My thanks to BulletBobCo for the concept of this
pic and to Conspiracy Guy for the captions!
Posted on 09/10/2004 6:19:06 AM PDT by Pokey78
If the powerful documentary featuring highly decorated Vietnam POWs recounting how Lt.(jg) John Kerry's antiwar activity affected them was seen by the huge audience it deserves, Massachusetts's junior senator wouldn't get elected to a sanitation commission. In Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, 13 POWs, whose cries of pain, defiance, and despair went unheard during their hellish captivity, share their stories about the betrayal they felt when a fellow officer claimed American forces were guilty of widespread war crimes. Over 30 years ago, antiwar veterans (both faux and real) basked in the media spotlight; now proud veterans who endured their slanders, along with years of cruelty and abuse, are having their say. These indisputable heroes include two Medal of Honor winners, one of whom explains, "This is an effort that was long in coming, but would not have come about if not for the Democratic candidate 'reporting for duty.'"
The 45-minute film opens with scenes of the dank cells at the Hanoi Hilton where the oppressive silence would only be broken by "cries of pain." One POW recalls the intense pain of the torture they suffered, explaining that "the rope was the worst." Following one such session, designed to win a confession of war crimes, another explains that for days afterward he was unable to move his body from his shoulders down. Ken Cordier, held for over six years, explains that they would be brutally manacled until they "screamed loud and long enough" to be released in exchange for information and confessions. Any injury was specifically targeted in order to break the captives more quickly. Tapes of Jane Fonda accusing them of being war criminals were played in their cells.
Mary Jane McManus had eloped in Hawaii and was married for three days when her husband Kevin returned to Vietnam to complete his tour. She didn't see him again for almost six years. While she kept her lonely vigil, she witnessed the charges being leveled by John Kerry and others. She couldn't fathom that anyone would believe American troops were capable of routinely committing atrocities, because "they were our husbands, and sons and brothers."
James Warner, held for over five years, recalls being made to stand motionless inside a small chalked circle on the floor. He lasted for 97 hours, during which he had a view of the camp's front gate. He saw the author Mary McCarthy and Tom Hayden enter the camp. His mother attended the Winter Soldier hearings and issued a statement criticizing the war, which his captors shared with him along with statements by John Kerry. He explains that Kerry met with his mother and sister and thinks it was a "contemptible act" to take advantage of a "grieving old lady and manipulate her grief to promote your own political agenda." He adds, "He burned up his Band of Brothers membership card when he did that."
When John Kerry was the prized spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), there were 700 American POWs in Vietnam. Many of those involved in this documentary, funded by $200,000 in donations from Pennsylvania veterans, believe that antiwar activists encouraged their captors to hold out because the "war would be lost in the streets of America." They point out that the immediate withdrawal of troops demanded by the VVAW would have abandoned them to whatever fate their captors chose when they were no longer bargaining chips in a negotiated end to the war.
Paul Galanti, who flew 97 combat missions before being shot down on June 17, 1966, spent over six and a half years as a POW. Referring to the Winter Soldier hearings that have been thoroughly debunked, Galanti says that John Kerry "should have known those guys he was with were frauds." The film includes a short clip from the Winter Soldier hearings that drew chuckles from the audience. An alleged veteran is having his memory refreshed about an alleged atrocity he was having trouble recalling. Galanti reminds the audience that "the cruelties of My Lai were exposed by the soldiers there."
Leo Thorsness, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, talks about the strict rules of engagement governing pilots flying over North Vietnam, ruefully noting that as a result the enemy had "plenty of chances to shoot us down."
Colonel George "Bud" Day, who also won the Medal of Honor and is considered one of the most decorated veterans of the last century, recalls being outraged to learn that veterans were warned not to wear their uniforms when they returned home. The film depicts protesters waving signs reading, "No Parades for Murderers" and "See Nixon's War Criminals" in front of veterans. "Right to this day we still have not recovered our good name," Day angrily declares. He charges that John Kerry wants them to forget the role he played in blackening the name of all Vietnam veterans. "I can never forget," he says.
The documentary is available on the Stolen Honor website. Its producer, Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize wining journalist and Marine Vietnam veteran, points out that "there is no fog of war here" given the public testimony of John Kerry. He explains that the motivation is "deeply personal" rather than political.
An Army Vietnam veteran recently told me, "When John Kerry loses, it will be the parade we never had." They've earned it.
BTTT!!!!!!
Bump!
Thanks for the ping -- and for all you have done to help make this possible.
I'm so glad that Kate O'Beirne wrote this. God bless the veterans in PA who funded this documentary. I pray that some Kerry supporters will watch it out of curiosity and end up doing the right thing - dumping him like he dumped his fellow vets!
You are entirely welcome.
From Sinclair's website
My thanks to BulletBobCo for the concept of this
pic and to Conspiracy Guy for the captions!
