Posted on 10/24/2004 9:04:46 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry shows no remorse for the damage he inflicted on his country, its allies in Southeast Asia and America's armed forces while he was a Navy lieutenant and a leader of the radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War in 1971.
I recall that time vividly. I will never forget Kerry's scandalous conduct.
As a Pentagon official under two presidents, I made 10 inspection trips to Vietnam between 1968 and 1973. It was part of my beat. The Military Logistics Chiefs, my staff and I covered Vietnam thoroughly from the North Vietnam border to the Mekong Delta. We spent time in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. We knew Vietnam, the Vietnamese and our superb armed forces conducting this struggle.
As a presidential appointee under Presidents Johnson and Nixon, I spent time in Vietnam before, during and after the few months Navy Lt. John Kerry spent in that country.
No country in history had better intentions or made greater sacrifices, in the interest of humanity, than did the United States in Vietnam. This point was emphasized by President Kennedy as he made the decision to intervene, by President Johnson as he escalated the war and by President Nixon as we went through the major task of Vietnamization, i.e., turning the fighting over to the Vietnamese, and training and supplying them to do the job.
Our leaders, many with World War II and Korean experience, were the very best, and our military personnel from all our services, with a few minor exceptions, were outstanding.
Interestingly, I was with Army Gen. Creighton Abrams and Adm. Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt as the Riverine Interdiction mission in the Mekong Delta developed. I visited these forces with Zumwalt. Abrams couldn't say enough good things about Zumwalt and the positive changes resulting from the mission switch from coastal patrolling to interdiction on the inland waterways.
By 1971 Vietnamization was well under way. Over 300,000 additional Vietnamese had been added to their armed forces. We had drawn down our forces from 567,000 to under 300,000 allied, mostly U.S., troops in South Vietnam.
Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and President Nixon had announced our plans for doing away with the draft and establishing the all-volunteer military.
By this time, with the support of Jane Fonda, the vocal Vietnam Veterans against the war (VVAW) had formed. Over 800 Americans had been captured and were in North Vietnamese prisons. The Paris Peace talks were well under way, and those of us involved at all levels were trying to bring this conflict to a satisfactory conclusion.
The deep concern in Vietnam by U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese as to the anti-war group activities in the United States is remembered in detail by many of us. Meanwhile, Kerry was spinning false tales condemning his fellow sailors, soldiers and Marines.
In April of 1971 John Kerry, as VVAW spokesman, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Sen. J. William Fulbright. Most of Kerry's relevant statements were wrong. Again, it is vivid in my mind. That testimony plus Kerry's many other inflammatory speeches should have led to a full-scale investigation of his "admitted" crimes and of his allegations.
While we had more than enough information on Kerry and the VVAW for an investigation, we frankly thought they were "nut cases."
Think a minute about just one Kerry statement, i.e., "crimes were committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
Let me list a few of the people who were involved with and/or in the chain of command while Kerry was in Vietnam. Under President Johnson there was Defense Secretary Clark Clifford, Navy Secretary Paul Ignatius, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff Gen. Earle Wheeler, Adm. U.S. Grant Sharp, Abrams, Gen. Fred Weyand, Zumwalt, among others. Under President Nixon there was Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, Sen. John Chafee (then secretary of the Navy), Sen. John Warner (then deputy secretary of the Navy), Adm. Tom Moorer, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Jack McCain (Sen. John McCain's father), Generals Abrams and Weyand and Adm. Zumwalt.
The operational commanders knew the rules of engagement and often carried them out at great risk to themselves and their people. All levels of command knew what was going on.
Can you believe that these outstanding individuals and their subordinates would condone war crimes? Is it possible that the 27-year-old Kerry could have believed what he was saying?
The American military felt betrayed by Kerry & Co. Much of the resentment they experienced on arriving home was caused by Kerry and his ilk. I can't begin to estimate what John Kerry cost our country and Southeast Asia in money and lives.
There are words to describe a person who aids the enemy in time of war. John Kerry can be described by most of these words.
The kindest conclusion I reach is that while articulate, he was either naive, an opportunist, easily misled or not too smart. Possibly a combination.
One thing for sure is that the flagrant character flaws displayed by John Kerry in 1971 should not be forgotten and, lacking any remorse on his part, not be forgiven. To me, it seems impossible that a person who has done as much damage to his country and the world as John Kerry did, would be considered for commander in chief of our great country.
Looking at Kerry's sworn testimony against his fellow Vietnam veterans, I do wonder when he is telling the truth.
Shillito, now a retired businessman living in San Diego, served as assistant secretary of the Navy and assistant secretary of defense during the Johnson and Nixon administrations. As an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II, he was shot down over occupied Europe and was a prisoner of war from 1943 to 1945.
It's great that they printed this.
Were any of them on Kerry's Boat? If they weren't then they can't talk about Kerry!
< /sarcasm>
Send this to everyone on your e-mail lists!
BZ!
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JOHN KERRY = Enemy of Vietnam Vets
http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1320
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...and by the way... Where are Kerry's battle buddies now? The Swift Vets are still hard at work but all of Kerry's buddies are AWOL. As a former Army officer I cannot for the life of me imagine having 90% of the people that I served with saying that I was unfit for office. This is unheard of in the military. Your buddies are your buddies and that's that. People who don't look objectively at Kerry's record are totally reality challenged.
Bookmarked for future reading.
Bump, Tonk, check this out
One hero speaks definitely and authoritatively about the pretender who was not...
There is no excuse for anyone who supposedly "supports the troops" or claims to be a "patriot" to support Kerry. It's not as though it's 1992, pre-internet, where the truth is hidden. It's a sad commentary about the American people, should they elect Kerry, or should this election even be close. We were attacked. A President took us to war to defend every American. The Democrat left led now by Kerry has given aid and comfort to the enemy for partisan political gain, and I have no doubt at all that it's impacted the war in Iraq. Kerry has blood on his hands, and not just from the Vietnam war era.
What I can't understand is why certain officers, or former officers who were on Boards concerning Kerrys release from service, will not come forward to explain how Kerry was separated from service. Without his service jacket, until Kerry signs the Form 180 and authorizes the release of his personnel records, I will continue to believe the most obvious, most likely facts about Kerry. He was probably involuntarily separated from service, even if he was "reinstated" under Carter in 1977.
We could have a dishonorably released officer as CiC next January. And, there are officers who swore the same oath as you and I did, who could put out the truth, yet remain silent.
SFS
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