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X. Kerry betrayed his fellow veterans (Unfit for Command pages 126-137)
Kerry slandered fellow troops by falsely accusing vets of mass atrocities and war crimes, consorted with the enemy by meeting with Madame Binh as the official representative for the North Vietnamese Communist regime at the 1971 Paris Peace Talks, praised Ho Chi Min, and was present during the plotting for assassination of US Senators who opposed the Viet Nam war.
1) John Kerry's testimony before the US Senate included his infamous & slanderous allegation that US troops "had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape 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 country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country" and that these were "crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
2) In subsequent interviews and on television Kerry repeated the charge that "yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed."
3) In recent interviews, John Hurley, Kerry's former comrade from VVAW and now head of Vietnam Veterans for Kerry, Kerry stands by his 1971 Senate testimony.
4) John Kerry wrote a book entitled "The New Soldier" which slandered Vietnam Vets with further "Winter Soldier" accusations of war crimes and defaced the Iwo Jiwa Memorial, which represents the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi in 1945, a battle that claimed the lives of 6,821 Marines, with a mocking representation combined with an upside down American flag on its cover.
5) Historical writers Neil Sheehan and James Reston exposed the sources for John Kerry's "Winter Soldier" allegations as fabrications and their perpetrators as frauds who, in many cases, hadn't even served in Vietnam such as Al Hubbard, Kerry's VVAW counterpart who often appeared in public events together, was revealed to have personally lied himself & later officially joined the Communist Party.
6) Numerous POWs, including Paul Galanti, Ken Cordier, Jim Warner, John Flynn and many others have come forward and testified in detail to the use of John Kerry's 1971 Senate Testimony and other VVAW related activities, albeit documentary representations or audio recordings played over the P/A (Public Address) systems duing torture sessions at some of Vietnam's most heinous and notorious prisons to include "The Hanoi Hilton" and "Skid Row". See SwiftVet Ad "SELLOUT".
7) Kerry first admitted meeting with communist representatives in Paris in 1970, in his own testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971, at a time he remained an officer in the US Naval Reserve and in apparent violation of U.S. code 18 U.S.C. 953, which disallowed private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers. Kerry stated, "I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks, that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PVR)."
8) On March 24, 2004, Michael Meehan, official spokesman of the Kerry campaign, confirmed that John Kerry indeed traveled to Paris in 1971 and met with Madame Binh and also admitted he met with other members representing both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the North Vietnamese) and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (the Viet Cong).
9) Michael Kranish and Patrick Healy report "Kerry Spoke of Meeting Negotiators in Paris", in the Boston Globe, March 25, 2004.
10) On July 22, 1971, John Kerry held a public press conference in which he advanced the positions stated & outlined in his personal meeting with Madame Binh.
11) In publicly FOIA released FBI Documents reveal Kerry was present in the discussion & planning for the assassination of prominent US Senators who were deemed to support US participation in the war against the Vietnamese Communists, to include Senate legends John Tower of Texas and Senator John Stennis of Mississippi, for whom the Navy Aircraft Carrier USS Stennis CVN-74 is named after.
12) Writing in the New York Sun, March 12, 2004, Thomas Lipscomb writes about "HOW KERRY QUIT VETERANS GROUP AMID DARK PLOT"
13) From Unfit for Command, page 137: FBI field surveillance reports document a speech that Kerry gave in 1971 in which he praised Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnamese Communism. The occasion was a speech Kerry gave to a group at the YMCA in Philadelphian on June 14, 1971. As reported by the FBI:
On June 29, 1971, [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] advised that JOHN KERRY of the National Office of the VVAW, spoke at the YMCA, Philadelphia, on June 14, 1971. In this talk he stated that HO CHI MINH is the GEORGE WASHINGTON of Vietnam. Ho studied the United States Constitution and wants to install the same provisions into the Government of Vietnam. KERRY criticized United States activities in Vietnam, saying we are destroying villages, cities, crops, and the people there and these activities must be stopped.
14) A photograph featuring John Kerry meeting with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Comrade Du Muoi today hangs in honor at the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the War Crimes Museum) in Ho Chi Mihn City (formerly Saigon), within a room titled "The World Supports Vietnam in its Resistance" amongst the many other exhibits "honoring" all those who had helped the Vietnamese Communists win their war against the United States.
STATUS: To date the Kerry campaign has not chosen to dispute his prior statements or any of the official records which have been made available to the public.
http://precisetruth.blogspot.com/2004/08/unfit-for-command-s...
Who's to blame for nation's Vietnam wounds? Kerry
Kerry is now the first self-confessed war criminal in the history of the Republic to be nominated for president
August 29, 2004
BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Every serious nation, in the course of history, loses a war here and there. You hope it's there rather than here -- somewhere far away, a small conflict in a distant land, not central to your country's sense of itself. During America's 'Vietnam era,' Britain grappled with a number of nasty colonial struggles. Some they won -- Malaya -- and others they lost -- Aden -- or, at any rate, concluded that the cost of achieving whatever it was they wanted to achieve was no longer worth it.
No parallels are exact, but the symbolism of the transfer of power in Aden (on the Arabian coast) is not dissimilar to the fall of Saigon. On Nov. 29, 1967, the Union Jack was lowered over the city, and the high commissioner, his staff and all her majesty's forces left. On Nov. 30, the People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed -- the only avowedly Marxist state in Arabia. A couple of years earlier, the penultimate high commissioner, Sir Richard Turnbull, had remarked bleakly to Denis Healey, the British Defense secretary, that the British empire would be remembered for only two things: 'the popularization of Association Football [soccer] and the term 'f-- off.' "
Sir Richard was being a little hard on his fellow imperialists, but those two legacies of empire are useful ways of looking at the situation when the natives are restless and you're a long way from home: Faraway disputes you're stuck in the middle of aren't played by the rules of Association Football, and it's important to know when to "f-- off.' Aden had been British since 1839: that's 130 years, or 10 times as long as America was mixed up in Vietnam. And yet in the end the British shrugged it off. Just one of those things, old boy. Can't be helped. As the last high commissioner inspected his troops at Khormaksar Airport on that final day, the band of the Royal Marines played not 'Land Of Home And Glory' or 'Rule, Britannia' but a Cockney novelty pop song, 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be,' as a jaunty reflection on the vicissitudes of fate.
So when John McCain sternly warns the swift boat veterans of 'reopening the wounds of Vietnam,' it's worth asking: Why is Vietnam a 'wound' and why won't it heal? The answer: not because it was a military or strategic defeat but because it was a national trauma. And whose fault is that?
Well, you can't pin it all on one person, but, if you had to, Lt. John F. Kerry would stand a better shot at taking the solo trophy than almost anyone. The 'wounds' McCain complains of aren't from losing Vietnam, but from the manner in which it was lost. Today Sen. Kerry says he's proud of his anti-war activism, but that's not what it was. Every war has pacifists and conscientious objectors and even disenchanted veterans, but there's simply no precedent for what John Kerry did: a man who put his combat credentials to the service of smearing his country's entire armed forces as rapists, decapitators and baby killers. That's the 'wound,' Sen. McCain. That's why a crummy little war on the other side of the world still festers. That's why the band didn't play 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' and move on to the next item of business. Because Kerry didn't just call for U.S. withdrawal, he impugned the honor of every man he served with.
In his testimony to Congress in 1971, Kerry asserted a scale of routine war crimes unparalleled in American history -- his 'band of brothers' (as he now calls them) 'personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads . . . razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.'
Almost all these claims were unsupported. Indeed, the only specific example of a U.S. war criminal that Kerry gave was himself. As he said on 'Meet The Press' in April 1971, 'Yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I used 50-caliber machineguns, which we were granted and ordered to use.'
Really? And when was that? On your top-secret Christmas Eve mission in Cambodia? If they'd taken him at his word, when the senator said 'I'm John Kerry reporting for duty,' the delegates at the Democratic Convention should have dived for cover.
But they didn't. So Kerry is now the first self-confessed war criminal in the history of the Republic to be nominated for president. Normally this would be considered an electoral plus only in the more cynical banana republics. But the Democrats seemed to think they could run an anti-war anti-hero as a war hero and nobody would mind. As we now know, a lot of people -- a lot of veterans -- do mind, very much. They understand that, whether or not he ever mowed down civilians with his 50-caliber machinegun, Kerry is responsible for a lot of wounds closer to home.
In the usual course of events, Kerry's terrible judgment in the '70s would render him unelectable. Instead, over two decades he morphed into a respectably dull run-of-the-mill pompous senatorial windbag. Had he run for president in the '90s or 2000, he might even have pulled it off. But the Democrats turned to him this time because the tortured contradictions of his resume suited an anti-war party that didn't dare run as such. Ever since the first cries of 'Quagmire!' back in the early days of the Afghan liberation in 2001, the left have been trying to Vietnamize the war on terror. They failed in that, but they succeeded in the Vietnamization of the election campaign, and that's turned out just swell, hasn't it? Remember that formulation a lot of Democrats were using last year? They oppose the war but 'of course' they support our troops. Kerry's campaign is a walking illustration of the deficiencies of that straddle: When you divorce the heroism of soldiering from the justice of the cause, what's left but a hollow braggart?
The Vietnamese government used Kerry's 1971 testimony as evidence of American war crimes as recently as two months ago. In Aden, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, but in Hanoi Kerry's psychodrama-queen performance is a gift that keeps on giving. It would be a shame if they understood him more clearly than the American people do.
I see. I give you facts & you call me names.
Kerry lied & lied & lied to America under oath about war
crimes.
Kerry met with the commies & negotiated a peace deal
illegally. He came back to America & urged our government to
accept the commies plan, lock, stock & barrel.
The commies used Kerry as part of their propaganda war & Kerry
played right into their hands.
IMO, Kerry has blood on his hands.
Discovered papers:
Hanoi directed Kerry
Recovered Vietnam documents smoking gun researchers claim
Posted: October 26, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Art Moore
The first documentary evidence that Vietnamese communists were directly steering John Kerry's antiwar group Vietnam Veterans Against the War has been discovered in a U.S. archive, according to a researcher who spoke with WorldNetDaily.
One freshly unearthed document, http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=vccircular captured by the U.S. from Vietnamese communists in 1971 and later translated, indicates the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris peace talks that year were used as the communications link to direct the activities of Kerry and other antiwar activists who attended.
Kerry insists he attended the talks only because he happened to be in France on his honeymoon and maintains he met with both sides. But previously revealed records indicate the future senator made two, and possibly three, trips to Paris to meet with Viet Cong leader Madame Nguyen Thi Binh to promote her plan's demand for U.S. surrender.
Jerome Corsi, a specialist on the Vietnam era, told WND the new discoveries are the "most remarkable documents I've seen in the entire history of the antiwar movement."
"We're not going to say he's an agent for Vietnamese communists, but it's the next thing to it," he said. "Whether he was consciously carrying out their direction or naively doing what they wanted, it amounted to the same thing -- he advanced their cause."
Corsi, co-author of the Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth best-seller "Unfit for Command," and Scott Swett, who maintains the group's website, have posted a summary of the discovery on the website of Wintersoldier.com.
Corsi says the documents show how the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, the Communist Party of the USA and Kerry's VVAW worked closely together to achieve the Vietnamese communists' primary objective -- the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam.
