Posted on 10/01/2004 5:03:21 AM PDT by kattracks
Coral Gables, Florida (CNSNews.com) - A former Navy crewmate and supporter of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says it is time to "let the dead rest." He demanded that the Vietnam veterans who are questioning Kerry's military service and anti-war activism "shut up."
Del Sandusky, one of Kerry's naval crewmates in Vietnam who was present during the actions that led to the Kerry's Silver Star, Bronze Star and two of his three Purple Hearts, made his remarks about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth immediately following Thursday night's debate between President George W. Bush and Sen. Kerry at the University of Miami.
Sandusky served as one of Kerry's official spokesmen following the debate.
"Let the dead rest, we have got to talk about the issues. Let those guys (Swift Boat veterans opposed to Kerry) go sit in a corner, you know, shut up," Sandusky told CNSNews.com.
Sandusky called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth "a Republican smear tactic."
"All of the claims and all of the TV ads were proven false. America ain't listening to them anymore. They are just a crock of lies," Sandusky said.
CNSNews.com asked Sandusky if he could sympathize with the anger that many former Vietnam prisoners of war harbor against Kerry because of his behavior when he returned home from the war. Some communist North Vietnamese prison guards used Kerry's 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to torment American POWs.
Sandusky responded, "Sure I can understand it -- right. But it doesn't matter if John Kerry made that [1971 speech] or not, they (the POWs) were still going to be tortured. They were prisoners of war."
John O'Neill, the co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, said Sandusky's comments were consistent with the treatment all Vietnam veterans have received from Kerry.
"Sandusky's comments reflect the arrogance of Kerry's campaign. Instead of an apology, the answer is simply an additional insult to POWs and Vietnam veterans -- to say 'shut up' about it," O'Neill told CNSNews.com Thursday night shortly after Sandusky made his remarks.
"The truth is we are talking about a fellow (Kerry) who may become the commander in chief in the near future. The fact that he made these accusations of atrocities that were used to torture our servicemen in North Vietnam and that they were total lies about the people serving in North Vietnam should disqualify him from being commander in chief," O'Neill said.
Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 about the testimony of more than 150 Vietnam veterans, who had "testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia..."
Those Vietnam veterans, Kerry said, admitted 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..."
"It is important that there is no apology forthcoming from Kerry," O'Neill said. "He stands by his [atrocity] remarks that we were the army of Genghis Khan, and presumably he take no responsibly for the use of his own remarks to torture our troops."
Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was also present in "spin alley" following the debate, blasted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth for broaching the topic of Kerry's performance in combat.
"I do not and will never question anyone's conduct in combat. Now what [Kerry] did after the war or at any other time, that is fine. But in combat, it's dishonorable and disgraceful," McCain told CNSNews.com.
When asked if he has forgiven Kerry for making atrocity allegations against Vietnam soldiers, McCain, a former Vietnam POW, replied that it isn't a matter of forgiveness.
"I worked together with [Kerry], trying to heal the wounds of the Vietnam War. And the worst thing we have done to the American people in this campaign is to reopen them. And the people who suffer more for that than anybody are the Vietnam veterans, and I think it's disgraceful," McCain said.
But O'Neill countered that "Kerry is the one who opened up Vietnam wounds." "He opened the wounds initially by accusing us of being war criminals and reopened them with his 2004 book Tour of Duty (written by Douglass Brinkley)," O'Neill said.
"That book repeated the same [atrocity] allegations just six months ago. And he is the one who inserted Vietnam in the campaign just a month and half ago at the Democratic convention," O'Neill explained.
"Under the circumstances, to not allow the people he's falsely accused of criminal conduct to respond makes no sense at all," he added.
'He was trying to help'
Former Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark said Kerry's anti-war activism in the 1970s was designed to "help" U.S. soldiers serving in Vietnam and revealed the candidate's "moral courage."
"He was trying to help the men and women in the United States Army and help the United States by having the courage to go and testify in front of Congress," Clark said.
"So I can understand why people might have misunderstood John Kerry at the time. But that was 30 years ago," he added.
Former Georgia Democratic Senator and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland said that voters need to "forget about Vietnam."
"This is not about John Kerry's Vietnam 35 years ago, this is about the Vietnam that George Bush has created in Iraq where we are losing young men and women every day," Cleland told CNSNews.com.
"I agree with John Kerry 35 years ago. I agree with him now, and those of us band of brothers out there have been traveling around this country [supporting Kerry] for a long time," Cleland added.
See Related Articles:
Protester Says She Prefers 'Serial Rapist' to George Bush (Oct. 1, 2004)
Kerry's Views on Iraq, Vietnam 'Virtually Identical,' Critic Charges (Sept. 21, 2004)
Kerry Blamed for Viet Vets Being Dubbed 'Atrocity Committing Monsters' POW Says (Sept. 10, 2004)
Kerry 'Unfit to be Commander-in-Chief,' Say Former Military Colleagues (May 3, 2004)
Kerry Lying About Anti-War Past, Supporter Alleges (March 18, 2004)
Kerry's Denials at Odds With 1971 Book He Authored (Feb. 20, 2004)
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
I dont know if anyone is watching or not, but Bush is tearing into to kerry on Fox News right now... he is fired up too
Who pays for these guys to travel the country with Kerry?
