Posted on 09/02/2004 10:00:59 PM PDT by AFA-Michigan
This is outside my usual area of discussion, but (1) living in Michigan, I was intrigued by the historic role Detroit played in John Kerry's "aid and comfort to the enemy" saga, and (2) my late father was a U.S. Marine who survived Pearl Harbor and served during both WWII and the Korean War, which means I was raised to have strong feelings about that "aid and comfort" stuff.
If those Swift Boat guys remain on the ball as they have so far, I'll bet the information below eventually becomes the subject of one of their ads. It certainly should.
Kerry was an active participant in a Jane Fonda-led event in Detroit that produced a propaganda film that slandered the reputation of all U.S. servicemen who served in Vietnam. That Detroit event was also the basis of Kerry's infamous testimony before the U.S. Senate.
Fonda raised money and entertained for the event, even met her future husband there. Kerry was a moderator for it.
The headline of this post quotes the wife of a POW who yelled at Kerry during the event...see details below... foreshadowing his doing just what she yelled over 30 years later.
Jane and John documentably collaborating in Detroit to smear Vietnam vets. That should drop him like a lead balloon.
It's all here from various sources, most of them posted on university web sites.
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Kerry smears Vietnam vets
Statement by John Kerry Vietnam Veterans Against the War Senate Foreign Relations Committee April 22, 1971
"I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command....
They told the stories at times 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 in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country. ...
We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, not reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out. ...we must learn, in this country, how to define those threats and that is what I would say to the question of world peace. I think it is bogus, totally artificial. There is no threat. The Communists are not about to take over our McDonald hamburger stands. [Laughter.]...
(Univ. of Richmond) http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/JohnKerryTestimony.html
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Kerry joined forces with Fonda
"Almost immediately after his tour in Vietnam ended, Kerry joined forces with Jane Fonda and helped to found and support Vietnam Veterans Against the War. In January of 1971, Kerry, Fonda, and VVAW produced the "Winter Soldier Investigations", a film of mock hearings (in Detroit) designed to publicize sensational allegations of atrocities by Americans in Vietnam. In April of 1971, three months after filming the Winter Soldier Investigation film, John Kerry led a major protest in Washington, DC against the defense of South Vietnam. There, in an act of protest, Kerry threw the medals he earned in Vietnam over the White House fence. He capped the protest by testifying before Congress. In his testimony, Kerry claimed he had evidence of major war crimes by American soldiers." http://www.tastymanatees.com/archives/000433.html
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Kerry and Fonda assembled witnesses
"(Kerry's) speech also cemented his alliance with Fonda, and the two traveled to Detroit to organize a January 1971 event they called the 'Winter Soldier Investigation.' At a Detroit motel, Kerry and Fonda assembled a myriad of disgruntled witnesses claiming to be Vietnam vets, each with his own story of American atrocities. According to Jug Burkett, whose landmark Vietnam war history 'Stolen Valor' chronicles some of Kerry's anti-war misadventures, Fonda played a key role at the Detroit event. 'There's no doubt that Jane Fonda financed the Winter Soldier hearings,' Burkett told NewsMax on Monday. He said that several of the witnesses who testified at the protest's 'hearings' later turned out to be complete impostors. The event prompted 'Hanoi Jane' to 'adopt' Kerry's group 'as her leading cause,' writes Brinkley. It was at Kerry's Winter Soldier protest that the anti-American actress met her future husband, Students for a Democratic Society radical Tom Hayden. The next year Fonda was off to Hanoi, where she mounted an anti-aircraft battery and pretended to shoot down American pilots." (Newsmax) http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/9/134218.shtml
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Kerry testified at event
"The most active group active expressing dissent of veterans was Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Formed in 1967 by six veterans involved in a protest march in New York City, by spring 1970, VVAW had 600 members. Over the next several years, thousands more joined. In 1971 VVAW held 'hearings' on the war under the title "Winter Soldier Investigation." At first, this group participated in antiwar protests and demonstrations organized by others. Then, from January 31 to February 2, 1971, VVAW leaders held an investigation of the conduct of the war in a Detroit Howard Johnson motel. Over a three day period, over 100 veterans and sixteen civilians described their war experiences, including rapes, torture, brutalities, and killing of non-combatants. Senator Mark Hatfield (Republican-Oregon) entered the testimony into the Congressional Record and urged hearings on the conduct of U.S. forces in the war. Although the media showed little interest in the Winter Soldier Investigation, veterans such as John Kerry, a VVAW leader by 1971, testified about VVAW's investigation in a Senate committee hearing April 22, 1971. (Univ. of Richmond) http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/VVAW_WinterSoldier.html
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Fonda contributed talents and celebrity
"(Winter Soldier Investigation) began as a project of CCI, supported by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) cofounder Jan Crumb, attorney Mark Lane, and actress Jane Fonda. ...One of our first decisions was to hold WSI in Detroit because it was centrally located in the American heartland. ...The steering committee set up a collective in a house on the industrial east side of Detroit with the help of Catholic antiwar activists. Mark Lane and Jane Fonda contributed both their fund-raising talents and their perspectives as national figures who understood media. ...WSI also relied on widespread community support...Attorneys Dean Robb and Ernie Goodman raised money from area lawyers. UAW Secretary-Treasurer Emil Mazey and Michigan Secretary of State Richard Austin also endorsed the program and sought contributions for it." (Univ. of Virginia) http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Narrative/Crandell_Winter.html
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Fonda documentary produced from footage
"Earl Katz marched on Washington to protest the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The 59-year-old philanthropist even raised funds for a Jane Fonda documentary in which more than 100 American war veterans confessed to atrocities in the southeast Asian conflict." (L.A. Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-091801flag,1,2274394.story
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Organized by Jane Fonda
"On February 1st and 2nd, 1971 Vietnam Veterans gathered in Detroit to give testimony concerning the atrocities they witnessed while serving in Vietnam. This public inquiry into American war crimes was organized by Jane Fonda and Mark Lane." (Univ. of Florida) http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/carlson/mmc5015/Homepages/F2001/Aragon/wintersoldier.html
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Moderated by John Kerry
John Kerry served as a "moderator" of one of the "Winter Soldier Investigation" panels in Detroit. (Univ. of Virginia) http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Winter_Soldier/Units/Misc_roster.html
"For your own ambitions, Mr. Kerry!"