"I think what we've discovered is a smoking gun," Corsi said. "We knew when we wrote 'Unfit for Command' that Kerry had met with Madame Binh and then promoted her peace plan.
"This document enables us to connect the dots," he emphasized. "We now have evidence Madame Binh was directing the antiwar movement ... and the person who implemented her strategy was John Kerry."
July 22, 1971, Kerry called on President Nixon to accept the plan at a press conference in which he surrounded himself with the families of POWs, a strategy outlined in the first document.
The two documents also connect the dots between the Vietnamese communists and the radical U.S. group People's Coalition for Peace and Justice through the person of Al Hubbard, a coordinating member of PCPJ and the executive director of VVAW while Kerry was its national spokesman.
"Al Hubbard and John Kerry were carrying out the predetermined agenda of the enemy in a coordinated fashion," Corsi said. "It's a level of collaboration that exceeded anything we had imagined."
'Return the medals'
The second document, captured by U.S. military forces in South Vietnam May 12, 1972, urges Vietnamese officials to promote the antiwar activities in the United States.
Significantly, the fifth paragraph makes it clear the Vietnamese communists were using, for propaganda purposes, a protest described as taking place April 19-22, 1971.
This coincides with the well-known "Dewey Canyon III" protest in Washington, D.C., highlighted by Kerry's Senate Foreign Relations testimony charging American soldiers with war crimes.
The document's description of the protest includes the "return the medals" event in which Kerry and other VVAW members threw their war decorations toward the steps of the Capitol.
Why now?
Corsi told WND the documents have been authenticated with "100 percent certainty."
But why were they unearthed now, just one week before the Nov. 2 election?
Corsi insisted the timing was unintentional.
"It's truly one of those accidents of how things develop in research," he said. "We did not spring any surprise, we just found these documents, and even the archivist didn't know they were there."
Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth dispatched two researchers to Texas Tech University's Vietnam-era archive in Lubbock, which has more than 2 million documents, and "see if there was anything there," Corsi said.
Many of the documents are in Vietnamese and have not been translated yet.
The documents were found in boxes containing documents from antiwar activities during 1971-72, but they also turned out to be posted in an Internet database, which enabled further verification.
First document
The first document is a "circular" outlining the Vietnamese regime's strategies to coordinate its propaganda effort with orchestration of U.S. antiwar group activities.
The spontaneous antiwar movements in the US have received assistance and guidance from the friendly ((VC/NVN)) delegations at the Paris Peace Talks.
The phrases in double parentheses were added by U.S. translators for clarification. "VC" refers to the Viet Cong, while "NVN" is the North Vietnamese government.
Corsi and Swett point out that FBI files show Kerry returned to Paris to meet with the North Vietnamese delegation in August 1971 and planned a third trip in November.
Corsi emphasizes that before the discovery of this document, he and other researchers had no direct evidence that Hanoi actually was directing the antiwar movement to implement the regime's goals, although they assumed it to be the case based on other indications.
In her meeting with Kerry in Paris, Madame Binh instructed him on how he and the VVAW could "serve as Hanoi's surrogates in the United States," Corsi and Swett say. This included advancement of her seven-point peace plan forcing President Nixon to set a date to end the war and withdraw troops.
Hanoi cleverly constructed the plan so that the only barrier to release of American POWs was Nixon's unwillingness to set a withdrawal date.
But as Corsi and Swett emphasize, the plan amounted to a virtual surrender that included payment of reparations and an admission the U.S. was the aggressor in an immoral war against the communists.
The circular underscores the impact of the peace plan on U.S. activists, saying:
<<<
"The seven-point peace proposal ((of the SVN Provisional Revolutionary Government)) not only solved problems concerning the release of US prisoners but also motivated the people of all walks of life and even relatives of US pilots detained in NVN to participate in the antiwar movement.
>>>>
Another section of the circular, again highlighting the interconnectedness of the Vietnamese communists, the U.S. antiwar movement and politics in the U.S. and South Vietnam, says Nixon and South Vietnamese leader Thieu are "very embarrassed because the seven-point peace proposal is supported by the [South Vietnamese] people's (( political struggle)) movement and the antiwar movements in the US. "
Therefore, the circular says, "all local areas, units, and branches must widely disseminate the seven-point peace proposal, step up the people's ((political struggle)) movements both in cities and rural areas, taking advantage of disturbances and dissensions in the enemy's forthcoming (RVN) Congressional and Presidential elections. They must coordinate more successfully with the antiwar movements in the US so as to isolate the Nixon-Thieu clique."
Second document
In addition to tying activities surrounding Kerry's 1971 protest to the direction of Vietnamese communists, the second document reveals the degree to which Hanoi worked with and through the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Of the U.S. antiwar movements, the two most important ones are: The PCPJ ((the People's Committee for Peace and Justice)) and the NPAC ((National Peace Action Committee)). These two movements have gathered much strength and staged many demonstrations. The PCPJ is the most important. It maintains relations with us.
Corsi and Swett note the House Internal Securities Committee in its 1971 Annual Report described the PCPJ as an organization strongly controlled by U.S. communists.
"There is no question but what members of the Communist Party have provided a very strong degree of influence, even a guiding influence, in the evolution and formation of policies of the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice."
Corsi cites recently released FBI surveillance reports that establish a strong link between Kerry, Hubbard, the VVAW, the PCPJ and their trips to Paris to meet with Madame Binh.
Kerry shared the stage with Hubbard, who recruited Kerry into the group, during the Dewey Canyon III protest, and they appeared together on NBC's Meet the Press April 18, 1971. Hubbard's claimed to have been a transport pilot wounded in combat, but the Department of Defense released documents showing he was neither a pilot nor an officer and had never served in Vietnam.
One FBI field surveillance report stamped Nov. 11, 1971, showed Kerry and Hubbard were planning to travel to Paris later that month to engage in talks with Vietnamese communist delegations. Other FBI reports clearly show the Communist Party of the USA was paying for Al Hubbard's trips to Paris, Corsi notes.
Another FBI report, dated Nov. 24, 1971, gives details of Hubbard's presentation to a VVAW meeting of the Executive and Steering committees in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 12-15, 1971.
At that meeting, the VVAW considered and then rejected a plan to assassinate several pro-war U.S. Senators. Kerry is listed as present.
The FBI document shows communist coordination in Hubbard's trip to Paris.
<<<<
[BLACK OUT] advised that Hubbard gave the following information regarding his Paris trip:
Two foreign groups, which are Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and Peoples Republic Government (PRG) (phonetic), invited representatives of the VVAW, Communist Party USA (CP USA), and a Left Wing group in Paris, to attend meeting of the above inviting groups in Paris. Hubbard advised he was elected to represent the VVAW. An unknown male was invited to represent the CP USA and an unknown individual was elected to represent the Left Wing group from Paris. He advised at the meeting that his trip was financed by CP USA.
>>>>
Corsi and Swett cite an appeal letter written by Hubbard April 20, 1971, demonstrating the strong coordination between Vietnam Veterans Against the War and People's Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Addressed from the offices of the VVAW in Washington, D.C., the letter is an appeal to VVAW members to provide assistance to the PCPJ. It discusses several ways in which the two organizations have worked closely together:
<<<<
This is an appeal for help for the Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice. Over the past months the Peoples Coalition has supported the Vietnam Vets Against the War in many ways. The Coalition has made office space available at no charge, and permitted the use of all necessary office equipment such as mimeograph machines, stencil-making machines, folders and typewriters. They have loaned us cars, bullhorns, and public address equipment. Their staff has taken messages for us and joined fraternally in building our progress. Now we can return this support.
Saturday, April 24, the Coalition needs help collecting money and selling buttons at the great march and rally. Collectors and sellers must be energetic and determined. Theree will be security problems in taking large amounts of money to banks. The Coalition needs people power, hundreds of workers.
I earnestly hope that you will come forward to support our friends in this emergency.
>>>>
Two days after Hubbard's letter was written, Kerry told Sen. William Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee American military in Vietnam were committing war crimes in the manner of Genghis Khan.
The event referred to in the letter was PCPJ's massive April 24 demonstration in Washington that followed the VVAW's Dewey Canyon III protest.
Col. George E. "Bud" Day is the most decorated officer since Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and was Senator John McCain's cellmate in the Hanoi Hilton. The following is a letter to Joe Scarborough and John O'Neil from Medal of Honor Recipient and former POW Colonel Bud Day.
Some thoughts from a guy who has earned the right to voice his opinion
LETTER FROM COLONEL BUD DAY
Dear Joe:
The major issue in the Swiftboat stories is, and always has been, what John Kerry did in 1971 after he returned from Vietnam. Kerry cast a long dark shadow over all Vietnam Veterans with his outright perjury before the Senate concerning atrocities in Vietnam. His stories to the Senate committee were absolute lies..fabrications..perjury..fantasies, with NO substance. That dark shadow has defamed the entire Vietnam War veteran population, and gave "Aid and Comfort" to our enemies..the Vietnamese Communists. Kerry's stories were outright fabrications, and were intended for political gain with the radical left..McGovern, Teddy and Bobby Kennedy followers, Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, and the radical left who fantasized that George McGovern was going to be elected in 1972. Little wonder that returning soldiers from Vietnam were spit upon and castigated as "baby killers".
A returned war hero said so. Kerry cut a dashing figure as a war hero, lots of medals, and returned home because of multiple war wounds..even a silver star. His Senate testimony confirmed what every hippie had been chanting on the streets.."Hey hey LBJ..How many kids did you kill today"????? He obviously was running for political office in 1971.
Until Lt. John O' Neil, himself a Swifboat commander, spoke out before the 1972 elections against Kerry's outright deceptions, there was no one from the Swiftboat scene that could contradict Kerry's self serving lies.
I was a POW of the Vietnamese in Hanoi in 1971, and I am aware that the testimony of John Kerry, the actions of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, and the radical left; all caused the commies to conclude that if they hung on, they would win. North Vietnamese General Bui Tin commented that every day the Communist leadership listened to world news over the radio to follow the growth of the anti-war movement. Visits to Hanoi by Jane Fonda and Ramsey Clark gave them confidence to hold in the face of battlefield reverses. The guts of it was that propaganda from the anti-war group was part of their combat strategy.
While the Commies were hanging on, innumerable U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Air Force members were being killed in combat. Every battle wound to Americans after Kerry's misdirected testimony is related to Kerry's untruthfulness. John Kerry contributed to every one of these deaths with his lies about U.S. atrocities in Vietnam. He likewise defamed the U.S. with our allies and supporters. His conduct also extended the imprisonment of the Vietnam Prisoners of War, of which I was one. I am certain of at least one POW death after his testimony, which might have been prevented with an earlier release of the POWs.
My friend and room mate Senator John S. McCain denounced the Swiftboat video by John O'Neil. I have a different take on the Swiftboat tape and disagree with my good friend John.
John Kerry opened up his character as a war hero reporting for duty to the country with a hand salute...and his band of brothers..of which he was the chief hero. Most of his convention speech was about John Kerry..............Vietnam hero, and his band of brothers. John Kerry's character is not only fair game, it is the primary issue. He wants to use Bill Clinton's "is", as an answer to his lack of character.
