Kerry won Vietnam vets' wrath describing what he couldn't see (Jane Fonda mentioned)

Omaha World-Herald ^ | 8/22/04 | HAROLD W. ANDERSEN

[Libloather]

Kerry won Vietnam vets' wrath describing what he couldn't see
BY HAROLD W. ANDERSEN
Published Sunday, August 22, 2004
WORLD-HERALD CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

It is one of the bigger gambles of the presidential campaign. But with most of the news media looking the other way, John Kerry has been getting away with it so far.

I refer to Kerry's gamble that the news media won't finally take a hard look at his anti-war activities instead of concentrating on his four-plus months of combat-zone experience as a decorated, wounded veteran of the Vietnam War - experience that Kerry incessantly promotes as qualifying him to be president and commander in chief of the armed forces.

There have been occasional, brief news-media references to, but no details of, Kerry's controversial testimony to a U.S. Senate committee. It took place after he opted out of the customary one-year tour of duty under a Navy policy that allowed such an early out if a serviceman so elected after receiving his third Purple Heart.

(The Marines stopped awarding a Purple Heart for a minor wound, even if the Marine received medical treatment. None of Kerry's wounds was serious enough to require hospitalization.)

Let's take a detailed look at Kerry's Capitol Hill testimony. It will, I think, help explain why many Vietnam veterans oppose Kerry's presidential bid.

On April 23, 1971, John Kerry appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, dressed in what appeared to be military fatigues, displaying the ribbons representing his Vietnam War medals (ribbons which he subsequently said he threw over a wire fence onto the Capitol grounds).

Kerry's testimony, widely publicized at the time, included the following allegations, which he offered as facts:

A "Winter Soldier Investigation" (largely financed by actress Jane Fonda) meeting in Detroit a few months earlier heard statements from men who represented themselves to be Vietnam veterans.

Kerry said that "they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . . ."

Kerry described such incidents as "crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with a full awareness of officers at all levels of command." Such conduct, he testified, reflected "the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do" and was "accepted policy by many units in South Vietnam."

Kerry's four-plus months of combat-zone experience involved his commanding half a dozen men in a "swift boat" crew as a naval lieutenant, junior grade. Yet, his testimony purported to describe atrocities committed by Army and Marine units serving in the jungles of Vietnam.

"The Army says they never leave their wounded," Kerry said. "The Marines say they never even leave their dead. These men have left all the casualties and retreated behind a pious shield of public rectitude. They've left the real stuff of their reputations bleaching behind them in the sun . . . ."

Is it any wonder that outraged Vietnam veterans have formed organizations like "Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry"?

Kerry could not possibly have seen the things that he repeatedly said "we" had seen. Apparently, he relied on the statements of some of the supposed veterans who attended the "Winter Soldier Investigation" rally in Detroit.

But later research confirmed that in five or more cases, those testifying at the Detroit rally lied about serving in Vietnam and/or about witnessing examples of brutal war crimes.

Enough today about the largely ignored story of John Kerry's testimony to a committee of the U.S. Congress. Next Sunday: the angry reaction of other Vietnam veterans who were as well situated as Kerry, if not better, to know how American forces conducted themselves in the Vietnam War.

[keats5]

You know, I never thought of that voting block- children of Vietnam Vets!

[RedEyeJack]

Give the man a cigar!

My friends with purple hearts from Vietnam all have scars that give you and ache in the pit of your stomach when you see them.. If JFK had survived the type of wounds they did he would have valued them much more... My big problem with all of this is how the Navy and the Swift Boat Chain of command let him get these things in the first place. Based on what we have seen from him in the last 30+ years I hope that they were rubber stamping his efforts to get them (the PH's) with the knowledge that they could get rid of him before he got someone killed...

[somemoreequalthanothers]

I have heard this sort of thing from friends old enough to know. This information makes me sick. We were so close, only to be thwarted by the leftist swine.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

My Favorite post for dims and trolls
who slither in here each day.
And the Lame Stream media
who find the real news on Free Republic,
then rewrite and spin the truth.

ATTN : ABC CBS CNN FOX NBC
William B. Rood was not actually ON Kerry's boat.

Mommy Heinz!
Help!

Look what the Washington Post said on 8/21/04

"Although Kerry campaign officials insist that they have published Kerry's full military records on their Web site (with the exception of medical records shown briefly to reporters earlier this year), they have not permitted independent access to his original Navy records. A Freedom of Information Act request by The Post for Kerry's records produced six pages of information. A spokesman for the Navy Personnel Command, Mike McClellan, said he was not authorized to release the full file, which consists of at least a hundred pages. "

Look! What the Harvard Crimson wrote about me in 1970

Published on Wednesday, February 18, 1970
John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress
By SAMUEL Z. GOLDHABER
Crimson Staff Writer

"...One time Kerry was ordered to destroy a Viet Cong village
but disobeyed orders and suggested that the Navy Command
simply send in a Psychological Warfare team to be
friend the villagers with food, hospital supplies,
and better educational facilities."


Now my shipmates on the
USS GRIDLEY CG-21
are attacking me.

Click Here Mommy
and see what
the USS GRIDLEY crew say.

They say I told lies in Tour of Duty
GRIDLEY CREW ARE LIKE
SWIFT BOAT VETS MEANIES!

Mommy : People can get
MY real book here, right now, online FREE!!
I'm so proud of it!
The New Soldier,
By John Kerry
and Vietnam Veterans
Against the War


Mommy : Please don't be mad
about my hero Al Hubbard.