FAX to Kerry's National Headquarters
202-712-3001 (fax)
state contact #s - call them and challenge Kerry to appear on Sinclair's broadcast:
Contact National Headquarters
Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
P.O. Box 34640
Washington, DC 20043
202-712-3000
202-712-3001 (fax)
202-336-6950 (TTY)
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This month.
Only liberals and democrats would want to NOT give POW's their day in the public eye!
Only liberals and democrats would try to silence a company trying to give POW's their day in the public eye!
Only liberals and democrats would try to suppress the opinions, thoughts and free speech of POW's!
Only liberals and democrats would FLAUNT and SUPPORT the positions of Michael Moore over those of POW's!
Thank you, for all your work. :-)
Thanks, again.
I remember hearing a lot about Hanoi Jane, but did not realize what a powerful traitor Kerry was.
Either I've been blind, or it was a "right coast" thing.
Cannot understand how anyone can help put this con man in power. Especially for over 20 years.
We've been too busy to even attempt to see the President but I am hoping my vote puts Bush in the win column for Oregon. We got our ballots yesterday in the mail.
Well, I think I see a parade coming!!
Pokey, thanks for the post, and Misty, thanks for the "ping"!
Pownetwork.orgI came across quite a few articles in the powsmias FBI files on Major Elias, who returned home and stayed in the military. The 'Peace Movement' was not pleased that they failed in turning a POW into positive propaganda. Here's one snip from Cora Weiss at a press conference she and Ramsey Clark held on October 5, 1972:(snip)
One day Elias was blindfolded and put in a vehicle with another blindfolded American, Jim Padgett. they were taken into a room and seated at a table; their blindfolds removed. They saw five or six other prisoners sitting there. Minutes later, in walked Jane Fonda.
She talked 30 to 45 minutes about why she came to North Vietnam. She stood in front of the men and lectured them about committing genocide, destroying civilian targets and committing other atrocities. Fonda said she would be broadcasting a message asking their fellow American fliers to refuse to fly sorties agains North Vietnam. She dwelt on how much the people of the United States were against the war.
Later, Elias listened to what he thinks was a tape of the same speech broadcast over the loudspeaker in his cell.
Elias was not taken to hear former Attorney General Ramsey Clark speak, but once again tapes were played over the loudspeaker in his cell. Clark said how wrong the United States' actions were in the eyes of international law.
(snip)
The actual circumstances of Elias' release were a mystery to him at the time. The people who came to release him referred to themselves as "the Coalition." They included Cora Weis of the Faberge' family; David Dellinger of the Chicago Seven; William Sloan Coffin, a Yale University chaplain; and Professor Richard Falk. They were accompanied by NBC correspondent John Hart and Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett. Elias says the whole thing was a propaganda effort to show that the Coalition could deal with the North Vietnamese government and the American government could not.
"I didn't know who these people were," he said. "I only knew I wanted to get back to the military." When he learned the Coalition was intent on preventing the military from "capturing" him, he got up from their table and left the room. A North Vietnamese political officer stopped him and said, "That is not intelligent."
Elias and the Coalition flew from Hanoi to Beijing, Arnett had given Elias the telephone numer of the satellite communication system that President Richard Nixon had used on his recent trip to China. When Elias walked into his hotel room, he picked up the telephone and dialed that number. A switch operator picked up the call in New York and passed it through to Elias' wife in Valdosta, Ga. "We talked no more than two minutes," Elias said. "No one ever knew except Peter Arnett, who was in the room when I called."
PDF: Powsmias File 24c, Page 34Someone needed to slap this woman (right into a cell).Cora Weiss spoke of her recent trip to Hanoi and the surrounding province in North Vietnam. She spoke of the medical facilities and of the three POWs, Mark L. Gartley, Norris Charles, and Edward Elias, who she recently accompanied back to the U.S.
Weiss was asked to explain her dislike for Major Edward Elias who had recently held a press conference and advised he would remain in the military. Weiss advised she differed with Elias' views and Elias lied to both her, COLIFAM, and the Communist to get back to the US. She did not further elaborate on her remarks other than "Elias was lucky he returned."
When we (four Marines) were departing for Vietnam from San Francisco, we were warned not to wear our uniforms in the city. Well, darn it, things got packed on the transports 24 hour prior to departure, and our uniforms were all we had. The four of us went into downtown San Francisco in our Class As, and could not have been greeted more graciously. Everyone wanted to buy us food and drinks. The people of San Francisco were magnificient. They would not let us pay for anything. They had no nice words for the hippies there.
While watching this documentary I was amazed that it has taken 30+ years for the POW's and veterans to be heard. Before no one believed or wanted to hear about it.
But now realizing that many men and women went to thier graves with the stain of dishonor, have now finally been vindicated and their honor somewhat restored for the sacrifices they made.
Another example of time being the great equalizer.
"Time" did not equalize anything or the SwiftBoat Vets would not be on the march. They will NEVER FORGET..
BUMP!
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