Kerry's Hanoi Tapes

The American Thinker ^ | 9/2/2004 | American Thinker

[KarlH]

Kerry’s Hanoi tapes September 2nd, 2004

As is now well known to everyone except those in the news media, John Kerry and other representatives of his group, the Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW), met with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong peace delegations numerous times circa 1970-72, both in Paris and Hanoi.

The VVAW was so proud of these meetings they made cassette tapes and transcripts of the momentous events:

On page 1705 of the FBI’s Kerry/VVAW files there is an excerpt from the August 1971 issue of the National VVAW News:

Tapes of conversations with the representatives at the Paris Peace Talks are available for $45.00 for eight cassettes and a bound transcript. These are conversations between the VVAW delegation and the representatives of the four parties. If you are interested send the money and the order to the regional office and we will forward it for you to the office in Connecticut that is handling this.

Much has been made over the years about Jane Fonda’s trips to Hanoi and her broadcasting propaganda over Radio Hanoi for the North Vietnamese against the American forces. But Kerry’s own group also supplied material to Radio Hanoi for their broadcasts to the US troops.

------- Someone must have access to these transcripts of the conversation between the VVAW delegates and the Vietnamese. Was John Kerry at these meetings? What did he say? It could be interesting.

[KarlH]

The great researchers on FR should be able to find these tapes and transcripts.

[GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY]

Okay. If the FBI declassifies something, where do those objects end up? Who do we send the FOIA request to?

Anyone know?

[rolling_stone]

On another note, I would suspect National Archives would have tapes of Hanoi Hanna's broadcasts. I would love to hear one of her broadcasting Kerry's words to the POW's...

[gilliam]

Okay. If the FBI declassifies something, where do those objects end up? Who do we send the FOIA request to?

I would send it to both the National Archives and the FBI

[AZBear]

Ping

[coconutt2000]

Remember that historian who was doing research on the anti-war movement?

Someone broke into his home and stole a bunch of the papers and documents, some of which may have been about John Kerry. The historian did not have time after receiving the documents to fully catalog them and knows that some Kerry documents were in those missing, but does not know the contents of those documents beyond the fact that Kerry was mentioned.

(CNN) -- FBI documents about FBI surveillance of John Kerry in the early 1970s have been stolen, according to their owner, a historian who lives near San Francisco, California.

Gerald Nicosia, who spent more than a decade collecting the information, said three of 14 boxes of documents plus a number of loose folders containing hundreds of pages were stolen from his home Thursday afternoon.

Nicosia reported the theft Friday to the Twin Cities Police Department, which covers Larkspur and Corte Madera in Marin County, where he lives. The police report found no sign of forced entry.

"It was a very clean burglary. They didn't break any glass. They didn't take anything like cameras sitting by. It was a very professional job," Nicosia said.

"Was it a thrill-seeker who wanted a piece of history? It could be," Nicosia said. "You'd think there was a very strong political motivation for taking those files. The odds are in favor of that."

Nicosia, author of "Home At War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans Movement," had obtained about 20,000 pages of FBI documents through Freedom of Information Act requests.

The documents center on FBI surveillance of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), which Kerry represented as national spokesman. In April 1971, the decorated veteran testified in televised hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and led a large protest of veterans in the capital.

Nicosia estimated that 20 percent of his documents are missing.

"It's heartbreaking, after 11 years trying to get them," he said.

Kerry's antiwar efforts drew the attention of President Nixon, as revealed in recordings of White House conversations obtained by CNN from the National Archives, and of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, as the documents revealed.

"I hadn't gotten a chance to review them all. I am sure there were some things about John Kerry that weren't known," Nicosia said. "These files would also cast a bad light on the ... Republican Party. This surveillance happened under the Nixon White House and Nixon FBI."

Nicosia showed about 50 pages of the documents to CNN last week.

The FBI followed Kerry as he traveled the country, speaking out against the war and raising money for the cause. Kerry, a Navy lieutenant, was honorably discharged upon his return from Vietnam with three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star.

Kerry, who obtained his personal FBI files years ago, knew of the surveillance, but the VVAW files obtained by Nicosia detail more extensive surveillance than the senator from Massachusetts might have realized.

"It is almost surreal to learn the extent to which I was followed by the FBI," Kerry said in a written statement earlier this week. "The experience of having been spied on for the act of engaging in peaceful patriotic protest makes you respect civil rights and the Constitution even more."

Kerry was seen as a tactical "conservative" among the antiwar veterans, the FBI documents say. The 27-year-old typically opposed demonstrations that would lead to arrests.

"A review of the subject's file reveals nothing whatsoever to link the subject with any violent type activity," said a May 1972 FBI memo about Kerry provided by his campaign.

The memo recommended that the surveillance end because Kerry had quit VVAW and was launching a political career.


Source: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/03/27/kerry.documents/

[coconutt2000]

Note the date: Sunday, March 28, 2004 Posted: 1:52 PM EST (1852 GMT)

[Boundless]

> Someone must have access to these transcripts of the
> conversation between the VVAW delegates and the Vietnamese.

I just spoke to the ship's counselor, and she senses that
this is more teasing from the same source that dispatched
Newt to the talk shows yesterday.

Asking for the public to rummage through their attics is
more likely to ensure that the anti-war vets destroy any
copies they have.

My guess is that copies have been secured, and we're being
prep'd for the public release of this material.

[gilliam]

Well, I don't agree.

So there! :)

[Tacis]

The good thing about this "Kerry - Blame America First" stuff is that, if it doesn't become public naturally, the Clintons will leak it.

