Not So Swift: John Kerry's dubious Vietnam revisionism (By Christopher Hitchens)

Slate ^ | August 23, 2004 | Christopher Hitchens

[Dont Mention the War]

Not So Swift

John Kerry's dubious Vietnam revisionism.

By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Aug. 23, 2004, at 12:11 PM PT

John Kerry actually claims to have shot a fleeing Viet Cong soldier from the riverbank, something that I personally would have kept very quiet about. He used to claim that he was a witness to, and almost a participant in, much worse than that. So what if he has been telling the absolute truth all along? In what sense, in other words, does his participation in a shameful war qualify him to be president of the United States? This was a combat of more than 30 years ago, fought with a largely drafted army using indiscriminate tactics and weaponry against a deep-rooted and long-running domestic insurgency. (The biochemical dioxin, for example, was employed to destroy the vegetation in the Mekong Delta and make life easier for the swift boats.) The experience of having fought in such a war is absolutely useless to any American today and has no bearing on any thinkable fight in which the United States could now become engaged. Thus, only the "character" issues involved are of any weight, and these are extremely difficult and subjective matters. If Kerry doesn't like people disputing his own version of his own gallantry, then it was highly incautious of him to have made it the centerpiece of his appeal.

The Democrats have made a rod for their own backs in uncritically applauding their candidate's ramrod-and-salute posture. They have also implicitly subverted one of the most important principles of the republic, which is civilian control over military decisions. And more than that, they have done something eye-rubbingly unprincipled, doing what Reagan and Kissinger could not do: rehabilitating the notion of the Vietnam horror as "a noble cause."

[Bushbacker]

Hitchens rejects the idea that Viet Nam was a "noble cause," albeit mismanaged by LBJ, then
dumped in Nixon's lap.

I don't think we should accept him as an ally in the anti-Kerry cause. He's still a socialist and
he hated Clinton mainly because Bubbba was a boob and a clod and did damage to the left.

[Veto!]

He's still a socialist

that's exactly what makes him useful. I sent this article to my most left-leaning friends saying, "see what even the leftist press is saying about Kerry."

[SuziQ]

See, this is why the President doesn't need to talk about the Swift Boat ads. There are lots of folks out there doing it for him!

[Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek]

HEY MR. KERRY...

YOU CAN'T BE BOTH ANTI-WAR AND SGT. YORK AT THE SAME TIME!!
(dummy)

even your liberal buddies have that much common sense!

---

You picked on odd example. Sgt York, in the 1930's returned to his pacifist heritage and even renounced the US participation in WWI. (He changed his mind again when WWII broke out, but still, this is an odd example for you to use).

http://www.grunts.net/legends/alvinyork.html
Alvin York
Army Legend

Alvin York was born in Pall Mall Tennessee on December 13, 1887, the third of 11 children born to William and Mary York. His Grandfather, Uriah York, was an Army Veteran of the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The York family scraped out a living on their modest farm and supplemented their table by hunting. Young Alvin became an expert marksman in the back woods around Pall Mall. As he entered his teens, Alvin became known as a hell-raiser and a "nuisance" to the community as he frequented bars.

In 1914, Alvin radically altered his life. One of his best friends was killed in a bar fight. As a result, Alvin attended a prayer meeting. While there, Alvin realized the path he had chosen was destructive and decided to change his ways. He became a member of the Church of Christ in Christian Union and was soon teaching Sunday school classes and leading the choir. In addition, the Church of Christ in Christian Union preached a strict moral code which forbade drinking, dancing, movies, swimming, swearing, popular literature, and moral injunctions against violence and war. York gladly accepted this lifestyle and soon met his future wife, Gracie Williams.

in 1917, Alvin's faith was tested when in response to the Declaration of War against Germany, he received a draft notice. Following his church's teachings, he wrote on the back, "Don't want to fight" and sent it back to the local draft board. When his case came up for review it was denied at both the local and the state level because the Church of Christ in Christian Union was not recognized as a legitimate Christian sect. Alvin soon found himself on a train to Camp Gordon, Georgia for basic training. Once there he was assigned to G Company, 328th Infantry, 82nd Division

At Camp Gordon, Alvin stuck out from the rest. he soon distinguished himself as an expert marksman. This confused the trainers at the camp as he repeatedly spoke of his objection to war. Because of his objections, he was called before his company commander, George Buxton. For several weeks, the two spoke openly about Alvin's convictions and soon he convinced Alvin that God sometimes ordains war as moral and necessary. Alvin finally agreed to fight.