The issue is trust. Can anyone trust John Kerry?? "Never lie, cheat or steal" is the West Point motto. When a witness perjures himself at trial, the judge notes that his testimony lacks credibility. Should we elect a known proven liar to lead us in wartime??
I draw a direct comparison of General Benedict Arnold of the Revolutionary War, to Lieutenant John Kerry. Both went off to war, fought, and then turned against their country. General Arnold crossed over to the British for money and position. John Kerry crossed over to the Vietnamese with his assistance to the anti-war movement, and his direct liaison with the Vietnamese diplomats in Paris. His reward. Political gain. Senator..United States. His record as a Senator for twenty years has been pitiful. Conjure up, if you will, one major bill that he has sponsored.
John Kerry for President? Ridiculous. Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Outrageous.
Col. Geo. "Bud" Day,
Medal of Honor,
Vietnam POW 1967- 1973,
USMC- USA- USAF- Attorney 1949-2004
Kerry Covered up Second Meeting with Vietcong Negotiators
John Kerry met twice with representatives of the North Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war, in separate visits to Paris over the span of more than a year - and planned a third meeting before he left the leadership of the anti-American protest group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
The unauthorized sit downs between Kerry and the enemy delegation, as detailed in this week's Weekly Standard, took place at the Paris peace talks in 1970 and '71 - and fly in the face of claims by the Kerry campaign that there was only one such meeting.
Noting that both the Washington Post and the New York Times had to retract recent reports attacking the Swiftboat Veterans and POWs for Truth for running an ad claiming that Kerry "secretly met with the enemy," the Standard explained that the confusions stems from attempts by the Kerry campaign to cover-up the earlier meeting.
"Kerry did go to Paris to meet the Communists in 1971, some time during the summer, probably in August. But this was a second trip, and Kerry's advocates have done their best to veil the fact that there was more than one trip."
The Standard added that Kerry's first meeting with North Vietnamese negotiators "took place in or around May 1970, eleven months before his Foreign Relations Committee testimony" where he trashed soldiers in Vietnam as "war criminals" and "monsters."
That first meeting "appears to have been kept secret for nearly a year," the Standard said, until Kerry mentioned it during his Senate testimony - which would validate Swiftvets' claims.
The Times' misreport centered on the claim that Kerry had met with "both sides" during the Paris talks. But like the single meeting report, this is also untrue.
"In 1971 when Kerry described his first Paris meeting, he said he had talked to 'both delegations.'" But the future presidential candidate wasn't referring to the U.S. and North Vietnam, but instead to both Communist delegations.
Correcting its error the next week, the Times reported that it had "misidentified the parties with whom Mr. Kerry said he had met at the Paris peace talks. . . . The parties were the two Communist delegations - North Vietnam and the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government."
The Standard notes that Kerry actually planned to meet a third time with enemy negotiators, but the trip never came off.
"FBI files reveal that Kerry planned a third such trip together with [VVAW leader Al] Hubbard for November [1971]. But, as it turned out, Hubbard went without Kerry, perhaps because the two had by then fallen out over revelations that Hubbard's repeated claims to have been an officer and a Vietnam vet were fabricated."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/24/30416.shtml
Wizbang and The Bullpen on the Case
Chad Evans is a Texas Tech alum who has first had knowledge of the document archive the "John Kerry worked with the commies" papers came from. (I'm still looking for a name as you can tell.)
He pulled some strings and got a brief interview with the archivist in charge of the collection. Chad and I worked on a set of questions for him. Here are the results.
"I just got off the phone with Steven Maxner, Director of the Vietnam Archive, and he answered a few questions for me.
Has any member of the mainstream media contacted the Vietnam Archive in relation to this story? No. Not the New York Times, the Washington Post or any other major newspaper.
Have you personally seen the documents in question? Yes I have. Can you vouch for the authenticity of the reports? Of course. These documents came from the the Douglas Pike Archive. Douglas Pike worked for the State Department and these documents came from our intelligence.
When did the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth visit the archives? Were they able to find the documents right away or did they have to search for a while? I cannot disclose personal information concerning any of our patrons just as any library couldn't disclose personal information. The guys were here sometime last week, though I was not here so I do not know what day they came. It's my understanding they were here for a good portion of the day so if they probably had to search for the documents and didn't know where to find them when they came in.
You can read the rest of Chad's coverage including this latest update here.
http://www.inthebullpen.com/archives/2004/10/26/interesting/
I was surprised they found them in a single day but the archivist seemed surprised it took them that long so maybe that does not mean much. I really wonder what 5 people working for a week could uncover.
For the record, while the MSM is ignoring this, a few dedicated bloggers in their spare time are doing their job. That does not mean the NY Times should be running this yet, but they could at least pick up the phone.
http://wizbangblog.com/archives/004073.php
365 Special Forces Vietnam Veterans Have Something To Say
A collection of thoughts blog
They have written a strong, eloquent statement of solidarity with the Swift Boat Veterans and believe that John Kerry is unfit to be our Commander-in-Chief or to lead our nation as President.
I'm not talkin' 3 or 6 SFers, I'm saying that 365 of them signed this statement. Scrolling down the list of names is like a who's who of SF Vets. There are guys from Mike Force, 5th Group, SOG's three CC's, Project Delta, 7th SFG, 46th, 10th SFG, B-57, there are One Zeros, Project 404, a Son Tay Raider...
I know where I stand and its with these Veterans, many of whom I am proud to call "friend." On the list I saw Billy, Ringo, Bucky, Crazy Nick, Manes, Noe, Bennie McDonald, Dingo... finer men you couldn't ask for. These are the real deals, the heroes, men I have looked up to since I was a young lass. Carry on Gentlemen. HOOAH!
An Open Letter to Senator John Kerry and a Statement of Solidarity with our Swift Boat Brothers-in-Arms from Special Forces Vietnam Veterans
The undersigned Special Forces Vietnam Veterans support our Swift Boat brothers-in-arms and believe that John Kerry is unfit to be our Commander-in-Chief or to lead our nation as President. The Kerry presidential campaign has raised the significance of this deeply-felt and long-standing issue. While many, if not a majority, of the signatories of this request are Republicans and Bush supporters, many are not. Those who are Democrats have been effectively disenfranchised by Kerry’s candidacy.
For most of us the question of his fitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief, or in any other office of honor and high public responsibility, was settled permanently in the negative thirty-three years ago. He slandered and dishonored all Vietnam Veterans in false and exaggerated testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. By throwing away the symbols of his honors, he insulted all veterans of all wars by debasing the milestones of their valor.
He has unrelentingly opposed issues vital to veterans. He has supported measures that have led to genocide of our former allies, the Montagnards, and the enslavement of the people of Vietnam. He has blocked efforts to enact Human Rights legislation to help alleviate their condition. He has taken action which led to the abandonment of American POWs in Vietnam that most of us believe were left behind.
His stated plan to double special operations forces rapidly in response to today’s threats demonstrates his lack of understanding of what makes a Special Forces soldier and his failure to understand that the available conventional armed forces manpower pool is insufficient to provide the necessary qualified personnel without seriously degrading standards.
By Lieutenant Kerry’s own request, he returned to the United States after completing only one-third of his tour. He did this by seeking and receiving three Purple Hearts for wounds of questionable cause and severity. He was the commander of a military unit, in this case a Naval combatant craft, and he abandoned his crew to the fight to return to a life of ease. By the standards expected of a Naval line officer of the United States, even with the most charitable interpretation, this is contemptible.
There are serious questions concerning the circumstances of Lieutenant Kerry’s first Purple Heart, and perhaps about his other decorations, as well. These questions prompt us to call him to sign Standard Form 180 to authorize the full release of all records pertaining to his service. If his awards failed to measure up to the standards required, he should formally request that these awards be rescinded and removed from his record.
No apology, especially a Jane Fonda-type, insincere or tepid apology is acceptable. No legislative abridgement of our freedom of speech or because one candidate or the other does not wish to discuss the matter will halt the discussion of these issues. We have the American right to discuss these issues. We fought for that right.
We call upon the American people to reject his effort to become Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces and we urge other Veteran groups to join our solidarity with the Swift Boat critics of Senator John Kerry.
This statement is signed by the following 365 Special Forces Vietnam Veterans. 12 Special Forces veterans indicated that they did not wish to sign and their names are being withheld to preserve their privacy. Both of these lists have been cross referenced in the Special Forces in SE Asia Database to verify that they served with Special Forces in SE Asia.