Head of Kerry's Vietnam Vets Against the War was Vietnam Vet phony
"Many of the stories were later shown to be fictional. Other so-called Vietnam veterans, such as the executive secretary of VVAW, Al Hubbard, a self-styled poet ("See what you've become, Amerika," ends one of his Vietnam odes),
turned out to have no record of service in Vietnam."


Mommy : Why does McCain
still campaign with Bush?
Mommy : Why doesn't Al Gore defend me?
He is a Vietnam Vet.

Mommy : Did Hillary
"leak" FBI Files on me?
I even used her famous slogan?

"Kerry entered and abandoned Vietnamese village and slaughtered domestic animals
owned by the civilians and burned down their homes with his Zippo lighter."



It only takes one idiot to raze a village!
(My original response!)

Mommy : Where is Ted Kennedy?

[meatloaf]

Given the recent drop in veterans planning to vote for Kerry reported in polls, I'd say the Swift boat vets may have already cinched the election for Bush. Kerry's cold reception at the VFW convention wasn't widely reported in the media. Sure the media is trying to trash the vets but the more they publish the more they publicize the inconsistancies in Kerry's bio.

[Sisku Hanne]

Unbelievable!!! The last line in that propaganda flyer is almost identical to the words Kerry spoke in his testimony....they used his words!

[Chieftain]

Freeper N. Theknow says:
"It’s faster than a checkbook, more powerful than a Democratic demagogue, able to lay waste to a liar Kerry with the single click of a mouse. It's a little bird of truth, it's plain to see Kerry's unfit... it's... it's...SuperFReep!

Want to join in the fun? Click the logo to donate to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!

[conshack]

You know, I never thought of that voting block- children of Vietnam Vets!



Let's hope it filters down. Guess I'll have to talk to my 3 to make sure they haven't been brainwashed.

[Chieftain]

My father, a VV suffered for years and years the shame that was thrown upon our vets return by bastards like Kerry....may he rot in hell eternally.

Tell your Dad he is in good company. Many of us are just like him and we have kids and some have grandkids that have friends and they all are of voting age!

When you talk to your friends remind them of your father's agony over what Kerry did!

Semper Fidelis

[nightdriver]

"John Kerry appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, dressed in what appeared to be military fatigues, displaying the ribbons representing his Vietnam War medals."

It may not be all that significant, but Kerry was abusing the uniform at this time. Medals (or the ribbons representing those medals) are not to be worn on fatigues. They are only worn on Class "A"s or better.

The poor sad sack, Kerry, couldn't even wear his uniform correctly.

[Chieftain]

Thanks for posting that image, it's invaluable evidence of Kerry's betrayal.

[fortheDeclaration]

"Looks like we a loosing the fight"

No, we are winning! Kerry is on the defensive. He has not been able to establish any message for the campaign and distance himself from Bush before the GOP convention.
Various posts have indicated (in Iowa for example) that the Democrats are very worried at what they are seeing.
The veteran vote is a crucial vote and if it turns mostly to Bush it will have a decisive impact in these swing States.
Kerry's Anti-War stance and his attack on the Vietnam Vets will bury him once they become the focal point of the discussion.

[Uncle Meat]

Kerry reminds me of that old cartoon,Commander Mc Bragg,that's always pushing his exagerated,outlandish war stories off on his butler.

[SouthernFreebird]

Oh yeah, there is a whole generation of children who saw first hand the results of the Kerrys and Fondas.

It's payback time.... time for us vet children to say loud and clear that what was done to our honorable men who served this Country in vietnam is unacceptable,dishonorable and unforgiveable.

May God hear my prayer that Kerry feel the shame and rejection on election night that he heaped upon our servicemen in his quest for the Whitehouse.

[Libloather]

...it's plain to see Kerry's unfit...

This is what I don't understand - this idiot was America's enemy's best friend. He obtains power in the Senate and found a way to become the RAT party candidate - for Commander-in-Chief? Just how convoluted is THAT?

I was thinking about starting a FR thread for ALL vets and their kids to vent. It's been a long time and the biggest war protester gets an anal exam like no other. I was wondering how that felt to all those who served - and got pissed about what Effin' Kerry did. It must be satisfying in so many ways...

[ncpatriot]

Yes! Start that thread.

[Chieftain]

Kerry's running as awar hero energized lots of vets who had an infection from his lies torment them for many years. Though painful, it is cathartic (theraputic) to get out all the pain and hurt from within, but overall, it is beneficial to us. At least that's my personal feeling.

My 21 yearold twin sons were just talking with me today. They knew I went to Gainesville to FReep Kerry Krewmate Del Sandusky the other day. They just now realize how personal my feeling are and how Kerry's lies smeared ALL vets.

With a tear running down his face, my one son looked me in the eye and said, "Dad, that Kerry is a sonofabitch for doing that to his fellow comrades. Now I understand why you will fight him with all your might. I will tell ALL of my friends this story".

I felt like he now really does understand his old Marine pops.

[Capricam]

I agree! I am posting as fast as my fingers can move. Posting articles I find here and elsewhere. One place, a liberal haven where you don't get banned for posting pro-Bush/anti-Kerry stuff (yet) is here:

http://fray.slate.msn.com/?id=3936&tp=bestoffray

There are other rooms, War Stories, Fighting Words, Politics, etc., that can be found in the Index:

http://fray.slate.msn.com/?id=3936

Getting the word out is helping.

[okie01]

Looks like we a loosing the fight.

Odd that you would post such pessimistic nonsense on a thread headed by a newspaper article suggesting the exact opposite.

[blue-duncan]

Be careful what you ask for. Remember he still has a piece of shrapnel in his candy a--.