Posted on 10/18/2004 6:32:56 PM PDT by Fatalis
Earlier today the Associated Press reported that Professor Kenneth W. Campbell is suing the director of "Stolen Valor" (a documentary about events relating to Senator John Kerry's antiwar activities in 1971) for libel. Campbell states:
in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."
The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service.
So what did Campbell say about his military service?
Here is an excerpt of Kenneth Campbell's testimony before the Winter Soldier Investigation in 1971:
CAMPBELL. My name is Kenneth J. Campbell. I'm 21. I'm a Philadelphia resident. I was a Corporal in the Marine Corps. I was an FO, Forward Artillery Scout Observer. I FO'd for Bravo Company, First Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. I was in Vietnam from February of '68 to March of '69. I went straight into the Marine Corps from high school and I am now a student at Temple University in Philadelphia. My testimony will consist of eyewitnessing and participating in the calling in of artillery on undefended villages, mutilation of bodies, killing of civilians, mistreatment of civilians, mistreatment of prisoners and indiscriminate use of artillery, harassment and interdiction fire.
In the 1992 article Vietnam Veterans and War Crimes Hearings, co-written with Elliott L. Meyrowitz, Campbell wrote:
The veterans who testified at these war crimes hearings had ending the Vietnam War as their ultimate objective. But does this mean, therefore, that the atrocities described did not happen, or if they did happen, that they were not war crimes? These former infantrymen, pilots, artillery observers, and interrogators did not testify to witnessing or participating in atrocities in Vietnam because they opposed the war; rather, they opposed the war because they had witnessed or participated in atrocities.
It's interesting that while Campbell was arguing for the veracity of the Winter Soldier testimonies failed to mention his own admissions about the atrocities that he, himself, had testified that he'd witnessed and participated in while serving in Vietnam.
In any case, Campbell resists any suggestion that his Winter Soldier testimony was not truthful:
The suit names the film's producer, Carlton Sherwood, and his company, Red White and Blue Productions, as defendants.
"I'd be darned if I'm going to sit back and let someone libel me like this," said Campbell. "It paints me as having been a fabricator, a fraud and a liar."
...
The segment of "Stolen Honor" involving Campbell is posted on the film's Web site. It shows grainy footage of him speaking with a fellow Marine a 1971 gathering in Detroit, during which Kerry and other servicemen shared stories about horrific acts they had committed or witnessed during the war.
In the clip, Campbell asks whether the Marine recalls a particular assault on a village in Vietnam's Quang Tri province. The Marine, who served in the same unit as Campbell, says he does and offers to provide more detail. Neither man is identified by name.
Sherwood introduces the conversation by saying, "many of the horror stories seem made up on the spot," but doesn't elaborate as to why he believes that to be the case.
Veterans groups that supported the war have long argued with anti-war groups about the veracity of the alleged war crimes described during the event, dubbed the "Winter Soldier" hearings.
Campbell, then 21, said at the time that he had seen American forces shell undefended villages, kill civilians, mutilate bodies and mistreat prisoners.
However, we've seen from Campbell's Winter Soldier testimony above that he not only claimed to have witnessed atrocities in Vietnam, but to have particpated in them as well.
Kenneth J. Campbell will have no one besmirch his record as an honest war criminal.
Putrid puke!
He's worried that people will think he faked being a vet, but not a REAL war criminal.
I wonder who called the Professor and said .. it's time to pay the piper ..??
Once you sell your soul to the devil .. he will require your life. I guess the men who lied about Vietnam didn't know that at the time .. but that's no excuse.
Makes me wonder what his boss' think about having a war criminal teaching America's youth.
This guy's a nutcase. Kinda like Kerry. He done bad, so everyone must be bad. It's a self appeasement to keep one from blowing one's brains out.
He wants it both ways, I am a vietnam vet and commited attrocities, I am not a lier to be considered not a vietnam vet. Ok, you got it idiot, who is going to prosecute? I hope that University dumps the twerp!
I wonder if anyone from his unit or chain of command will come forward to expose this puke.
Poly Sci International Relations, easy classes just read no need to show up..even showed his Vietnam films in class according to student...
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1094&orderby=TLName&letter=C
Ping. A Temple war criminal. UGH!
I agree on the nutcase part. I seriously question whether or not he ever really participated in the atrocities he claims. So many of the claims at WSI were totally fabricated, I'm skeptical of all of them.
Momma always said you can judge a person by the company they keep.
Is he another like Steve Pitkin, who was persuaded to lie (by F'n!) in his Winter Soldier testimony, but who, unlike Pitkin, has not the guts to now tell the truth?
And by their enemies. This guy's enemies are all right-thinking people. And he is mine.
take a look at the clip it seems the assault on the village was first forgotten by the marine until reminded about it...
....how could you forget about it I remember it and I wasn't even in on it.....
I'd like to see the testimony of the marine in on it...
http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/program-excerpts.asp
Air the film for a solid week while attacks the critics and THEN say that is bears an internal investigation, like CBS did with the forged National Guard memos.
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