Signatories
Rank Name Unit Assignment Date
LTC (RET) STEVEN J ABDALLA HHC, 5TH SFGA 03/70 - 03/71
SGT JAMES E ACRE CCS MACV-SOG 4/69 - 4/70
CPT (RET) WILLIAM J ADAMS 5TH SF GROUP 11/69-11/70
MAJ (RET) HERMANN ADLER 5TH SFGA B-52 (PROJECT DELTA) 66-67//69-70
CPT (RET) WILLIAM L ALBRACHT 5TH SFGA, II MIKE FORCE 08/69 - 08/70
1LT JERROLD M ALEXANDER A-242, CO B 9-69 TO 9-70
COL (RET) ROBERT L AMICK JR A-108, B-3, C-1 FEB/66-FEB/67
LTC (RET) WILLIAM R ANDREWS MACV/SOG/OP-33 04/68-04/69
SSG (RET) DONALD ANGLIN 5TH, RIGGER O6/71-O3/73
LTC (RET) JOSEPH J ANGSTEN JR A-361, B36 NOV 68 - NOV 69
MAJ (RET) JOHN B "BARRY" ARCHER DET. A-102 & 1ST MOBILE STRIKE FORCE, 5TH SFGA 11/69-12/70
1LT MICHAEL C ASH 5TH SFGA MACV SOG 10/69 - 11/70
SGT (RET) THEODORE D ASLUND 5SF 09/68
COL (RET) ROY W BAHR CCN/CCC,MACV-SOG MAR 68-MAR69
SP5 (RET) STEWART L BAKER S2, C-4 04/69-08/70
SGT JAMES H BALDWIN CCN - TFAE1 APRIL 71 - FEB72
MSG (RET) GEORGE L BEACH 5TH SPECIAL FORCES NOV.67-OCT.68
MSG (RET) GENE C BELL 5TH SFG 61-72
SSG (RET) FRANK L BELLETIRE CCC-FOB. 2 68 TO 69
CPT DONALD R BENDELL SR. ODA-242, CO B-5TH SFGA 05-68-03-69
MSG DON W BENESH RECON, CCC, 5TH SFGA 09/69 -09/70
SGT MARTIN T BENNETT TF2AE 08/70-08/71
MSG (RET) JOHN B BICE 403 RR SOD 10/66 - 10/67
MAJ (RET) ROBERT H BLAIR A-133; 1STSFG 06/62 - 07/65
CPT GEORGE A BLAKEY JR B-20 MOBILE STRIKE FORCE, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 68/69
SSG JOHN M BLEVINS JR A-415; A-412 05/67-06/68
SFC (RET) ALLEN R BODKIN CCS 06/68 - 05/69
COL (RET) JOHN N BOGART C-4 10/65 - 07/66
SFC (RET) JOSEPH M BOSSI PROJECT 404 04/69-04/70
MAJ (RET) ROBERT H BOST CCS 05/69-05/70
LTC (RET) LEONARD A BOULAS DET. B 52 PROJECT DELTA 07/64-11/65
SGM (RET) WILLIAM G BOWLES 1ST & 5TH SFG(A) 61/62/63/ 09/68-11/69
MAJ (RET) GEORGE G BOYD SOA/CCN - RT OKLAHOMA 11/69 - 12/70
MAJ (RET) JOHN J BRADFORD NHA TRANG MIKE FORCE, 5TH SFG 10/665 - 07/66
SP5 JERRY H BRAUDRICK A-104, C CO, 5TH SF, RVN 01/1965 TO 01/1966
SGM (RET) RONALD D BROCKELMAN C 1 MIKE FORCE & B-53 SOG 11/64-12/66&11/69-01/71
SGT RICHARD N BROKHAUSEN TF1AE, RECPN COMPANY ?? ?70/ MAR 72
SGM (RET) ROBERT E BROPHY MACV-SOG 05/66-05/67
SGT (RET) THOMAS C BROWN 5TH SPECIAL FORCES 5/66 - 67
LTC (RET) ROBERT K BROWN A-334; S-5 SFOB 02/69 - 09/69
LTC (RET) ALVIN H BUCKELEW TEAM OAK, PROJECT GAMMA 10/66-10/67
LTC (RET) JOHN P BURDISH III B-52/MEDICAL 02/68 - 10/69
CPT CLARENCE A BURRELL 5TH SFG, SFOB 07/69-08/70
LTC (RET) LEWIS H BURRUSS JR A-503 10/68
SGT PETER J BUSCETTO CCS 68-70
CPT (RET) JAMES E BUTLER CCN-RECON/MACSOG 08/70-01/72
SSG (RET) ROBERT D BYRNE B 55 MIKE FORCE JAN 70 - MAR 70
WO2 (RET) JAMES J CAREY A-232 & A-231 FEB 68 - APR 69
SGM (RET) RANDOLFO CESANI 5TH SFGA 67-68 & 69-70
MSG (RET) ROBERT A CHAREST B-56 SIGMA 5THSFG ABN 07/67-06/68
MSG (RET) STEVEN W CLARK 403SOD, 5THSFGA 10/68 - 06/69
SFC GEORGE E CLARK RCNDO;B-55 11/67-04/70
MAJ (RET) JOHN E CLECKNER II A 222-102, SFOB 1966-1969
CPT (RET) NEIL P COADY CCC 03/69-07/70
SGT VERNON E COLE C-2 09/26/68
LTC (RET) KEITH W COLLIVER STDAT-158, SPECIAL MISSION FORCE 01/7211/72
COL (RET) HENRY J COOK III A-402, A-403 67-70
SGM (RET) WILLIAM COOMBS S-4 LSC, 5TH SFGA 10/66-04/70
SGT JOHN J COPPINGER B-36 MGF 08/66 TO 05/68
MAJ (RET) ROBERT A COSTA A-503, C-4(S-3),CO E, S-3 11/66-11/67,11/68-11/69
COL (RET) ANDREW J COTTINGHAM JR 5TH GROUP/WRAIRSF/FEST(ABN) 09/66-08/67
SSG WILLIAM P COUGHLAN CCS 04/69=11/70
LTC (RET) LEONARD E COWLING DET A232,218,219 OCT65-OCT66
SFC (RET) STEPHEN L CRAIG DETACHMENT A-104 SEPT 1969 - SEPT 70
LTC (RET) WILLIAM J DADEK CCS 07/70-03/72
MSG (RET) GARY L DALTON 5TH SFGA,HQ/OMEGA PROJECT B-50/FANK CMD ITG 12-65-11-66/6-71-5-72
WO2 (RET) RONALD C DAVIDSON CCS/CCN 03/71-02/72
SGT JOSEPH A DAVIES DET. A-351 & DET. A-334, 5TH SFG (AIRBORNE) 04/66-05/67
MAJ (RET) MAURICE T DAVIS JR 5TH SFG/ SOG SEP 68/SEP69
COL (RET) JOHN J DEACY B-36, 3RD MSFC, CO.A, 5TH SFG (ABN) 11/67 - 05/69
SGT NORBERT C DEBOLT CCN 08/70-8/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT C DEES A-402, D CO, 5TH SFG(A) 01/70 - 12/70
MSG (RET) GERALD E DENISON MACVSOG FOB 2 9-67 10-68 3-71 11-71
SGM (RET) PHILIP F. D. DEVLIN 5TH SFGA, B52 & B51 01/70 - 12/70
1LT (RET) JOHN F DICK JR IDC,NHA TRANG 10/01/1968-12/30/1969
MAJ (RET) ROBERT E DOBBINS HQMACVSOG, OP-35 O5/69 - 12/70
SP4 DENNIS W DOBBS DET. A-238 BUON BLECH 10-67 - 10-68
SP5 DAVE DOVER FOB 2 MACV/SOG , DAK SEANG, DUC CO 3/67 - 1/68
SFC (RET) ALOYSIUS A DOYLE MGF, MSF, SMAG 12-63 TO 03-72
SFC (RET) LYLE D DRAKE B-55 (A-503) MIKE FORCE OCT 69 - OCT 70
MAJ (RET) THOMAS R DRINKARD SOG 07/67 -07/68
MSG (RET) JOHN F DRYDEN 3 A TEAMS, 5TH SFG 11/66 - 08/68
CPT (RET) LEE C DUNLAP 1ST SFG,MACVSOG,5TH SFG 06/67-03/68-05/69-05/70
SP5 (RET) STEVEN R DUNLOP [SHANAHAN] A-236 BUPRANG & A239 DUC LAP 11/10/69-11/10/70
MAJ (RET) ALVIN E DUNNEM A-749A 08/63-01/64
COL (RET) MICHAEL J DWYER TF2AE 06/71-06/72
SGT (RET) JOHN R DYKE JR 5TH SFG(ABN) CO D 9/66 TO 11/67
MSG (RET) GLENN E DYKE A-232 11/64-11/65
CSM (RET) MERLYN D ECKLES B-56 09/66-10/67
MAJ (RET) RANDAL ELLIOTT DET A-239 5TH SF GROUP 08/66-03/67
SSG (RET) THOMAS G EMBRY EAGLE FLIGHT 03/65 - 11/65
SSG STEVEN H EPPERSON A-231 05/69-04/70
MSG (RET) RICHARD L ESTES CCN 4/68- 4/69
MAJ (RET) AGUSTIN R FABIAN SOA B-52 07/69-07/70
SGT ROBERT J FAIR 5TH MOBILE STRIKE FORCE 08/68 - 08/69
LTC (RET) SAM M FELTENSTEIN II A-251 03/69-03/70
LTC (RET) KENNETH D FERGUSON 5TH SFGA JUL/63-AUG/66
CPT (RET) GREG R FINLEY 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 06/67 - 03/69
CPT (RET) PETER FITTS A-416 06/68- 11/68
SP4 JOHN J FITZPATRICK HHC (PUB INFO OFF), 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GP (ABN) 06/68 - =6/69
MSG (RET) RAYMOND F FLAHERTY 5TH SFGA JUNE 66 - MAY 67
COL (RET) ALLAN F FLEMING JR C&C 08/67-04/69
MSG (RET) GLENN R FORSYTHE 5TH, 7TH, & 10TH SFGA 11/63-07/79
MAJ (RET) RONALD P FORY RECONDO SCHOOL/COC 07/69-07/70
MSG (RET) EDGAR E FOSHEE B-52 1964-1965
MAJ (RET) TERRY A FOX B-40, 5TH SFG 07/69-05/70
SFC (RET) WILLIAM K FOXWORTH S3, HHC. 5TH SFGA DEC 67-DEC 68
SGM (RET) TRUMAN L FOY LSFG(ABN) 5SFG(ABN) 11/65-11/66 10/69-10/70
1LT (RET) CHARLES J FRALEY III B-43 A-432 2/68 -3/69
WO3 (RET) WILLIAM O FREYSER MULTIPLE MULTIPLE
MSG (RET) HARRY E FRIBERG A-503,A-102, MACVSOG 12/65-12/66, 09/70-09/71
MSG (RET) RAYMOND M FROVARP FOB-1, 3 & 4 & TF1AE 8/67-08/68;1/71-1/72
COL (RET) CHARLES H FRY DET A-217, 5TH SFG 01/67 - 07/67
MSG (RET) ALLEN E GANEY B-CO 5TH SF A-255 OCT 67 - 68
SGT BRUCE H GARDNER DET B52 5TH SF 1ST SFG 06/65-10/666
COL (RET) A LINCOLN GERMAN JR CDR., DET A-224/B-23/C-2 11/65-11-66 & 1/70-1/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT E GILBERT 5TH SFG 10/68 - 10/69
CSM (RET) CLIFFORD J GISSELL 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GP 09/68-09/69
COL (RET) GEORGE R GIVENS CO. A, CCN, 5TH SFGA 11/68 - 06/70
CSM (RET) EDWARD H GLEASON JR SOG, CCN, 1ST SFGA 67-75
SGT NICHOLAS J GODANO B-56 05/68-02/69
SSG JOHN W GOOD SOA CCC 02/70 - 03/72
LTC (RET) DAVID K GORDON CCN SOG 07/69 - 10/69
SGM (RET) FRANCIS M GRAHAM A-414, B-11 11/63-05/64--06/69-05/70
SSG (RET) DONALD A GREEN SOA CCC, 5TH SFGA 09/69 - 07/71
SGT MICHAEL D GREER MACV USARV 1/72-12/72
MAJ (RET) JAMES M GRIMSHAW 5TH SFG 03/66 - 03/67
