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A ruse that helped to win a soldier the Victoria Cross during the Second World War was a "war crime" and New Zealand should apologise to the families of the snipers he killed, it was claimed yesterday. Alfred Clive Hulme, the father of Denny Hulme, the late world motor racing champion, was awarded the VC for bravery in killing 33 German snipers over eight days during the Battle of Crete in 1941. He returned home a hero to the town of Nelson. But a new book by two military historians says that, in winning his VC, Sgt Hulme committed "acts...

Victoria Cross winner Keith Payne takes great pride in helping mould Australia's "leaders of tomorrow". So it was a humbling experience for the 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran to learn that he had been honoured in the Australia Day awards for doing just that. Mr Payne has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to cadet and veterans groups around the country. Mr Payne, from Mackay in central Queensland, said it was important for older generations to guide the country's future leaders. "They're our bread and butter for the future," Mr Payne said. "They've got...

Havildar who fought off three attacks by Japanese infantry and set a supreme example of gallantry AS A havildar (sergeant), Umrao Singh was the only non-commissioned officer of either the Royal Artillery or the Indian Artillery to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. Forward observation officers are frequently at great personal risk when in exposed positions so as to direct artillery fire in support of armoured or infantry units. But Singh won his award for valour in what all gunners regard as their near-sacred duty — defence of the guns. By the end of 1944, General...

HAYWARD, Wis. - A Hmong immigrant convicted of murdering six deer hunters and attempting to kill two others after a trespassing dispute was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday with no chance for parole. Judge Norman Yackel ordered Chai Soua Vang, 37, to serve six life prison terms, one after the other, guaranteeing he would never be freed from prison. Wisconsin does not have a death penalty. Yackel described Vang as a "time bomb ready to go off" at the slightest provocation. "These crimes are not isolated acts, but a pattern of anti-social conduct," the judge said. Vang, a truck...

Sergeant “Smoky” Smith, who died in Vancouver on Wednesday aged 91, was the last surviving Canadian holder of the VC. On the night of October 21 1944, two companies of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada crossed the Savio River in Italy, and seized a shallow bridgehead in drenching rain. In less than five hours, the river rose six feet to become a raging torrent, impassable to supporting tanks and anti-tank guns.Early next morning, the thinly held right flank of the Seaforths was attacked by three Panther tanks, supported by two self-propelled guns and 30 grenadiers of the formidable 26th Panzer...

THE Vietnam War is universally regarded as a disaster for what it did to the American and Vietnamese people. However, 30 years after the war's end, the reasons for its outcome remain a matter of dispute. The most popular explanation among historians and journalists is that the defeat was a result of American policy makers' cold-war-driven misunderstanding of North Vietnam's leaders as dangerous Communists. In truth, they argue, we were fighting a nationalist movement with great popular support. In this view, "our side," South Vietnam, was a creation of foreigners and led by a corrupt urban elite with no popular...

Raw courage and utter selflessnessBy Caroline Davies (Filed: 28/04/2005) Even as the Queen reached up to pin Britain's ultimate award for valour on the khaki tunic of Pte Johnson Beharry yesterday, he was thinking not of himself but of others. Her Majesty had not awarded the Victoria Cross to a living recipient for 40 years. "You're very special," she told the 25-year-old Grenadan, who twice came close to death while saving the lives of colleagues during ambushes in Iraq last year. The modest Pte Johnson Beharry: ‘I wasn't thinking about a medal’ But as the young soldier stood, ramrod straight,...

Jane Fonda talks about how she is 'riveted' by faith and why feminism is what Jesus taughtFrom her longtime political activism to her Oscar-winning acting, Jane Fonda has never done anything halfheartedly, and she brings this characteristic intensity to her faith. When she talks about "feeling the presence of the Almighty," her view of Jesus, and the way she prays, her voice wells from deep within her chest. You may know this voice from her films (among dozens of others: Barbarella, Klute, On Golden Pond, and currently in theaters, Monster-in-Law), or from her aerobics videos ("feel the burn!"), or from...

You save Toppy's VC SUN READERS HELP RAISE $300,000 TO KEEP HIS MEDAL IN CANADA By PETER WORTHINGTON, TORONTO SUN WELL, WE did it. And we did it without Ottawa's help, thank you very much. Or, rather, Toronto Sun readers and other Canadians did it -- raised $300,000 to buy the Victoria Cross won by Paratrooper Fred Topham in World War II, to ensure it remains in perpetuity in the National War Museum. And there's money left over, maybe $30,000, to go into a fund to ensure that when future VCs or medals important to our heritage are put up...