And will they have positions in his administration if he wins?
You bring up a fine point, one that wouldn't have occurred to me, so I hope you won't mind a little editing...
"How come in the Democrat parallel universe, Michael Moore is a true patriot for spending an entire film telling despicable lies about Bush and using grieving mothers for propaganda, but the SBVT need to shut up and stop talking about stuff that really happened?"
>>>Hey Weasely! Tell it to the POWs that languished for years in the Hanoi Hilton because the actions of Kerry prolonged the war.
*Languished*? Why the 'ed' on the end?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1207003/posts?page=125#125
"Mr. President, I am anxious to construct a new relationship with our old adversary (Vietnam)".
On 16 April, the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee, Senator John Kerry, stated that he gave the order to destroy "extraneous copies of the documents" and that no one objected. Moreover, he stated that the issue was "moot" because the original remained in the Office of Senate Security "all along."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1209454/posts?page=187#187
Memorandum for: Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Prisoners of War and Missing in Action
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1209454/posts?page=189#189
Memorandum for: Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Prisoners of War and Missing in Action
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1209454/posts?page=190#190
Why is the RNC not exposing Kerry's voting record?? He is a hard core left winger. Also many die hard dems in Boston hate Kerry. He cuts in front of every line, and if someone complains, he shouts "do you know who I am?" It would be easy for the RNC to go to Boston and find a couple dozen dems who would tell the media what they think of the traitor!!
Thanks. I remember. I was there. And, somewhere, I still have my Vietnam POW bracelet.
Sounds like Tom Kean's "people should just bud out" over Jamie Korelick on the 9-1-1 Commission.
Wealthy elitist are all of the same stripe.
Despite his wealth, Bush is no elitist. He's a regular guy. One of the reasons I like him.
And this man obviously knows a lot about lying.
Why is it so quiet about our men still missing?
Why is it so quiet that McCain and Kerry profitted from leaving them there?
Why doesn't anyone talk about this? I'm a major thread killer. When ever I bring this up, no one responds. Tag your it, you responded.
What am I missing?
And so goes John F(abrication) Kerry:)
All of the claims and all of the TV ads were proven false.
Oh Really? Ask JFlippin'K to sign Form-180 so we can see for ourselves.
If she voted for Clinton, she DID vote for a serial rapist. At least she's consistent.
Bump
""It doesn't matter if John Kerry made that [1971 speech] or not, they were still going to be tortured."
"I guess they should have just laid back and enjoyed it."
Sounds like the old Clintonesque - " Put some ice on it "
This is why the Kerry Krewmate and BUTT-BOY Sandusky wants the Swiftees to shut up. He knows that O'Neill and the Swiftees are LOADED FOR BEAR and Kerry is just a wittle bunny wabbit!
Ok, you asked for it, you got it, Toyota.
Why so quiet, you ask?
We are angry and tired. We were treated like something less than garbage when we came back. The mood of the public was to ignore us and pretend that Vietnam was something that happened to someone else, not us. The press and Kerry were so successful in turning the tide of public opinion against the war, the majority of us (who remained relatively sane) buried our emotions and got on with our lives. Most of us don't talk about it because we were treated to such humiliation and derision, we just wanted it all to go away.
We would have kept our own counsel had Kerry not brought all of this up. We have kept our counsel while the current press has derided those who DIDN'T go to 'Nam, despite the fact that, at the time, those of us who did were treated abominably; both by the press AND the public.
In the post Vietnam War era, there were numerous expeditions into 'Nam to locate POWs and MIAs. None were found. 'Nam claims that they repatriated all of the POWs and MIAs they held, but speculation remains that some of those prisoners were transferred to China, Russia or, possibly, N. Korea. Repeated inquires of those countries have yielded nothing other than denials that they have any American prisoners.
Expeditions are still conducted in Vietnam to find the remains of Americans from the war. Occasionally, they find a few bones, but the numbers are dropping. Sly Stallone did his Rambo "Wish-We-Had-Done-It-This-Way" movies that fueled a lot of speculation about POWs/MIAs remaining in 'Nam but numerous investigations have yielded nothing conclusive. Until/unless China, Russia and/or N. Korea are more forthcoming about the possibility of POWs/MIAs in their countries, there is nothing anyone can do.
So, we are at a Mexican standoff. The veterans want it all to end. Kerry using 'Nam as the centerpiece of his campaign has dredged up a lot of painful memories and emotions that veterans have. We are still pretty angry; an anger that simmers below the surface. The SBVTs have become our heroes because they have given us a means to fight back and express our outraqe in a way that we didn't have before. But, there are limits to how far we can go. Look closely at how the MSM has portrayed the SBVTs and those of us who support them. We fought our war - in 'Nam and at home. We're just not prepared physically or emotionally to fight it again.
That's why there is so much silence.
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.