[gilliam]

The reporter had copies of the documents, not originals. The National Archives doesn't give out originals.

[Tamzee]

Here are some Hanoi Hannah sound files, but none contain Kerry... I'm going to keep looking, maybe we can find some old files online.

http://www.earthstation1.com/Hanoi_Hannah_Radio_Hanoi.html

[coconutt2000]

Kerry, who obtained his personal FBI files years ago, knew of the surveillance, but the VVAW files obtained by Nicosia detail more extensive surveillance than the senator from Massachusetts might have realized.

This is the line that makes me think someone with interest in the election was the culprit. Either someone anti-kerry or pro-kerry did this. The researcher had been gathering data for 11 years. I doubt all of it was copies.

[jdege]

Senator John Kerry FBI Files, Military Service Records, & CIA Files

Senator John Kerry

FBI Files, Military Service Records, & CIA Files

2934 pages of Senator John Kerry's FBI Files, military service records & CIA Files, archived on CD-ROM.

John Kerry was born on December 11, 1943 in Denver, Colorado. After graduating from Yale University, Kerry enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In time, he was serving on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. After his discharge from the Navy, Kerry began to publicly question the policies behind American military involvement in Vietnam. This lead him to become a spokesman for the anti-Vietnam War group, Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Later, after leaving the VVAW, Kerry founded the organization Vietnam Veterans of America. Kerry later became a prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In 1982, John Kerry ran for, and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. John Kerry ran for Sentate in 1984. Kerry was elected, then re-elected in 1990, 1996, and 2002. Early in 2004, John Kerry emerged as the Democrtic Party's leading candidate to run against encumbent president George Bush in the November 2004 presidential election.

FBI FILES

2,701 pages of FBI files dating from 1967 to the end of 1971, taken from 20,000 pages of files maintained by the FBI on the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and its members. This material was originally released in 1999 to author and historian Gerald Nicosia, after seeking their release under the Freedom of Information Act in 1988. This set released in June 2004 contains pages of documents not released to Nicosia in 1999.

The files give broad coverage of the activities of VVAW members such as Scott Camil, Al Hubbard, Joseph Urgo, Michael Oliver, Edward Damato, Larry Rottman, George Roberts, Craig Scott Moore and the person who has become its most well known member, John Kerry.

John Kerry first became familiar with the VVAW through his sister Peggy, in 1969. After deciding not to run for Congress in 1970, Kerry went to Paris, site of Vietnam War peace negotiations, and met with Viet Cong representatives. After his return, he began participating in VVAW events. John Kerry became one the Vietnam Veteran's Against the War's most publicly recognizable figures. Especially after his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971. As a veteran who was decorated with a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts, Kerry garnered attention and consideration that other anti-Vietnam War protestors could not achieve. Kerry went on to become one of the members of VVAW's national steering committee.

The coverage of Kerry is mostly intermittently spread across memos dating from 1971. Much of the clandestine surveillance is composed of reporting made by confidential informants. The files chronicle: John Kerry's rise in status as a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, A growing ideological conflict with the more militant direction the VVAW was heading in, Travel to Paris for talks with North Vietnamese peace talk delegation, Kerry's pitched battle with VVAW leader Al Hubbard, and Kerry's dissolution as a leader of the VVAW

MILITARY FILES

148 pages of Senator John F. Kerry's military records. Includes: background Information, paper work dealing with his Bronze Star, Silver Star, and Purple Hearts, evaluations made by superiors, orders and duty assignments, and his discharge from the Navy. During his service in Vietnam, directing a swift boat in the Mekong Delta, Kerry was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts for wounds to his arms, legs and buttocks. He was awarded the Silver Star "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action," during an operation on the Ca Mau Peninsula.

In addition to the personnel records above, are 62 pages of Coastal Division 11 After-Action Combat reports for February and March 1969. Task Force 115, which included Coastal Division 11 and Kerry's Swift boats, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation signed by then-President Nixon, for their work from December of 1968 to March of 1969.

CIA FILES

23 pages of CIA files. Composed of correspondences from the CIA to John Kerry concerning his work as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA affairs

Archival copy on CD-ROM
Price $10.00

SALE ON COMPLETE SET ENDS 9/2/04

[Use It Or Lose It]

National Archives

Calling Sandy Berger....Mr. Berger....Calling Sandy Berger....

[itsahoot]

The reporter had copies of the documents, not originals. The National Archives doesn't give out originals.

Unless of course you are Sandy Berger, <(•¿•)>

[rbg81]

If there is anything interesting here, I am sure all of America will hear about it--in late October.

[rolling_stone]

thanks check this out, TAPES FOUND IN BARN, unfortunately Vietnam Veterans Against the War have them..they were cleaned up by the National Archives so they may have them...

http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=271

[christie]

.


ALERT

Most of the FBI docs are available from WinterSoldier.com.

Okay, here it is -- the mother lode of FBI files on Vietnam Veterans Against the War. This archive contains 21,477 pages of documents received in response to our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, bundled up by the FBI as PDF-format Files of Unusual Size.

Visit my John F. Kerry Timeline.
.

[rolling_stone]

tapes reportedly include:

Speeches, poems and songs by American POWs, deserters, and anti-war activists.
Reports on the anti-Vietnam War activities of active dury GIs, primarily in the US and Europe, and on actions by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) ... including the Winter Soldier Investigation, Operation Heart of America, and the signing of the People's Peace Treaty.