Former POWs Blame Kerry for Captivity

PHILADELPHIA - Former U.S. prisoners of war who blamed their years of captivity in Vietnam on activists such as John Kerry are the only voices in a documentary that Sinclair Broadcasting has decided not to air in its entirety.

Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, was a decorated Navy lieutenant who returned from Southeast Asia disillusioned. He organized anti-war protests in Washington and testified against the conflict before the Senate.

The 42-minute film, titled, "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," is a one-sided view of Kerry's anti-war activities. It consists mostly of interviews with U.S. prisoners of war who survived imprisonment and torture in Hanoi, and emerged enraged at Kerry and others for suggesting they had suffered for an unjust cause.

No historians are questioned about the documentary's premise that Kerry, then a little-known activist, single-handedly extended the fighting in Vietnam by two years and delayed the return of American prisoners by telling Congress in 1971 that U.S. forces had committed human rights violations.

Dr. Ernest Bolt, a history professor at the University of Richmond, said it was unlikely that Kerry's testimony directly affected how long the POWs were held, or how long the war lasted. He said Kerry's importance in the anti-war movement has been exaggerated since he began running for president.

After enduring a week of criticism, Sinclair said Tuesday that the special, now scheduled to be broadcast Friday on about 40 stations, would contain only segments of the film and would be part of a wider look at the use of documentaries to influence elections.

That leaves the full version of "Stolen Honor" available mostly by mail-order or over the Internet.

"Stolen Honor" was produced and narrated by Carlton Sherwood, a former journalist who worked in the administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, now secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Bush administration.

It includes interviews with more than a dozen former POWs describing the torture they endured in Hanoi, and their certainty that they would have been released sooner if Kerry and other activists hadn't accused the United States of committing war crimes.

"We stayed two more years because of him," said Jack H. Fellowes, who was imprisoned for 6 1/2 years.

Kerry never accused the POWs of committing war crimes and spoke only in general about the conduct of U.S. troops. The film also falsely implies that Kerry either committed atrocities himself or personally witnessed them. Kerry told Congress he was summarizing accusations made by other servicemen at an earlier event, and not relaying personal experiences.

"Stolen Honor" argues that in repeating uncorroborated, and possibly fabricated, tales that U.S. soldiers had raped Vietnamese women, mutilated bodies and randomly shot at civilians, Kerry unfairly blackened the reputation of all servicemen.

Bolt said scholars continue to debate how widespread human rights abuses were during the war.

"There are some people among Vietnam vets who don't want to acknowledge any atrocities, but in fact they did happen." he said. "Whether they happened as often as Vietnam Veterans Against the War made them out to be, though, is a matter of debate."

The film also falsely implies that Kerry either committed atrocities himself or personally witnessed them. Kerry told Congress he was summarizing accusations made by other servicemen at an earlier event, and not relaying personal experiences.

From Meet the Press Interview 4/18/1971:

SEN. KERRY: There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals.

the documentary's premise that Kerry, then a little-known activist, single-handedly extended the fighting in Vietnam by two years and delayed the return of American prisoners by telling Congress in 1971 that U.S. forces had committed human rights violations.

I doubt that that will be the documentary's premise. Rather, I think the premise will be mainstream media bias to neglect telling both sides -- not holding Kerry's feet to the fire as they have President Bush , such as signing Form 180 -- and certain Democrats and special interest's attempts to stop Sinclair from airing the Stolen Honor segments.

The mainstream media and Kerry/Edwards camp will be sweating bullets over the weekend... if they're not already.

It's likely that they're trying to come up with a Breaking News Story to preempt and steal the thunder.

I just read this piece, and fired off the following e-mail to AP:

Having just read David B. Caruso's article entitled "Former POWs Blame Kerry for Activity," I was struck by a couple of phrases in the piece.

Caruso refers to the documentary "Stolen Honor" as a "one-sided view of Kerry's anti-war activities." As I'm sure AP prides itself on its objectivity and balance, might you be able to point me to any AP article that offers a similar description of the Kerry bio-pic "Going Upriver"?

Along those same lines, I trust that any past write-up of "Going Upriver" took equal pains to point out that no Swiftboat Veterans or POWs opposed to Kerry's presidential bid were interviewed in that film, given that Caruso was so good to point out the lack of anti-war interviews present in "Stolen Honor." I'd appreciate any citation of past AP articles covering these points.

Unfortunately, as hard as Caruso must have worked to research his article, he appears to have missed a couple of factual items. For instance, I'm sure it was just an oversight (probably due to deadlines or some such thing) that he only found a college historian to address the issue as to whether or not Kerry's activities helped extend the war, and simply didn't have time to interview Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, who wrote in his 1985 memoir about the war, that if it weren't for organizations like Kerry's Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Hanoi would have surrendered to the U.S.

I haven't seen the film, but I thank Mr. Caruso in advance for pointing out errors such as "The film also falsely implies that Kerry either committed atrocities himself or personally witnessed them." I appreciate Mr. Caruso's Clintonian attention to semantic detail. In fact, it was "war crimes" that Kerry confessed to having committed, not "atrocities." How could the filmmaker have been so sloppy to use the "a" word?

Anyhow, thanks for the good work. I look forward to your reply, and will enjoy pointing out the quality of your reporting to my politically-interested friends.

Regards,

Bill

I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people

Kerry was out of uniform in Army garb and holding an M-16 while playing Audie Murphy in his home movies.

What about hand grenades Johnny? Oh...they were for the rice stocks and rocks...

He has been having all sides of the debate for 33 years. F'in amazing.

To read the latest on the Franchurian Candidate's bizzare exploits, click the picture, goto "last," and work backwards:

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:

Take a look at these short video clips, especially the last one. You will walk away with a heavy heart.

POW'S TELL ABOUT TORTURE

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