1LT WILLIAM E GRITZBAUGH A-104, ETC. 11/69-11/70
SSG AARON W GRITZMAKER A-100 MAY66-525MAY67
MSG (RET) GEORGE E GROOM CO B 1ST SFG 04/6- 12/61
MAJ (RET) DONALD P GROSS 5TH SFG, RECONDO,PRU SEP 66-DEC 69
MSG (RET) JOSE GUERRA A-102 11/67 - 11/68
CPT MACK W GWINN JR SOG CCS 09-12-70
COL (RET) MAYO A HADDEN III DET B-52, 5TH SFGA 12/66-12/67 6/69-5/70
LTC (RET) REGINALD W HALL HQS S2 SECTION 12/67-02/70
SGM (RET) JEROME F HAMPTON RCNDO; C-2 01/70-12/70
SGT JOHN A HANSCOM A-242, B-24, CO.B, 5SFGA 04/69 - 04/70
MAJ (RET) PHILLIP L HANSON 46TH SPECIAL FORCES COMPANY SEPT. 1970 - SEPT. 1971
WO4 (RET) JOHN W HARRISON HQ 5TH SPECIAL FORCES NOVEMBER 1968
SGT JAMES C HARRISON B-56 07/67-07/68
MAJ (RET) JOHN R HAUCK A312, A324 MAR 1966-FEB 1970
MSG (RET) ROBERT F HEAD 5TH SFG./CSD/MACV-SOG 05/66-05/67 05/68-05/69
LTC (RET) GEORGE D HEIB B-4510 46THE SFCA JUL 67-JUN 68
SSG MICHAEL C HEINRICY 5TH SFG MACVSOG CCN 8/70 8/71
MSG (RET) PATRICK J HEMINGER CCN 06/70-06-71
COL (RET) ROBERT L HENDERSON DET C3, 5TH SFGA OCT 64-OCT 65
MSG (RET) PHILLIP M HERBERT C&C DET, FOB 1 05/67 - 04/68
SGT TONY R HERRELL FOB-3,-1,& -4 04/68-04/69
WO3 (RET) GEORGE W HEWITT SOG - CCS/CCN 12/69 - 12/70
SGT CHARLES W HIGHTOWER CO D, DET B43, A433 APRIL 66 THRU NOV 68
SSG (RET) TERRY L HILL 403RD SOD, 5TH SFG 03/68 - 10/69
MSG (RET) MELVIN HILL SOA CCN 05/66-05/67 03/70-10/71
MSG (RET) ROBERT M HINES SR MACV MAY68-MAY69
SGM (RET) CHARLES F HOAGLAND JR 5TH SF, MIKE FORCE II CORPS 08/67-08/68-08/71-05/72
LTC (RET) LEON M HOPE MACSOG 10/70-04/71
SGT (RET) EVERETT L HOUSTON USA SF CCN 01/69- 11/69
SSG CHESTER B HOWARD B-52, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 6/1969 - 6/1970
MSG (RET) HUGH R HUBBARD NUMEROUS 1962-1972
MAJ (RET) THOMAS O HUMPHUS RANGER SEC, DET. B-52, 5TH SFGA 02/68 - 08/69
MSG (RET) CARLOS M INOT C CO., 5TH SFG(A) 11/67 - 11/68
SGM (RET) HAROLD JACOBSON 1SFG/CSD 61-63
MSG (RET) JAN JANOSIK 46THCO/WHITE STARE/B31/36/COMBODIAN PROGRAM 60/61/65-66/68/71-72
SGT DEAN A JARVIS B-36 A-363 (UITG) 07/71 - 04/72
SGM (RET) JERRY L JEFFCOAT 403 SOD, PLEIKU JUL 67 - AUG 68
MSG (RET) HENRY D JENNINGS 5TH SFG & MACVSOG SEP66TO JUNE 69
COL (RET) EDWARD M JENTZ MACSOG OP-35 JUN 1966 - JAN 1967
MSG (RET) ROBERT B JOHANSEN DET B-50, CCS 04/67-08/68
LTC (RET) ROBERT W JONES JR 5TH SF GP HGS & DET B-55 12/69 -12/70
SP5 (RET) STEVE E KABEL DET A-414, 5SFGA, 1SFGA 11/69 - 10/70
SGT TERRY N KAISER B-55 1966-1968
CPT (RET) LARRY M KEIL CCS 01/69-0170
SGT ALAN N KELLER FOB-2 05/66-04/67
SGT LESLIE W KELLEY A-106 07/69 - 07/70
WO4 (RET) LARRY D KELLY CCN 1/71-12/71
1LT (RET) KENNETH A KELSCH 5TH SFG, SOA 08/68-9/89
SGT (RET) GEORGE E KENNEDY B 15 5TH SFG (I CORP MIKE FORCE) JUNE1968 -APRIL 1969
SSG (RET) FRANK E KENNEMUR A411 DEC
1LT LESLIE C KENNEY II HHC 11/67-07/68
1LT JON R KER A-245 0169-0469
CPT (RET) DONALD L KING A-421 & B16 MSF 09/64-65 & 05/69-70
SGT (RET) ERNEST H KIRK DET. A415, B-41, 5SFGA 17 SEP 69-17 SEP 70
SSG STEPHEN J KIRK MACVSOG CCN FOB#1 JUNE 67-MAY 68
SP4 (RET) GARY P KLESITZ A255-B COMPANY-5TH SFG 10/69-10/70
MAJ (RET) HENRY P KOHN JR B-56, PROJECT SIGMA, 5TH SFG (ABN), 1ST SF (CCS) 05/68 - 05/69
SGT (RET) CHARLES J KOSCINSKI A-726 1964 JULY-NOVEMBER
SGT (RET) MICHAEL J KRAWCZYK FOB 1 CCN 10/68-05/69
SP5 GARY F LAMBERTY 403RD SOD 03/69 - 10/70
SGT BRUCE R LANG CCN 1971; PROJECT 404 1970 03/70 - 9/71
CPT (RET) JAMES P LATTIMORE A-232, B-20 MSF, 5TH SFGA 11/68 - 11/69
SSG (RET) JOHN B LAWSON B CO, B55, B53, SOG36 05/67 - 12/69
SGT (RET) JOSEPH L LENHART 5THSFGA,C4,A402,A416 07/67 - 07/68
SP5 GARY L LEONARD 5TH SF, TFIAE (CCN) 07/70 - 10/71
SGT DOUGLAS L LETOURNEAU CCN 10/68 - 10/69
SGM (RET) JAMES W LEWIS A-304,A-432,5TH SF JAN 67-DEC67
MAJ (RET) MICHAEL D LINNANE DET A 244 12/98-12/99
COL (RET) ROBERT W LOCKRIDGE A-334, 1ST SFG (ABN); HQ 5TH SFG(ABN) 11/64-05/65;12/66-11/67
LTC (RET) LANCE O LOLLINI 5TH SFG, HHC 68,69
SFC THOMAS B LONG JR A-255 12/65-12/66
SFC (RET) RILEY E LOTT JR 4TH CORP MIKE FORCE 12/64-12/68 7/69-7/70
MAJ (RET) WILLIAM T LUEDERS 7TH SF JAN 60 - DEC 63
MAJ (RET) DONALD E LUNDAY 5TH SFG, MACSOG 11-66-10/67,72/73
MAJ (RET) JAMES D MACDONALD C-4 10/67-05/69
MSG (RET) EDWARD H MACDOUGALL MACV SOG, 5TH SFGA 1965-66...1968-69
SGT (RET) ROBERT B MACPHEE 6TH SFG,5TH SFG A103,MACV MY AN IV CORPS 3/67-9/67, 10/67-10/68
LTC (RET) EUGENE E MAKOWSKI DET A-111, CO C 5TH SFGA 11/67 - 10/68
CPT (RET) LARRY T MANES MACSOG/5TH SFG. 09-62--07-72
CSM (RET) REGINALD T MANNING A-322;B-32 01/69-01/70
SSG (RET) JAMES J MARABLE CO D 5TH SFGA 1ST SF 08/1969-08/1970
MAJ (RET) BOBBY H MARLER A-110, FANK/UITG 06/66-05/67 06/71-03/72
LTC (RET) HENDERSON R MARRIOTT III SMAG 71-72
SGT BARTON N MARSHALL 5TH SFG, II CORPS MIKE FORCE (PLEIKU) 03/67 - 03/68
MSG (RET) DEAN M MCBRIDE 5TH SFG MACVSOG CCS 1977
CPT (RET) GARY L MCCLENDON A 121 B 210 04/62-10/62 02/63-08/63
LTC (RET) PAUL J MCDILL 5SFGA, I CORPS MIKE FORCE 68-69
MSG (RET) BENNIE R MCDONALD DET. "A-411" CO. D, 5TH SFGA 01/67----01/68
MSG (RET) JOHN C MCGOVERN 5TH SFG, CCN, FOB1 FOB3 JAN. 1968- JAN. 1969
SGT TERRY L MCINTOSH A--414, CO D, 5TH SFGA 1968 - 1969
1LT JAMES D MCLEROY A-106; FOB-4 CCN 06/67-07/68
MSG (RET) JAMES MCLUCKIE 5TH SFG 1966/67-70/71-72
1LT (RET) CHARLES W MCMENAMY A-503 07/66-02/67
MSG (RET) LARRY S MCMILLIN SOG/ RECONDO/B40/A-421 05/66-05-67/10-69-5-70
MSG (RET) PATRICK D MCTAMANY A-415, 5TH SFGA 03/68 TO 03/69
SGT PATRICK W MEADE A-233 5TH SFG 08/66-09/67
CPT (RET) KEITH J MESSINGER JR CCN (RT VA) & MLT1 OCT 70-OCT 71
CSM (RET) GRADY F MILES 1ST,5THSFG,SOG,FOB2 APR60 FEB 72
CPT (RET) RICHARD L MILLER A-311/A-333 10/65-10/66 10/68-10/69
LTC (RET) RICHARD S MILLER XO B32, S2 C3, 5SFGA 01/68-01/69
LTC (RET) MICHAEL A MILLER CCN; SFOB 10/69-09/69
CPT TRAVIS W MILLS MACV-SOG 05/68 - 12/69
MSG (RET) DAVID S MITCHELL 5TH SFG, SOA RECONDO 06/69 - 06/70
CPT (RET) JAMES P MONAGHAN NUMEROUS NUMEROUS
SGT LEONARD D MOREAU B-56 11/67-10/68
MAJ (RET) JAMES F MORRIS C-2; SFOB; TDY 06-67-04/68
MAJ (RET) BOYD F MORRIS 5TH SF GRP 1963, 68-69, 71, 73
SFC (RET) MILLARD W MOYE JR CCC 12/70-12/71
SGM (RET) STEVEN A MOZIAN B-52 2/69-8/70
CSM (RET) ROBERT F MULCAHY 4THBNMSF 04/69-05/70
MAJ (RET) WILLIAM G MULLINS SR DET 12/68-12/69
SGT (RET) JACKIE W MULLINS A-413 02/68-05/69
SFC (RET) JOHN R NEWMAN CCC,5TH SFG(A) 06/70 - 06/71
SFC (RET) CLIFFORD M NEWMAN MACV SOG 08/69-08/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT L NOE CCN/S1 5SFGA/A105 1SFGA DEC68-APR74
SGT CHARLES A NOYES A-341 BU DOP 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GRP RVN 09/69 - 04/70
SGM (RET) ROLAND NUQUI B50/B36 RECON 09/66-09/67;03/69-03/70
MSG (RET) LLOYD G ODANIEL 5TH SPECIAL FORCES, SOG, PROJECT 404 11/65-6/73
SFC (RET) WILLIAM V OLDS 403RD 08/1967-04/1969
SGT JOHN A ONEILL JR UITG/FANK LHTC 04/71-03/72
CPT (RET) JOHN M OSHEA A-326, B-32, CO. A, 5TH SFGA 6/69-6/70
MAJ JOHN E PADGETT VARIOUS- 5TH SFG(A) APR 67-SEP 71
SGM (RET) CLARENCE A PAGE A-351 5TH SFGA 04/66-04/67
SGT (RET) JOSE L PALACIO A108 12/1969-6/1070
SSG MICHAEL L PARKS DETACHMENT A 341 5TH SFG AUG 68-MARCH 70
MSG (RET) WILLIAM T PARLON 5TH SF SOG 9/64 - 9/65; 1/72 - 4/72
SGT JOSEPH F PARNAR CCC 5/68-4/69
SFC (RET) JAMES D PARRIS B-57 5TH SFG 06/69-12/70
SGT (RET) LARRY R PAYNE 10, RT MICHIGAN, CCN 03/68 -03/69
