Posted on 08/22/2004 3:08:22 PM PDT by Libloather
Kerry won Vietnam vets' wrath describing what he couldn't see
BY HAROLD W. ANDERSEN
Published Sunday, August 22, 2004
WORLD-HERALD CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
It is one of the bigger gambles of the presidential campaign. But with most of the news media looking the other way, John Kerry has been getting away with it so far.
I refer to Kerry's gamble that the news media won't finally take a hard look at his anti-war activities instead of concentrating on his four-plus months of combat-zone experience as a decorated, wounded veteran of the Vietnam War - experience that Kerry incessantly promotes as qualifying him to be president and commander in chief of the armed forces.
There have been occasional, brief news-media references to, but no details of, Kerry's controversial testimony to a U.S. Senate committee. It took place after he opted out of the customary one-year tour of duty under a Navy policy that allowed such an early out if a serviceman so elected after receiving his third Purple Heart.
(The Marines stopped awarding a Purple Heart for a minor wound, even if the Marine received medical treatment. None of Kerry's wounds was serious enough to require hospitalization.)
Let's take a detailed look at Kerry's Capitol Hill testimony. It will, I think, help explain why many Vietnam veterans oppose Kerry's presidential bid.
On April 23, 1971, John Kerry appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, dressed in what appeared to be military fatigues, displaying the ribbons representing his Vietnam War medals (ribbons which he subsequently said he threw over a wire fence onto the Capitol grounds).
Kerry's testimony, widely publicized at the time, included the following allegations, which he offered as facts:
A "Winter Soldier Investigation" (largely financed by actress Jane Fonda) meeting in Detroit a few months earlier heard statements from men who represented themselves to be Vietnam veterans.
Kerry said that "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 . . . ."
Kerry described such incidents as "crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with a full awareness of officers at all levels of command." Such conduct, he testified, reflected "the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do" and was "accepted policy by many units in South Vietnam."
Kerry's four-plus months of combat-zone experience involved his commanding half a dozen men in a "swift boat" crew as a naval lieutenant, junior grade. Yet, his testimony purported to describe atrocities committed by Army and Marine units serving in the jungles of Vietnam.
"The Army says they never leave their wounded," Kerry said. "The Marines say they never even leave their dead. These men have left all the casualties and retreated behind a pious shield of public rectitude. They've left the real stuff of their reputations bleaching behind them in the sun . . . ."
Is it any wonder that outraged Vietnam veterans have formed organizations like "Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry"?
Kerry could not possibly have seen the things that he repeatedly said "we" had seen. Apparently, he relied on the statements of some of the supposed veterans who attended the "Winter Soldier Investigation" rally in Detroit.
But later research confirmed that in five or more cases, those testifying at the Detroit rally lied about serving in Vietnam and/or about witnessing examples of brutal war crimes.
Enough today about the largely ignored story of John Kerry's testimony to a committee of the U.S. Congress. Next Sunday: the angry reaction of other Vietnam veterans who were as well situated as Kerry, if not better, to know how American forces conducted themselves in the Vietnam War.
Nope.
It just occurred to me Effin may not have chucked those medals over the fence if he would have earned them a little more honestly.
Oh, and don't forget about the fact that Kerry's VVAW was plotting to assassinate U.S. Senators. Kerry was part of that no matter what he says.
When John Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971, he admitted that he had probably broken the law by going to Paris and meeting with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong leaders. (From page 188 of the hearing record: "I realize that even my visits in Paris . . . in a sense are on the borderline of private individuals negotiating, et cetera. I understand these things." The prohibition against private individuals negotiating--which has been on the criminal statute books since John Adams was President--is contained in 18 U.S.C. Section 953 and is a felony.)
Looks like the cat is out of the bag. Kerry anti-war stories are popping up in the media everywhere.
Excellent Point!
Do you think LtJG John Kerry cared one whit about the guys he left behind when he bailed after only four months of a twelve month tour? It would be interesting to see just how many of those guys he stayed in contact with while he was back home and they were still motoring through the Mekong.
All Kerry has to do is to show us the scars. If he takes off his shirt and I see three nasty looking scars, I'll shut up. (I want proof that they are about thirty years old though) He has his picture all over the place of him windsurfing. Isn't there any old photo of him at the beach with his shirt off? That could be analyzed for proof of his alleged injuries, except for that nasty rice kernal injury on his butt.
Who were the senators Kerry was planning to hit? And why does this go uninvestigated. Were are the press minions on this case? Oh I forgot the press is going after the real story. SwiftBoat Vets are not telling the truth and it's all Bush's fault.
In an earlier post, someone was asking about Vietnamese General Vo Njuyen Giap's statement that North Vietnam would have lost the war had it not been for Jane Fonda's and John Kerry's anti-war activities.
Does anyone know who posted that questions?
The Wall Street Journal, August 3, 1995 has an article about the subject where Bui Tin stated the same thing and I think referred to General Giap.
You must be a subscriber to search the Journal's archives, I am not a subscriber. Need help posting that article.
Thanks
My father, a VV suffered for years and years the shame that was thrown upon our vets return by bastards like Kerry....may he rot in hell eternally.
As a child of a vet I would never dishonor my father by voting for Kerry.
I wasn't old enough then to defend my father, but I can certainly send a message now that you cannot dishonor our vets and profit from it.
Go to Hell John Kerry!
If ABCNNBCBS could cover for Klinton, they'll cover for sKerry. The deal is "If I can get elected president, you've got to see that NOTHING and NO ONE comes up against met without being burned by the media." It worked for Klinton for 8 years. It's a well-oiled killing maching.
Looks like we a loosing the fight. The SwiftVets are getting trashed by the media, and I mean trashed. Currently the CRATS are blaming President Bush for the SwiftVets ad. With no proof, they have the lying media supporting the CRATS side. I cannot understand why we cannot seem to get the truth out without be destroyed.
If ABCNNBCBS could cover for Klinton, they'll cover for sKerry. The deal is "If I can get elected president, you've got to see that NOTHING and NO ONE comes up against met without being burned by the media." It worked for Klinton for 8 years. It's a well-oiled killing machine.
This man Kerry needs a background check before being given the nuclear codes of this nation. They do it for airport security job applicants. Why not Kerry . Release your records Kerry or withdraw your application to become our president. I will not vote for you.
If ABCNNBCBS could cover for Klinton, they'll cover for sKerry. The deal is "If I can get elected president, you've got to see that NOTHING and NO ONE comes up against me without being burned by the media." It worked for Klinton for 8 years. It's a well-oiled killing machine.
Was he in the Naval Reserves at that time?
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