On April 10, 1918, the 82nd Division began the long journey to France and the trenches of World War One. From May to July, the Division trained with the British 66th Division at Picardy and the French Eighth Army at Lorraine. From the end of July through September, the Division occupied and controlled two sectors of the Allied lines at Lucey and Marbache. On September 12th, the Division engaged the enemy for the first time in the St. Mihiel campaign. Alvin's unit, 328th Inf, in connection with the attack of the 90th Div against the Bois-le-Prêtre, advances on the west of the Moselle River, and, in contact with the right of the 360th Inf (90th Div), enters Norroy, and reaches the heights just north of that town where it consolidates its position. Sept 15, 328th Inf, in order to provide flank protection for the 90th Div, resumes the advance, reaches Vandières and the hill 400 m northwest thereof, but withdraws on the following day to the high ground 1¼ km north of Norroy.

After St. Mihiel, the 82nd Division returned to their sector at Marbache until October when they were tasked with supporting the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It was here that Alvin distinguished himself in combat. On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York and sixteen other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched before sunrise to take command of the Decauville railroad behind Hill 223 in the Chatel-Chehery sector of the Meuse-Argonne sector. The seventeen men, due to a misreading of their map (which was in French not English) mistakenly wound up behind enemy lines. A brief fire fight ensued which resulted in the confusion and the unexpected surrender of a superior German force to the seventeen soldiers. Once the Germans realized that the American contingent was limited, machine gunners on the hill overlooking the scene turned the gun away from the front and toward their own troops. After ordering the German soldiers to lie down, the machine gun opened fire resulting in the deaths of nine Americans, including York's best friend in the outfit, Murray Savage. Sergeant Early received seventeen bullet wounds and turned the command over to corporals Harry Parsons and William Cutting, who ordered York to silence the machine gun. York was successful and when all was said and done, nine men had captured 132 prisoners.

For his heroism, Alvin York was awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G, 328th Infantry, 82d Division. Place and date: Near Chatel-Chehery, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Pall Mall, Tenn. Born: 13 December 1887, Fentress County, Tenn. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: After his platoon had suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.

Upon returning home, Alvin married his sweetheart and moved into a home give to him by the Rotary Club of Nashville. During the 1920s, Alvin went on numerous speaking tours trying to raise awareness for education and raise money for the Alvin C. York Institute. Alvin's vision was for a school open to any and all underprivileged Tennessee children who wished to pursue an education and proposed that the school provide vocational training as well as the fundamental basics of education. The initial name of the school, the York Industrial Institute reflected Alvin's belief that the future lay in industry. Ironically, Alvin's school would train students for a technological future and insure that many children would leave the region for larger urban areas.

In the 1930's, Alvin became a staunch pacifist. With war becoming more likely again in Europe, Alvin began pleading with people to avoid war at all costs. In 1935, he delivered a sermon in which he told of his belief that good Christians should ignore world events and focus on securing peace at home in America. Alvin believed that once Americans were safe in their homes and churches, America could stand out as an example of what peace could accomplish. Alvin even went so far as to renounce America's involvement in the first World War.

Shortly after that, Alvin was approached by Jesse L. Lasky, a film producer interested in telling Alvin's life on the silver screen. Because of his opposition to war, Alvin was hesitant. In 1937. In that same year, Alvin joined the Emergency Peace Campaign which lobbied against any U.S. involvement in the growing tensions in Europe. Because the Church of Christ in Christian Union condemned movies as sinful, Lasky had a tough time convincing Alvin that a film based on his life was justified. Alvin finally agreed when he decided that the money made from the film could be used to create an interdenominational Bible school. As the film progressed the focus of the project changed and Alvin's war exploit gained prominence. Through York's association with Lasky and Warner Brothers, he became convinced that Hitler represented the personification of evil in the world. Alvin's conversion to interventionism was so complete that he wholeheartedly agreed with General George C. Marshall that the U.S. should institute its first peacetime draft. Governor Prentice Cooper approved Alvin's endorsement by naming him chief executive of the Fentress County Draft Board, and appointed him to the Tennessee Preparedness Committee to help prepare for wartime.

When World War Two broke out, Alvin attempted to reenlist in the infantry but age prevented him from doing so. Instead, he signed up with the Signal Corps and traveled the country on bond tours, recruitment drives, and camp inspections. Ironically, the Bible school that was built with the proceeds from the movie opened in 1942, but the very people the school was intended for had either enlisted in the armed services or moved north to work in defense related industries. The school closed in 1943 never to reopen.

Alvin's health began to deteriorate after the war and in 1954 he suffered from a stroke that would leave him bedridden for the remainder of his life. In 1951, the Internal Revenue Service accused him of tax evasion regarding profits earned from the movie. Unfortunately, Alvin was practically destitute in 1951. He spent the next ten years fighting the IRS, which led Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Congressman Joe L. Evins to establish the York Relief Fund to help cancel the debt. In 1961, the matter was brought to the attention of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy called the matter a national disgrace and ordered that the matter be resolved. The relief fund paid the IRS $100,000 and placed $30,000 in trust to be used in the family's best interest.