Two days ago it was Tom Daschle's birthday; today is the birthday of John Kerry who was born on December 11, 1943. Birthday wishes, comments, and gloating are welcome.

Kerry slams 'refusal to serve'AP, AFP04sep04 NEW YORK: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry declared he had taken enough "incoming" yesterday and blasted back at his Republican antagonists by suggesting George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were draft dodgers. In his toughest counter-punch of the campaign, the decorated war hero said he was not going to have his military qualifications questioned by "those who refused to serve" in the Vietnam War. "For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as commander in chief ... well, here's my answer," Senator Kerry said in Ohio. "I'm not...

1. Prior to “Dewey Canyon III” Mike Thelan East Coast Coordinator for the VVAW tells a gathering of possible attendants that the VVAW’s official position is not to encourage anyone to commit acts of violence, but that VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from “doing it”. VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from committing acts of violence, pg 4 2. FBI files indicate that “VVAW is under active investigation in view of indications of communist and other subversive infiltration”. indications of communist and other subversive infiltration, pg 24 3. Speaker at VVAW antiwar rally Carl Moore makes following statements, “President...

Kerry vet aide's extremist history Joe Bangert lived in Hanoi, revered Ho Chi Minh -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 7, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern WASHINGTON – A John Kerry veterans' organizer lived in Hanoi for five years in the 1990s, testified that American troops skinned and crucified Vietnamese in the 1960s and joined the presidential candidate at an infamous 1971 meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War executive committee in which the assassination of U.S. senators was debated, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reports. Joe Bangert, a Massachusetts English teacher and longtime friend of the junior senator, has campaigned with Kerry in...

John Kerry’s Fellow TravellersA 5-part series exposing John Kerry’s Communist connections.Part 2: Forging a Paper Hero: The Mystery of Kerry’s MedalsBy Fedora *NOTE: The term “fellow traveller” as used in this article series refers to someone who is not a member of the Communist Party (CP) but regularly engages in actions which advance the Party’s program. Some apparent fellow travellers may actually be “concealed party members”: members of the CP who conceal their membership. Which of these classifications is applicable to the Kerrys is a question this series leaves unresolved. This series does not argue for any direct evidence of...

As John Kerry gets ready to speak to the American Legion on Sept. 1, during the GOP Convention, it is worth recalling some of his earlier comments on that esteemed organization: We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans' Day waving small flags, calling to memory those thousands who died for the "greater glory of the United States." We will not accept the rhetoric. We will not readily join the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars-in fact, we will find it hard to join anything at all and when we do, we will demand relevancy such...

It's time to turn up the heat on Kerry and his anti war protests.Him and his vile suppoters, then and now, need to be called on what they really stand for.The media still won't cover this aspect.We need to tell his story here, and everywhere. I'm sick of the media ONLY talking about the Swift Boat Vets. Let's see how they cover the mockery in NYC today about our fallen in this war.The mock coffins were out of line!Now that they crossed the line it's time to take off the gloves, once and for all.

Senator Also May Have Set Up Meetings Between Chinese Firms, U.S. Officials (WASHINGTON, D.C.) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released recently declassified documents showing that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry accepted laundered contributions for his 1996 re-election campaign from the Communist Chinese government and that, in exchange, he may have arranged meetings between Chinese aerospace executives and U.S. government officials. Obtained from the FBI through Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests, the documents are related to the FBI’s “Chinagate” investigation into the Clinton campaign’s acceptance of contributions from Communist...

FBI files indicate that VVAW leader Al Hubbard reported to the VVAW Executive Committee meeting upon returning from Paris the following, “Hubbard indicated that VVAW as an organization had received commitments of support from Leftists throughout the world. He indicated that following the conference he had private discussions with individuals from Laos and Cambodia, the primary topic discussed were tactics in the United States anti-war movement. In his opinion these discussions turned out to be the most important part of the conference for him. He said that during these talks he was able to confirm the fact that a seven...

Recently I have read that John Kerry has told the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that he was not referring to them in his senate speech in 1971, but to all the other Vietnam War veterans. Well, we should apply the same standard to this that Kerry and his news pals have used, that is; That Kerry did not serve in their tent, unit, team, foxhole, aircraft, patrol unit, or squad so therefore he cannot know what these men were doing or not doing. Therefore, because by his own admission that by these standards the SBVT could not have known...

One more brick in the Kerry wall...... http://teamhouse.tni.net/Misc/Kerry/ChungKerry.htm