LTC (RET) LYNWOOD M PELOT JR MACSOG OP20 06/70-06/71
COL (RET) RAYMOND A PENDLETON DET. A-253 07/66 - 08/67
LTC (RET) JOHN R PERCHARD JR COC 5SFGA A103 CO113 MSF 05/67 - 05/68
SFC (RET) ROBERT L PERKINS A-321, 0966 0470
SFC (RET) BRUCE E PERRY CCS 05/68-06/70
SP5 (RET) CHARLES J PESTA DETACHMENT B-36 JANUARY TO JUNE
SP4 JOHN E PETERS FOB I; CCC 4/68 TO 3/69
SGT DANIEL J PIERELLI B-23 03/69-04/70
SSG RONALD B PIPER B-36 3RD MOBILE STRIKE FORCE 05/68-11/68
MSG (RET) WARREN A POCHINSKI A 343, B 34, C 3. (CO A) 01/66 - 12/68
SP4 (RET) PAUL W POSEY JR A-344, 04/67-12/67
CPT JON C POTTER SOA B50/CCS 06/68-06/69
SFC (RET) DONALD T PRESLER A-301 BEN CAT 11/64 - 11/65
MSG (RET) EULIS A PRESLEY SOA 01/67-12/70
CPT (RET) DAVID J PRISTASH TEAM XO 12/66 - 4/68
SGM (RET) ROBERT A PRONIER B57 6/69-6/70
SGT (RET) ROBERT D PRYOR A-344 12/68 - 06/69
MAJ (RET) DONALD L PUGH A-321 , A-324 ,302,322, B-35 9/65-9/66;1/68-2/69
MAJ WILLIAM S RATCLIFFE A-235 10/67 - 12/68
CPT (RET) THOMAS H RAU B-20 II CORPS MIKE FORCE 06/69 - 04/70
MSG (RET) MARCUS E REED 5TH SGG 62,63, 65,66,70,AND71
LTC (RET) CARL J REGAN 1ST SFG, 5TH SFG 1962 -1964
SGT MICHAEL T RHODE DET A-322; 5TH SFG 05/68-09/68
SFC KENNETH J RICHTER 5TH SFG(A) A-219 MIKE FORCE 12/66 - 12/67
SGT WILLIAM R RIMONDI JR 5TH SPECIAL FORCES; CCN 04/71-09/71
MSG (RET) JAMES G RINGLAND III FOB1 05/67-06-68
SFC (RET) RONALD L ROBERTSON 14TH ENG BN, FT ORD NOV 78-JAN 80
SGT JON L ROEMER DETACHMENT B52 11/67 - 11/68
SGT (RET) GORDON L ROTTMAN A-333 04/69 - 05/70
SGM (RET) ANTHONY L RUBIO A-233,B-50,RECONDOSCHOOL, B-36 11/66-11/67,03/69-03/70
SP5 JEFFREY L RUSSELL ODA 362 ODA 364 FANK 3/72 - 2/73
COL (RET) EDWARD S RYBAT FOB-1;FANK 67-68;70-71
1LT (RET) DAVID F RYDER JR B-52 04/68 03/69
SGT DOUGLAS A SAPPER A/310 A/322 A/342 1965 TO 1966
MAJ (RET) STEVEN R SCHOFIELD MACVSOG, CCN 0368-0768
1LT (RET) GEORGE H SCHWINGHAMMER A-231 10/69-12/70
SSG MICHAEL G SCOTT 5TH SFGA, 1ST SF,CCN.B-52,FANK 12/67 05/69
CSM (RET) DOUGLAS C SEAL 403D RRSOD,5TH SFG 08/69-08/70
COL (RET) JAMES L SELDERS 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GRP (ABN) 11/68 - 11/69
SGM (RET) ATLEY J SHARP CCS OCT 68-OCT 69
MSG (RET) ANDREW D SHEPPARD A-331;B-52; C-4;FANK 1965-71
1LT STEPHEN G SHERMAN C-2 S-5; SFOB S-5 5TH SFGA 08/67-08/68
SP4 LONNIE T SHOULTZ JR DETACHMENT A-108, 5TH SFGA 2/66 - 12/66
SGT WALTER R SHURLING A-108 5TH SFGA 12/69 - 12/70
SSG LARRY E SILLS 46THSFCA, HALO/SUCBA DET ODA21 AUG 72 THRU AUG 73
SGM (RET) ROBERT N SILVA MR 77TH/5TH/7TH/10TH 1955-1979;1981-1983
MSG (RET) ROBERT H SIMMONS 539TH ENGINEERS/KB-1 FEB 68 - FEB 69
MAJ (RET) CLYDE J SINCERE JR MACVSOG; II CTZ MSF 06/66-6/69
MG (RET) JOHN K SINGLAUB MACSOG 05/66-08/68
MSG (RET) CLETIS D SINYARD SOA CCN 8/68 - 8/69
WO2 (RET) LOUIS SMITH JR FOB II 05/1966
SGT (RET) TERRENCE W "FISH" SMITH 5TH SFGA MACVSOGCCNRECON 69-70 71-72
LTC (RET) DAVID C SMITH SOG 03/67-05/68
MSG (RET) LEON P SONNENBERG CCS/CCN/B-53/FANK PTTB 09/69 - 11/72
MAJ (RET) STEVEN V SOSA MIKE FORCE,C-1 10/64-11/65
MSG (RET) MAX D SPEERS DET A321 BEN SOI RVN MAR66-MAR 67
SFC (RET) HERBERT J ST GEORGE B-50 (PROJECT OMEGA) 5TH SFGA 05/67 05/68
MSG (RET) ANDRE J ST LAURENT B-52/B-36/CCC/B-53 07/65-03/72
SGT JOHN M ST. MARTIN JR CCC RECON 12/68-08/69
SFC (RET) DONALD A STEBBINS B-40 A-402 11/68-05/70
SP5 ROBERT J STEPANIAN 5SFG DET A104/A105 3/68-3/69
SGT GEORGE J STERNBERG JR CCN 08/67-12/68
SFC (RET) LEE H STEWARD 46 SFA 1967---1968
SGM (RET) JIMMIE L STEWART 5TH SFG, MACVSOG (FOB-2/FOB-1) 05/66 - 04/67
MSG (RET) KENNETH D STICKNEY B35 CO A, 5TH SFG (ABN) 9/62-3/63 8/67-6/68
CSM (RET) RONNIE STRAHAN 7TH,5TH,6TH,10TH SFG 06/66 - 07/91
SGT ROBERT L STRANGE CCN 09/67-09/68
LTC (RET) DARR F SULLIVAN JR A-412, C-4, 5TH SFGA 07/65-07/66
SP5 (RET) JOHN L TALBOT 5TH SFG(ABN), SMAG 06/70 - 07/71
SGM (RET) DONALD J TAYLOR 5TH SFG AND MACV SOG 01/66 - 03/72
MAJ (RET) JAMES T TAYLOR A 749, A342, A302 06/65-02/66
SGT ROBERT W TAYLOR 5TH SFG SOA CCN 08/69 - 08/70
SFC DOUGLAS L THOMAS MAC/SOG CCS/CCN 4/69-1/72
SSG LYNN R THOMPSON CCN RECON 09/66-02/72
COL JOHN N TOBIN B 55, 5TH SFGA 05/69-05/70
MSG (RET) LAUGHLIN J TODD CCC RT CA 05/70-05/71
SFC (RET) LARRY L TRIMBLE FOB 4 07/68 - 07/69
CPT (RET) CHARLES F TRUCKS CCN; TF1AE 04/70-04/71
CPT (RET) DANIEL D TURNER SON TAY RAIDERS 08/70 - 11/70
CPT STEPHEN N TWINING B-55 A-504 4/70-2/72
MSG (RET) DONALD E VALENTINE 5TH SF GRP [ABN] 12/64-12/65 & 3/68-8/68
MAJ (RET) HARLAN E VAN WINKLE ODA341, 5TH SFG(ABN) 09/69-05/70
CSM (RET) JOSE E VASQUEZ DET. A-502, 5TH SFG (ABN) JAN 1967-FEB 1968
SGT MICHAEL J VERMILLION B-52 (DELTA), CCC MACVSOG 01/70 - 01/71
MSG (RET) DONNIE C VICKERS OPN.SGT.& 1ST SGT RECON CCS SOG 3/67-3/68,10/70-10/71
CPT (RET) JOHN D WAGHELSTEIN CDR, ODA -101 07/65-07/66
MSG (RET) JOSEPH A WASKAS 5TH SF GROUP(ABN) 10/1967 - 04/1969
MAJ (RET) THOMAS R WASKOVICH SOA / CCC 1/69-12/69
SGM (RET) PATRICK N WATKINS JR MACVSOG 67-68-71-72
SGM (RET) WILLIAM D WAUGH VARIOUS A TEMAS, MIKE FORCE, SOG 1954-1973
1LT (RET) RICHARD C WEIGOLD MACVSOG--CCS 06/68 - 05/69
MSG (RET) LEWIS H WELLS JR 5TH SF SOG 03/71 TILL 2/72
SSG (RET) HENRY D WETHERINGTON A-322,B-32,C-3, 5TH GROUP 10/67 - 10/68
CSM (RET) JAMES D WHEELER SOA (CCN), 5TH SFGA MAY 70-APRIL 72
SSG (RET) LAURIE W WHITLARK 5TH SFG(A) 07/67-07/68,,04/69-08/70
SFC (RET) FRANKLIN P WHITMORE CCN 1969 - 1970
WO3 (RET) ROBERT E WHITTAKER AVIATION SECTION,46TH SF GP THAILAND JULY,1971-JULY,1972
MAJ WARREN W WILLIAMS SOG, OP-35 DECEMBER 1968
SSG (RET) GENE H WILLIAMS 5TH SFG (ABN) & MACV SOG 07/66 - 10/68
SFC (RET) WARREN R WILLMAN CCS 06/68 - 07/69
SGM (RET) DAMIAN P WILSON 403RD RRU, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP (ABN) 11/67 - 11/68
CPT (RET) GARY G WINETEER A-242, A-244 10-66/10-67
SSG ROBERT B WOODHAM CCN 08/70-01/72
MSG (RET) JASON T WOODWORTH 1ST, 5TH SFG, SOG 06/63 - 01/69
CSM (RET) HARRY B WORD JR A-503 , B-52 66-67-68=69
MSG (RET) GARY L WRIGHT UITG/FANK 72-73
CPT (RET) EDWARD K YARBROUGH IV 5TH SF GROUP 4/66 -4/67
SGT RAYMOND K YARBROUGH C-3 - BIEN HOA 8/66 - 6/68
CPT KLARE W YAVASILE B-57 (03/68-02/69)
Why Kerry Fears ‘Stolen Honor’
Christopher Ruddy
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004
John Kerry fears you will see “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal.”
His campaign has devoted a huge amount of resources – and even risked increasing interest in the documentary – to stop Sinclair Broadcast Group from airing it on television.
http://tinyurl.com/699su
Sinclair is a large station group, with 62 stations, but its reach covers only about 25 percent of the U.S. market – a fraction of the almost total reach of the big networks: CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox.
So, what is Kerry so worried about?
After watching the film, you can understand why.
For starters, “Stolen Honor” offers a compelling indictment of John Kerry as a man and as an American. This is powerful stuff. Any reasonable, independent American would likely be swayed by it.
This election could be so close that every vote will count. Kerry has to pay attention to what Sinclair will air in battleground states where it has stations, places like Charleston, W.V.; Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; and Pensacola, Tallahassee and Tampa, Fla.