Alvin York died on September 2, 1964 and was buried with full military honors in the Pall Mall cemetery. His funeral was attended by Governor Frank G. Clement and General Matthew Ridgway as President Lyndon B. Johnson's official representative. He was survived by seven children and his widow.

[Republic Rocker]

Hitchins is like McCain and O'Reilly....Never quit sure which side he is hitting for. But I do enjoy his takes because he is very candid.

Sometimes it is refreshing to not have to follow journalist who hit for one team or the other. And of course Hitchins has a view from abroad and being English I believe his approach is quit proper.

He did a good job on this one and as each day goes by and these liberal or middle of the road admired writers point out the mistakes and dishonesty of Kerry the sand only starts to move quicker under Hanoi's feet....!

[Vinnie]

This was a combat of more than 30 years ago, fought with a largely drafted army using indiscriminate tactics and weaponry against a deep-rooted and long-running domestic insurgency......

'Insurgency', That's the understatement of the year.

And more than that, they have done something eye-rubbingly unprincipled, doing what Reagan and Kissinger could not do: rehabilitating the notion of the Vietnam horror as "a noble cause."

Perhaps Mr. Hitchens forgets the atrocities committed by the Viet Cong 'insurgents'.
The Viet Nam War was every bit as noble as our involvement in Kosovo.

I like Hitchens although I disagree with him most of the time. His wordsmithing is superb.
His dissing Clinton and Kerry we agree on, the reasons, no.

[Quix]

THANKS. Much appreciated.

[Dilbert56]

Hitchens is unparalleled in his hatred of Kissinger.

His points about modern warfare vs. today are valid. We used to carpet bomb, now we lase targets or feed their coordinates into a smart bomb. Our recent wars have been in the desert - nowhere to hide. Even the Iraq occupation is different, some cities hate us and 85-90% of the country likes us.

I believe it was Lt. Smash who first argued this: There are 25 million Iraqis, every house has an AK47. There are ammo dumps all over the country with more serious weapons. If the Iraqis really wanted us out, they could send millions against our 140,000. They don't.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

If Kerry doesn't like people disputing his own version of his own gallantry, then it was highly incautious of him to have made it the centerpiece of his appeal.

Good one.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

If Kerry doesn't like people disputing his own version of his own gallantry, then it was highly incautious of him to have made it the centerpiece of his appeal.

I have to add that even if Kerry's own versions of events are accurate (and I for one am unconvinced), isn't it kind of tedious, this constant harping on his own heroism? Isn't it kind of distasteful and low-rent? What kind of boorish creep goes around calling himself a hero? That in and of itself is distinctly un-heroic. He should have learned that in that finishing school in Switzerland.

[leprechaun9]

"This was a combat of more than 30 years ago ..."

This is true and it is also true that those who served and were accused by John Freakin' Kerry of being war criminals probably carry the memories of their return from Viet Nam as though it happened yesterday. Thus far in the discussions, I believe the Swift Vets are infinitely more credible than the pimps of the Kerry Campaign. By the way, how many of them served on his PCF and know the facts first hand?

[BurbankKarl]

how much $$$ did the swifties receive since their last ad?

[RogueIsland]

Does Hitchens actually like anybody?

[beckett]

Anyone have this picture to post?

[okie01]

The Viet Nam War was every bit as noble as our involvement in Kosovo.

Moreso. The political motivations for both were deeply flawed (thank you, LBJ and Slick Willie). But the war in Viet Nam was ultimately a noble venture that should have been fought.

I'm not sure Kosovo earns that stature.

[Chewbacco]

Very interesting read, thank you.

of course I was going for a quick "jingoist hawk" caricature and not literally Sgt. York.

However, based on the information you provided I think I may have to reconsider my statement.

I suppose the best "pacifist" are people who have experienced first hand the ravages of war.

However, Kerry does not stick on one side. He portrays himself as a belligerent warrior, (i.e., "you cant run, you cant hide, we will find you and we will Destroy you") while simultaneously saying that he wants to pull the troops from Iraq, and conduct a more "sensitive" war on terror.

Sgt. York was an interesting choice albeit quite by accident. thanks again

[Right Wing Puppy]

Don't be so sure of the mainstream media turning on JFK. Kerry is on the counterattack and it seems to be giving the Kool-Aide drinker a new surge of courage. This whole affair is at a crossroads right now. Bush has to be careful not to let Kerry's accusations stick. This is a very worrisome time. I do thing the Swifties have the upper hand but you have to give credit to the Dems, they go down swinging. Something we should learn from