fedora posted this on another thread.
During his 1972 campaign Kerry continued to associate with the VVAW. A Portsmouth paper covering Kerry’s January 1972 Dartmouth speech described him as “head of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War”, while a New York Times article on the event described him as “spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The FBI files on the VVAW include a clipping of an April 4, 1972 Boston Globe article announcing Kerry’s Congressional run which states, “Kerry has led the Vietnam Veterans Against the War since returning from Vietnam two years ago.” Kerry was again described as “a leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War” in an Illinois newspaper article covering a New York demonstration he spoke at on April 22, 1972 which was organized by the NPAC and PCPJ and coordinated with the VVAW. Papers continued to describe Kerry as a VVAW representative throughout his Congressional campaign, and even afterwords into 1973. VVAW financial statements from early 1972 list a significant percentage of income and expenditures related to Kerry’s November 1971 book The New Soldier and the book’s editors George Butler and David Thorne. Thorne, who was Kerry’s best friend and the brother of his first wife, served as Kerry’s campaign manager in 1972. Chris Gregory, who became one of Kerry’s most active campaign staffers in subsequent years, remained associated with the New England VVAW in 1972. Kerry’s sister Peggy joined leading New York VVAW member Sheldon Ramsdell at a hotel where the VVAW protested the August 1972 Republican National Convention.
And I have information (picture) that shows that Kerry was considered a national leader of the VVAW as late as January 24, 1973.