Kerry cannot risk this.
This past summer the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched their first TV ad – including fellow vets who criticized Kerry’s activities as a naval officer in Vietnam. The ad caused a hubbub and Kerry blew it off.
But then the Swift Boat Vets ran an ad featuring former POWs alleging that Kerry betrayed them and his country with his anti-war activities.
With that charge Kerry’s lead over Bush evaporated – and the Swiftees became a national sensation.
The issue of Kerry’s Vietnam activities has been a blur in the minds of Americans. All the men in his boat, save one, stand by his account, while almost everyone else who was there says Kerry is a liar.
But what is not a blur is what Kerry did after he returned from Vietnam.
Kerry, as we know, became one of the major leaders of the anti-war movement.
That story has not been fully told – and “Stolen Honor” opens the window for the first time.
Kerry thought that after decades had passed people would forget. He even brazenly tried to play off his Vietnam War experience as the main selling point of his campaign.
But some people have long memories, included the POWs, many who spent over five years in brutal imprisonment that included regular torture.
Kerry was not the cause of their imprisonment, but as 17 of these men aver in “Stolen Honor,” Kerry gave aid to the enemy when he, a decorated war hero, accused American soldiers of having committed war crimes, including burning villages and killing babies.
The POWs remember Kerry because he apparently was oft-quoted by their Vietnam captors.
Kerry had made a name for himself in America for his anti-war activities, and in communist Vietnam he became a national figure. In fact, to this day, Kerry is lionized as a hero in the country’s war museum.
Today, this same man is on the doorstep of the White House and trying to gain entrance. He wants to be commander in chief.
But the men who remember him, who have no political ax to grind, do not want us to forget what young John Kerry did.
One is James Warner, a POW who won two Silver Stars. Warner and his family remember Kerry well, because it was Kerry who contacted Warner’s family as he was suffering in a Vietnamese prison. Kerry pressed Warner’s family to denounce the United States’ war effort.
And then there is Steve Pitkin, a 20-year-old veteran in 1971 who is featured in “Stolen Honor.” Pitkin now says Kerry pressured him to make up stories of atrocities when he testified during Kerry’s Winter Soldier hearings.
Clearly, Kerry is afraid Americans may see this film and that is why he has ordered his campaign to launch a massive 11th-hour effort to stop this film.
Sinclair was the major target. Since it announced its plan to broadcast the film, Sinclair has been hit with a barrage of negative media attacks. Democrats – 18 senators – demanded the FCC intervene and stop the airing of the program. Kerry’s campaign wrote to Sinclair and demanded they not show the program.
Sinclair took other beatings as well. Stock analysts have trashed their stock – costing the company more than $100 million in market value. One of the major law firms of trial attorneys even threatened to launch a major shareholder lawsuit. A coalition of liberal groups began a massive effort to contact Sinclair advertisers to pull their ads.
The gutsy Sinclair is sticking to its guns and will air portions of “Stolen Honor” this Friday. Still, the whole film has yet to be shown to the American people.
As Kerry’s team was hitting Sinclair, two frivolous lawsuits suddenly were flung against Carlton Sherwood and his production company, Red, White and Blue.
Kerry’s campaign also lashed out when a small movie theater in suburban Philadelphia sought to show the film this past Tuesday night. The Kerry campaign sent an e-mail to local supporters calling them to action. Calls poured into the theater, and legal threats caused the owner to cancel the showing.
When Carlton Sherwood came to the theater anyway to hand out free DVDs to those who came and found a locked door, he was also greeted by pro-Kerry goons who were their to rough up him and his supporters. The police had to be called to clear the area.
Is this the America we know?
As several radio hosts noted to me, Michael Moore’s film was shown throughout the country in major theaters. There was no objection from Republicans – despite the fact that it was filled with hate, distortions and outright lies.
But a 43-minute documentary cannot be shown on TV or anywhere.
And the real American heroes who appear in the show and expose the real John Kerry have already become the targets of media assassination.
“Stolen Honor” offers more than insight into John Kerry. The drama that has unfolded around the efforts to show Americans this film offers a picture of how America is changing. We can see from this episode the type of place America will become if John Kerry makes it to the White House.
http://tinyurl.com/699su
The Winter Soldier Investigation
E P I L O G U E
ADVANTAGE SWIFT VETS
On September 15, 2004, Steven J. Pitkin came forward with an affidavit that supported the charge in Unfit for Command that the testimony before the Winter Soldier Investigation held by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War was largely fraudulent. Pitkin did not originally intend to speak at the Winter Soldier Investigation when he traveled to Detroit in January 1971. Unlike many who testified there, Pitkin was a veteran who had seen combat in Vietnam. What drew him to Detroit, however, was the prospect of meeting a few girls and hearing David Crosby perform with Graham Nash.
In Vietnam, Pitkin was injured in a mortar attack, suffering minor wounds to both legs. In the months following his injury, his legs became infected and he was medivaced to an Army hospital in Okinawa. He received a Purple Heart and an honorable discharge and was sent back to the states. Once back home, he received far less than a hero’s welcome. At nineteen years old, Pitkin was confused and angry. He signed up for classes at Catonsville Community College outside Baltimore, where he was recruited to join the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, although he had no clear idea what the organization was about.
Scott Swett, the creator of WinterSoldier.com, reported Pitkin’s story:
<<<<In January of 1971, Pitkin was invited to go to Detroit for the VVAW’s “Winter Soldier Investigation,” a national conference intended to convince the public that American troops were routinely committing war crimes in Vietnam. “I was just going to show support for the guys who were already picked out to testify,” said Pitkin. “Fighting in the war was terrible enough—I shot people—but I never saw any atrocities against civilians. The Vietcong hung up tribal chiefs and disemboweled them in front of their own families—they did that to their own people. I never saw Americans do anything like that.” 30>>>>
Pitkin met John Kerry on the trip from Washington, D.C., to Detroit. Scott Swett continues his description of events:
<<<<The Baltimore contingent met up with other VVAW members in Washington, where they were loaded into rental vans with no back seats. It was freezing cold in Pitkin’s van, and Kerry with another former officer were in the front where all the heat was, which made for a long drive. Pitkin was unimpressed with the tall, aloof Kerry, who rarely spoke to anyone other than the organization’s leaders, and tagged Kerry with the nickname “Lurch” after the Addams Family TV character. The ragtag group eventually made it to Detroit, got lost for a while, and then spent the night at somebody’s house. The conference was held at a Howard Johnson’s motel, in a room Pitkin remembers as having big concrete posts and no windows, with press lights glaring down on the participants. An entourage of VVAW leaders and reporters always surrounded John Kerry, who, Pitkin thought, looked like he was running for president. 31>>>>
According to Pitkin’s affidavit, he was pressured into giving testimony of war crimes in Vietnam even though he had not participated in any such war crimes, nor had he witnessed any atrocities. Two paragraphs of his sworn statement are important here:
<<<<In January of 1971, I rode in a van with John Kerry, a national leader of the VVAW, and others from Washington D.C. to Detroit to attend the Winter Soldier Investigation, a conference intended to publicize alleged American war crimes in Vietnam. Having no knowledge of such war crimes, I did not intend to speak at the event.
During the Winter Soldier Investigation, John Kerry and other leaders of that event pressured me to testify about American war crimes, despite my repeated statements that I could not honestly do so. One event leader strongly implied that I would not be provided transportation back to my home in Baltimore, Maryland, if I failed to comply. Kerry and other leaders of the event instructed me to publicly state that I had witnessed incidents of rape, brutality, atrocities and racism, knowing that such statements would necessarily be untrue. 32>>>>
Succumbing to the pressure, Pitkin testified that in Vietnam he came to feel like an animal, that “You’re so scared that you’ll shoot anything, that you’ll look at your enemy, and these people that you’re sort of a visitor to—you’ll look at them as animals. And at the same time you’re just turning yourself into an animal, too.” 33
Even today Pitkin feels John Kerry pressured him into giving false testimony to the Winter Soldier Investigation: “The second day I was there, Kerry and the other leaders told me they wanted me to testify. They knew I was one of the very few real combat veterans in the room. I told them I didn’t have anything to say. Kerry said, ‘Surely you’ve seen some of the atrocities.’” Pitkin did not feel he could resist testifying the way Kerry and the other VVAW leaders wanted:
<<<<I kept saying “no” and the mood turned ugly. One of the other leaders whispered to me, “It’s a long walk back to Baltimore.” I’m not proud of this, but I finally agreed to speak. They told me what to talk about — American troops beating civilians and prisoners, shelling and destroying villages for no reason, and acts of racism against the Vietnamese.
John Kerry knew that the Winter Soldier testimony was a pack of lies. I know, because I was there, and I told some of those lies. 34>>>>
Pitkin’s testimony is just one example of the many lies told during the Winter Soldier “investigation.” One astute observer pointed out that in Kerry’s book The New Soldier, one purported Marine was photographed on a wheelchair in one page and then marching proudly down Pennsylvania on another page.
Kerry’s campaign has chosen to ignore Pitkin’s affidavit. The mainstream liberal press has followed suit, giving Pitkin’s claims no attention.
Still, the statements are documented and powerful. Unable or unwilling to rebut Pitkin’s testimony, the claim of Unfit for Command is substantiated — that the Winter Soldier Investigation was fraudulent. So too, was Kerry’s April 1971 testimony to Senator Fulbright’s Foreign Relation Committee since Kerry himself claimed he based his Senate testimony on the witness statements given at the Winter Soldier Investigation.
Conclusion: Advantage, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR KERRY
1. Do you truly believe that war crimes were committed in Vietnam “on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command?”
2. If so, what were they? If not, why did you say it?
3. Do you believe that the officers commanding you in Vietnam were war criminals? Why did you say this?
4. Do you apologize for your war crimes charges? Were any of them false? Did any of your VVAW fellows make false war crimes charges?
Meeting with the Enemy
E P I L O G U E
ADVANTAGE SWIFT VETS
On September 21, 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth introduced a television ad entitled “Friends,” with the message that “John Kerry Secretly Met Enemy Leaders” during the Vietnam War, in 1970, while he was still in the Naval Reserves. 28
The Kerry rapid response team jumped into action, charging once again that the Swift vets were lying. John Kerry, his surrogates maintained, did not meet “secretly” with Vietnamese communist negotiators to the Paris Peace talks—–he openly told Senator Fulbright’s committee in April 1971 that he had traveled to Paris and met with “both sides” to the Paris Peace talks. Since he told the Fulbright Committee about his meeting, it could not be “secret,” the spokespersons for the campaign maintained. Besides, since he met with “both sides,” implying that one of the sides had to be ours, so how could the trip have been anything else other than a fact-finding trip? Kerry’s camp also suggested many anti-war radicals were in Paris in 1970 and 1971 meeting with the Vietnamese communists. So, why wouldn’t John Kerry have done the same?
The meeting was secret—certainly secretive. Only in March of this year did Michael Meehan, one of Kerry’s top spokespersons, finally admit to the Boston Globe that Kerry did actually meet with Madame Binh, the top Viet Cong negotiator to the Paris Peace talks. 29 Kerry has ignored questions regarding who arranged the meeting, where it was held, how long it lasted, or what precisely Kerry and Madame Binh discussed. These details remain hidden.
