a spokesman well into 72 and maybe 73.

Furthermore - HE WAS STILL A COMMISSIONED OFFICER! Kerry did not resign his commission until 1978. Even if that commission was in the inactive reserves - he was still bound by the laws which pertain to officers of the United States.

[doug from upland]

Hon has pointed out that there was something strange about his reserve status for a few years. At one point, he resigned his commission. I saw a site that said his reserve commitment ended in 1978.

[Hon]

"Mr.Camil speaks of his plan for an alternative to Mr.Kerry’s idea of symbolically throwing veterans’ medals over the fence onto the steps of the Capitol during the Dewey Canyon III demonstration in Washington in April of 1971.
“My plan was that, on the last day we would go into the [congressional] offices we would schedule the most hardcore hawks for last — and we would shoot them all,” Mr. Camil told the Oral History interviewer. “I was serious.”

my problem is - all of the discussion centers around the November meeting and not that Camil's [original] plan was designed for April 71, not December 71 (as was supposedly voted on in November 71)."

++++++

Camil says he didn't tell anybody. So it's unclear whether he ever enuciated this plan to anyone else or not. But you are right that it is something seldom brought up. It could be that Kerry was made aware of this thinking--since it was Kerry's idea to "return" the medals, etc., and this was an alternate idea.

++++++

"I believe Kerry knew about this for a long time and that his resignation from the group had more to do with personal differences with Al Hubbard than with ideology - he still remained a spokesman well into 72 and maybe 73."

According to Nicosia, Kerry quit during his confrontation with Hubbard. He allowed himself to be called the head of the VVAW by the press as late as January 1973.

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"Furthermore - HE WAS STILL A COMMISSIONED OFFICER! Kerry did not resign his commission until 1978."

No. He was out of the Navy as of January 1970. He went back in sometime in 1972. (I don't know how unusual that is, however.)

[rwfromkansas]

I did not know he still was a commissioned officer until 1978. Interesting.

[CJ Wolf]

"Furthermore - HE WAS STILL A COMMISSIONED OFFICER! Kerry did not resign his commission until 1978. Even if that commission was in the inactive reserves - he was still bound by the laws which pertain to officers of the United States."

But he did report it, he was an FBI mole for nixon with a 3 purpleheart cover story. He then went into the witness protection program and was offered a job as senator for his service to the country.