Posted on 09/11/2004 9:36:54 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
Today's rally in Washington by Vietnam veterans who think that "Kerry lied . . . while good men died" is far from the worst his presidential campaign will see from those who feel betrayed by his assertion that atrocities were condoned and commonplace.
Far more devastating is the testimony of former prisoners of war, such as Medal of Honor recipient Leo K. Thorsness of Walnut Grove, Minn., who was held for five years and 19 days and who explains why John Kerry's actions of 30 years ago are relevant now.
Thorsness is among a group who were captives in North Vietnamese prison camps while Kerry was using his medals and service to convince the nation that the boy next door was off committing atrocities on a daily basis with the full knowledge and support of his chain of command.
The interviews are for a documentary, "Stolen Honor," which started production in July and was released Thursday. The producer is Carlton Sherwood, a former newspaperman who was part of a Gannett News Service team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for reporting on a fund-raising scandal involving the Pauline Fathers of Doylestown, Pa., and the Vatican's role in covering it up.
He later won the television equivalent, a Peabody Award, for reports on child abuse in Oklahoma state institutions. The Carlton Sherwood Media Award, given by the national Blinded American Veterans Foundation for exceptional efforts in writing about veterans issues, is named in his honor.
Sherwood is a decorated veteran who was wounded three times as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam. His production company, Red, White & Blue Productions, is a for-profit corporation based in Harrisburg, Pa.
As the Kerry campaign will quickly point out, Sherwood has "ties" to the Bush administration, having served in media services for former Gov. (and now Homeland Security Secretary) Tom Ridge in Pennsylvania.
He is executive vice president of WVC3, a Virginia company involved in security and counterterrorism work.
"There has been absolutely no discussion, association, communication or coordination at all with the Bush campaign," said Charlie Gerow, a spokesman for Sherwood's production company. Said Sherwood: "I am a registered independent. This is not political, it's personal."
There can be no doubt about the sincerity of former POWs interviewed for "Stolen Honor." Samples of their interviews are available for viewing at www.StolenHonor.com. They are gripping.
James H. Warner of Ypsilanti, Mich., a Navy pilot who was shot down in October 1967 and served more than five years in POW camps, was confronted by his captors with Kerry's claim of atrocities. Warner, who speaks for just over eight minutes, is powerful in making the case that Kerry, as an officer under arms, had both the obligation and the means to stop any illegal conduct he saw or had knowledge of, if it in fact existed. There's no evidence that he reported anything.
Kerry's new Clinton advisers are said to be advising him to apologize in an effort to close the wound Kerry reopened in attempting to make four months in Vietnam the basis for his claim that he should be commander in chief of a nation at war.
An apology now may be good political strategy. But it would have been more meaningful years ago, when it might have been sincere. Or even as recently as his appearance before the American Legion during Republican convention week, when he offered bounty rather than an apology, or even acknowledgment.
Now it's bound to come across as posturing, insincere and empty, an effort to silence those who have been silent for three decades.
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are speaking. So are those who gather today in Washington. And so will prisoners of war who came to know Kerry through the eyes and words of their North Vietnamese interrogators.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Wooten is associate editorial page editor. His column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays.
And all of this National Guard, fake-memos hoopla is of course to make sure they don't have to cover these other events and all the veterans involved. What a total disgrace our "media" has become.
>So are those who gather today in Washington. And so will prisoners of war who came to know Kerry through the eyes and words of their North Vietnamese interrogators.<
I'm referring to this statement.
Bump!
"...AJC got the date wrong, it's Sunday 9/12)"
Witht the AJC it was not an accident, it was a "Ratherism" to mislead and confuse the truth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.