History Lesson needed: Was John Kerry an infamous protester?

[fishtank]

I need a history lesson. Although I just turned 42 years of age, my memory of Vietnam is - well - elementary - as in that is the school I was attending when it took place.

I have heard over the years the well deserved scorn from my elders against Hanoi Jane. In fact, I was able to even see the film clip of her in the AA battery in North Vietnam - where she was jokingly aiming the AA in the sky - like she was preparing to shoot down an American plane.

(The film clip was in documentary produced by Tom Pauken.)

What about John Kerry? Was he a well known protester at the time? Was his aid and comfort to the enemy common knowledge at the time, or was John Kerry overshadowed by his celebrity fellow travelers?

[JennysCool]

Well, he testified before Congress. That would seem to be a big deal.

[steplock]

"Infamous" gives way to much credit to a third-rate POS socialiit.

[EggsAckley]

I am, ahem, considerably older than you, and YES, Kerry was very high profile, at least to my memory. In fact, it was JOHN KERRY who caused me to register as a Republican, following his (disgraceful) Senate testimony, and also that infuriating march he and his Commies did across the eastern states, pretending to "occupy" small towns, etc.

When that happened, I was LIVID! I had already experienced losing an acquaintance in Vietnam, and when I saw others my age actually listening to the likes of Hanoi Jane and John, I RAN to the Republican party to register.

I guess I can than John Kerry for opening my eyes, way back then.

[vharlow]

And, as was discovered later, lots of what he said was not true. People he was associated with weren't ever even in Vietnam or the military. He and his cohorts were responsible for our GI's returning from Vietnam, a terrible war where they fought for us honorably, to disgraceful displays of contempt by the public, such as being spat upon. Such behavior was encouraged and promoted by such as Kerry and Fonda. Imagine the shock of our GI's returning home after having been drafted to go fight a war by such treatment by their own people.

Is it any wonder the swiftvets are angry with Kerry?

[dirtboy]

He was infamous enough to merit a couple of Doonesbury strips back in the early seventies...

[Ditto]

Was he a well known protester at the time? Was his aid and comfort to the enemy common knowledge at the time, or was John Kerry overshadowed by his celebrity fellow travelers?

Testified before the Senate, was interviewed on Meet The Press, and generally had his lying mug in front of every TV camera available. I sure as hell knew who he was back then.

[dirtboy]

[armymarinemom]

Go to Winter Soldier.com and you will find documentation on an answer of yes to your question.For further reading about Kerry's history with his work with the POW/MIA that is lauded by the Dems but despised by the POW/MIA families read.
All POW/MIA network
Kerry Protests and POW's
Radio Hanoi Tapes

[Democrap]

John Kerry, in sworn testimony before the Senate in April 1971, said he met with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong delegations in Paris in May 1970. FBI files show Kerry made another trip in 1971 to meet with the NVM and VC delegations.

http://www.democrap.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=13

[wideawake]

(1) Kerry was the leader of the VVAW, one of the most vocal and press-covered war protest organizations.

(2) Kerry appeared at Congressional hearings as a war protestor.

(3) Kerry appeared publicly on TV and at rallies with Jane Fonda, who was notorious for her pro-Communist activism.

(4) Kerry appeared on prime time television shows to spread his war protest views and famously squared off with John O'Neil on the Dick Cavett Show.

(5) Kerry led a well-covered war protest in Washington where he threw some medals of doubtful provenance on the Capitol steps.

If people at the time made of list of the most prominent antiwar protestors in America, John Kerry would have been in the top ten on anybody's.

[fishtank]

Thanks all.

Let's hope, work and pray to keep this cretin out of the White House.

[dennisw]

THERE IS NO DOUBT he was the most prominent protester who was a Vietnam veteran. He got all kinds of face time on TV due to having served in Vietnam then turned against the war. (backstabbing his comrades)

[Jim Noble]

What about John Kerry? Was he a well known protester at the time?

No.

[Mr. Mojo]

Kerry looks like one of Meathead's commie friends in All in the Family in that photo. In fact, I think I see Meathead himself in the back row toward the left (with his arms crossed).

[A.A. Cunningham]

Infamous enough that the POWs in the Hanoi Hilton, as well as Giap and his lackeys, knew who that POS Kerry was.

McCain: Hanoi Hilton Jailers Used Kerry Speech Against Us

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

Very high profile, I recall his obnoxious lies vividly. I served in Vietnan in 1968-69 and lived in Massachusetts in 1969-72 while he was doing his antiwar posturing. He was all over the papers and TV as shown by other replies to you.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

COINTELPRO 5/14/68
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1553/fbi51468.html

COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story
http://www.jackblood.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/cointelpro.htm

Okay, here it is -- the mother lode of FBI files on Vietnam Veterans Against the War. This archive contains 21,477 pages of documents received in response to our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, bundled up by the FBI as PDF-format Files of Unusual Size.
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=20040518192545112

This propaganda was also used against American soldiers in Vietnam. An interrogation report of an Enemy Proselytizing cadre stated "Photographs of peace movements had been sent to COSVN by the peace organizations in the US and these were used in the leaflets (NFI) and sometimes produced by the Source himself."…….. McCain for his inexplicable demeanor during the Select Committee hearing when he routinely attacked witnesses who suggested that the government's efforts in this issue had been less than exemplary. The current Vice President of the U.S. Trade Council is Ms. Francis Zwenig, who served as Chief of Staff for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA. Ms. Zwenig had also served as Legislative Assistant to Sen. John Kerry………the Senate Select Committee adjourned, some of the key personnel assigned to the Committee quickly seized high salaried positions within the U.S./Vietnam Trade Council, a business group designed to facilitate normalization and trade between the U.S. and Vietnam………Sen. Harkin visited Vietnam on July 4th, 1995, in which he also praised their cooperation in solving the POW/MIA issue. Upon returning to the U.S., Sen. Harkin personally briefed President Clinton and encouraged him to move forward in the normalization process, to include access by American businesses in Vietnam to the Overseas Private Investment Corp. Insurance (OPIC). However, MIA family members were alarmed to discover that his wife is President and CEO of this organization. This organization is designed to "bail out" American investors from potential failures due to Vietnamese government reneging on business contracts and financial investments……..Several elected officials of the U.S. government have also called for normalization with Vietnam, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Sen. Kerry has remarked publicly on Vietnam's "superb" cooperation, and he has been seen by many as championing Vietnam's attempts to lift the economic embargo and diplomatic sanctions.
http://www.pownetwork.org/docs/part2.htm

(L.A. Times, March 22, 2004) Kerry, now the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has long known he was a target of FBI surveillance, but only last week learned the extent of the scrutiny, he told The Times
http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/kerry_vvaw_cointelpro.html

[McGavin999]

I'm a lot older than you, and yes, he was. He and his cohorts are primarily responsible for the public turning on our military. You hear about our military men and women not wearing their uniforms in public because of the derision that was heaped upon them. People were calling them "baby killers" and "savages".

It was a time of protest, all across the country. Hippies (the great unwashed) went to Washington to attend protests, and even those who could not go mimiced their hatred of our military.

I remember the Winter Soldier Investigations that took place in a Howard Johnson (I think in Detroit). I don't remember the details but I do remember the accusations that came out of it.

You can't even imagine the pain all that caused our returning vets, or the pain it caused those who had lost loved ones over there, and there were a LOT of us.