In fact, a Detroit News columnist reported in March: "Some had suspected (Kerry's) motives all along. A Detroit News clip from 1971 recounts the Detroit hearings were interrupted by the angry wife of a Vietnam prisoner of war. 'Youre using these people for your own ambitions, Mr. Kerry,' she shouted." http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0403/14/a17-90817.htm
Excellent info. Thanks.
ping
Excellent stuff. I also recall reading information about Kerry meeting with representatives of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in Paris. After this meeting John Kerry met with wives of POW's still in prison at the Hanoi Hilton and encouraged them to get in front of the press and denounce the United States' policies. He played on the emotions of these women by telling them if they protested against the war your husbands would be released sooner.
I also recall a POW wife yelled at him at this news conference and said "What office are you running for now. You are using these people."
I am too tired to remember where I found this but it was posted in microfilm copy. I think it was a New York Times piece. I think the Swifties have this info. They are on top of things.
Very coherent argument. I'd like to say that if you went further back towards original sources, especially for the tastymanatees and newsmax sourced material, you'd have a case with two less weaknesses for opponents to attack.
That's coming from someone who isn't volunteering to do the legwork, but is a regular reader of tastymanatees and newsmax.
Yes, he's done it all...before he didn't do it all, of course. But the record of his misdeeds says it all. For those who care to read or listen.
This sounds similar to the article you describe:
POW Drive in Confusion
(Washington) Evening Star , July 23, 1971
By Mary McGrory, Star Staff Writer
AP PHOTO: JOHN KERRY(snip)
Four heckling women infiltrated a press conference called by John Kerry yesterday to accuse the President of using the prisoners of war for political purposes.
In voices shaking with nerves and rage, the ladies in the back of the room, all relatives of POW's, accused Kerry of using the prisoners for his own political purposes.
"What are you running for now, Mr. Kerry?" screamed one of the disrupters.
Other POW kin who had gathered with Kerry to demand action on the Viet Cong's recent prisoner-release proposal were the targets of some of the ladies' taunts: "You're stupid, Kerry is using you to run for office." The four noisily stomped out. They were under the escort of a representative of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which regards the stylish and eloquent Kerry, spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, as public enemy number one.
Source:
FBI FOIA - VVAW CD1, 100-HQ-448092
File: Sub A Section 01.pdf, p. 73
Living in Michigan, I personally find it amusing to watch the Dems ignore Kerry's "Winter Soldier" performance. Waiting (crickets) for Kerry to come out with another "youthful indiscretion" excuse as hes looking for Vets to serve as backdrop.
Thanks to your dad for his service.
Whats the latest on the MI Marriage Amendment?
If you would like to help the Swift Boat Vets ( as I have, and I urge all to do-- even a few dollars will help ) kindly click on this logo:
If, perchance, the top "click the pic" link is not visible, click here:
-John Kerry- some selected, informative links...--
Judge for yourself- see the SwiftVet ads here:
Take a look at these three short video clips, especially the last one. You will walk away with a heavy heart.
Here is a link to page full of video and audio links.
"Stolen Honor" is at the top.
The newest SBV ad:
SwiftVets Ad #4: Kerry Trashes Medals -- An Insult to Vets, Say Shipmates
TasteeManatee's is wrong. John Kerry was not a founder of VVAW. In 1969 my boss in Austin, TX (Dunkin Donuts on Congress St) was a member of VVAW.
I think that at www.VVAW.org, it says they were founded in 1967.
I hate people saying Kerry was a founder because it is something that can be debunked, and make us look like we are making up stuff..It can be used to paint the truthful parts of his involvement in VVAW as falsehoods, also.
Yes, I believe that is the one. Great research.
I purchased the video, "THE HANOI HILTON" at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. It was on sale for $5.99. I recall seeing the movie on television many years ago. I had a chance to watch the movie yesterday and now the movie, more than ever is relevant to the anti-war activities of John Kerry during the Vietnam War. Especially how the POW's were tortured many times due to the actions of John Kerry, Jane Fonda and their friends in the media.
If you have an opportunity to view it I recommend highly that you see this movie. It is a glimpse of what the POW's went through while held prisoner by the Communist North Vietnamese.
The video is available from Amazon and other online video stores.
From website: "Shot in the Dark" http://www.shotinthedark.info/
"In 1987, Lionel Chetwynd's excellent Hanoi Hilton received widely-mixed reviews (many of them politically-motivated). Worse, its distributor essentially sat on the movie, under pressure from Hollywood leftists, for its treatment of Jane Fonda. The movie depicted life at North Vietnam's Hoa Lo prison accurately - but it changed the last names of the prisoners, and of their visitors, including Jane Fonda. An actress who represents Fonda ("Paula") does everything Fonda is said to have done while in the Hilton. That was one of several stories that Hollywood didn't want told (that and, of course, the moral of the story; the men survived because of their military training and warrior ethic). "Hanoi Hilton" was buried, received a tiny theatrical release, and is hard to find on video today. (Do it if you can - it's an excellent movie)."
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