All we know for sure is that on July 22, 1971, John Kerry held a press conference in Washington, D.C., where surrounded by POW families, he called upon President Nixon to accept Madame Binh’s peace proposal, a peace proposal that called for the United States to set a date for military withdrawal and pay reparations—in effect, to surrender—to induce the Vietnamese communists to set a date for the release of our POWs.
Judged by the outcome, Kerry’s trip to Paris was no simple “factfinding mission.” The evidence is that Kerry, while still in the Naval Reserves, inserted himself into a complex negotiation with the result that he advanced the communist side to the detriment of our official negotiating position. From Paris where Kerry received the communist message, to Washington, D.C., where he mouthed that message, Kerry became the Vietnamese communists’ surrogate spokesperson.
There is no historical evidence that would support a Kerry contention that he met with anyone else other than the Viet Cong, officially known as the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG), of whom Madame Binh was the foreign minister, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the official name of North Vietnam’s communist government, of which Lo Duc Tho was a member. There were two Vietnamese communist parties to the Paris Peace talks—these are the “both sides” with whom Kerry met. Because of Kerry’s refusal to disclose any of the details of his trip, we believe the charge still stands.
Advantage, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR KERRY
1. Who arranged your Paris meeting with Madame Binh? Where was it held? Who else participated? What was discussed?
2. Did you visit the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in Paris on other occasions including the summer of 1971?
3. Where, when, and who were these talks with “the other side?”
Chapter 7 of "Unfit for Command.
MEETING WITH THE ENEMY
“It is a fact that in the entire Vietnam War we did not lose one major battle. We lost the war at home, and at home John Kerry was the field general.”
ROBERT ELDER
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Press Conference
Washington, D.C., May 4, 2004
Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest-ranking Soviet intelligence officer to defect to the West, spoke out in June 2004 about the KBG intelligence operation that he believed was the basis for the assertions of war crimes and atrocities at the heart of John Kerry’s 1971 testimony to the Fulbright Committee.
For Pacepa, the case was clear. John Kerry’s 1971 accusations of war crimes in Vietnam sounded to him just “like the disinformation line that the Soviets were sowing worldwide throughout the Vietnam era.”1 The KGB had as a top priority the damage of American credibility in Vietnam. To this end, the KGB spent millions producing “the very same vitriol Kerry repeated to the U.S. Congress almost word for word and planted it in leftist movements throughout Europe.”
According to Pacepa, Yuri Andropov, then chairman of the KGB, ordered agent Romesh Chandra, the chairman of the KGB-financed World Peace Organization, to create the Stockholm Conference on Vietnam as a permanent international organization “to aid or to conduct operations to help Americans dodge the draft or defect, to demoralize its army with anti-American propaganda, to conduct protests, demonstrations, and boycotts, and to sanction anyone connected with the war.” The Communist Party was funding the World Peace Organization to the tune of about $50 million a year at this time, according to Pacepa, with another $15 million allocated for the Stockholm Conference on Vietnam. In the five years of its existence, the Stockholm Conference “created thousands of ‘documentary’ materials printed in all the major Western languages describing the ‘abominable crimes’ committed by American soldiers against civilians in Vietnam, along with counterfeited pictures.” The KGB’s disinformation department manufactured these materials, and KGB operatives in Europe and America printed up and distributed hundreds of thousands of copies.
Whether Kerry knew it or not, his 1971 testimony to the Fulbright Committee was reciting the Communist Party line chapter and verse. Pacepa left no doubt as to his conclusion: “As far as I’m concerned, the KGB gave birth to the antiwar movement in America.”
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
By November 1970, Al Hubbard had emerged as the most prominent national leader of the VVAW. Hubbard professed strong ties to the Black Panthers. Less well known was his involvement with the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ), a militant antiwar orga- nization with decidedly Communist ties. Key among the PCPJ’s founders was a group of Trotskyite radicals from the Socialist Workers Party who had first emerged in the 1969 National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam.
Al Hubbard turned out to be yet another veteran who lied about supposed service in Vietnam. He claimed to be a decorated Air Force captain who had sustained a shrapnel injury in his spine when flying a transport plane into Da Nang in 1966. His story began to unravel when NBC received a tip, and Hubbard had to confess on the Today Show that he had really been only a sergeant, not a pilot or a captain, in Vietnam.
At first, John Kerry came to the support of his friend, excusing Hubbard’s lie as understandable. Hubbard, Kerry explained, lied because he felt he needed the distinction of rank to be important enough to lead the VVAW. Within a few days, however, the lie completely unraveled. The Department of Defense issued a news release stating that, at the time Hubbard was discharged from the Air Force in October 1966, he was serving as an instructor flight engineer on C- 123 aircraft with the 7th Air Transport Squadron, based at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. The Department of Defense reported that: “There is no record of any service in Vietnam [emphasis in the original], but since he was an air crew member he could have been in Vietnam for brief periods during cargo loading, unloading operations, or for crew rest purposes. His highest grade held was staff sergeant E-5.”2 Moreover, Hubbard had no Purple Heart or Vietnam Service Ribbon, and the Air Force had no record that he had ever been in Vietnam, although it was possible that Hubbard may have stopped off there on a transport run. As it turned out, Hubbard’s injuries were sports injuries—an injury suffered in a basketball game in 1956, and a soccer game in 1961.
John Kerry had appeared side by side with Al Hubbard on NBC’s Meet the Press on April 18, 1971. He had shared the stage with Hubbard in the VVAW’s Dewey Canyon III protest in Washington, D.C., which had set the stage for his testimony before the Fulbright Committee. By June 1971, when Hubbard’s fraud was becoming apparent, Kerry was embarrassed, but he continued to represent the VVAW as its national spokesman, and Hubbard continued to represent the group as its executive director and national leader.
Kerry in Paris
In June 1971, Lo Duc Tho arrived in Paris to join the North Vietnamese Communist delegation to the peace talks. His arrival marked a change in the Communists’ approach to advancing their goals through negotiation. Lo Duc Tho was, with Ho Chi Minh, one of the original founders of the Communist Party of Indochina and one of North Vietnam’s chief strategists.
He arrived to join a comrade, Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, who had been a member of the Central Committee for the National Front for the Liberation of the South and was now the foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Vietnam. The military arm of the PRG was widely known as the Viet Cong, and Madame Binh was recognized as the Viet Cong delegate to the conference.
On July 1, 1971, within days of Lo Duc Tho’s arrival, Madame Binh advanced a new seven-point proposal to end the war. Central to this plan was a cleverly crafted provision offering to set a date for the return of U.S. POWs in exchange for the Americans’ setting a date for complete, unilateral military withdrawal from Vietnam. In other words, America could have its POWs back only if we agreed that we lost, then surrendered, and then set a date to leave.
About one year earlier, two young Americans had also come to Paris, presumably for their honeymoon: John Kerry, a young, cleanshaven Navy war veteran, accompanied by his new wife, the former Julia Thorne, who could trace her lineage back to George Washington. But honeymooning was not John Kerry’s only reason for traveling to Paris. Kerry’s presidential campaign has now acknowledged that he “talked privately with a leading Communist representative” there.
For decades, this meeting had been only a rumor. The rumor stemmed from a comment Kerry made in the less publicized question- and-answer segment of his April 22, 1971, testimony before the Fulbright Committee: “I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks, that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government.”
On March 25, 2004, Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe reported that Michael Meehan, a spokesman for Kerry’s presidential campaign, admitted that John Kerry had traveled to Paris after his May 1970 wedding and, on that trip with his wife, he had a brief meeting with Madame Binh, a meeting that included members of both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the North Vietnamese) and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (the Viet Cong). Meehan insisted that Kerry did not go to Paris with the intention of meeting the Communist delegations to the Paris Peace Conference and that he did not involve himself in negotiations. Kerry has insisted that the meeting was solely for “fact-finding” purposes.3
On July 22, 1971, Kerry called a press conference in Washington, D.C. Speaking on behalf of the VVAW, Kerry openly urged President Nixon to accept Madame Binh’s seven-point plan.4
Madame Binh’s proposal had been crafted to send a strong emotional message to the American home front—that the only barrier to having our POWs returned was America’s own unwillingness to set a date to withdraw, even if the proposed withdrawal amounted to a defeat. The Viet Cong proposal directly challenged the South Vietnamese proposal to set a date for a truce and a free election designed to unite the divided Vietnam. The PRG and the Viet Cong clearly agreed with the premier of Communist China, Cho En-lai, that complete withdrawal of American military forces from Vietnam was the only precondition that would be discussed.
As the New York Times noted when reporting on the press conference, John Kerry suggested that President Nixon had refused to set a date for withdrawal because North Vietnam had not guaranteed the return of American POWs. Now that the Vietnamese Communists were promising to set a POW return date, Kerry argued that Nixon had no reasonable course left except to set a date for withdrawing U.S. military forces. Kerry failed to mention one consideration President Nixon most likely found compelling—that America’s cause was just and that the interests of freedom might best be served by halting the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. The United States, in President Nixon’s view, had not fought the war to abandon our allies to Communism but to defend South Vietnam’s right to self-determination.
Today, presidential candidate John Kerry would have us believe that the only goal of his antiwar activities was to speak up bravely against a war he knew to be without justification. All he wanted to do was to stop a war where military policies such as free-fire zones and tactics such as search-and-destroy led inevitably to war crimes, the killing of innocent civilians, and the burning of peaceful villages. Kerry wants us to believe that he has always been against Communists. Yet the historical record raises questions about both claims.
Loyal Americans think twice about violating the legal provision against negotiating with foreign powers (18 U.S.C. section 953) and the constitutional prohibition against giving support to our nation’s enemies during wartime (Article III, Section 3). Anti-Communists do not openly support proposals that amount to an American surrender to Communist enemies, plus a demand to pay war reparations.
There is no public record of what Kerry discussed with the Vietnamese Communists in Paris in 1970. Kerry’s presidential campaign has refused to provide any detailed account of the discussion, nor has the campaign answered questions regarding who set up the meeting. There must have been contact between Kerry or his representatives and the representatives of the Vietnamese Communists. Which Communists assisted Kerry in arranging his meeting with Madame Binh, and why?
John Kerry may believe in his own mind that his participation in the antiwar cause lifted him to a new moral plane, one where he would not be restricted by conventional legal distinctions or commonsense understandings of patriotism. Yet, the record shows that Kerry and the VVAW consistently coordinated their efforts with Communists, both foreign and domestic, represented the Communist positions, and repeated their grossly exaggerated claims of American atrocities. In fact, it is hard to find any disagreement whatsoever between Kerry’s words and actions as a leader of the VVAW and those of the Hanoi and Viet Cong leadership. Had Madame Binh herself been permitted to appear at the July 22, 1971, press conference instead of John Kerry, the most noticeable difference in the argument presented might have been the absence of a Boston accent.
John Kerry was clearly welcomed warmly by the Vietnamese Communists. His propaganda value was obvious—a good-looking, cleanshaven, well-spoken, decorated American war hero. How could any Communist apologist not see that here was the next candidate to carry their anti-American message back home? John Kerry had no difficulty getting an appointment from Madame Binh. The Communists welcomed him.
Coordinating with the Enemy
A major goal of the VVAW in 1971 was sending representatives to Paris or to Hanoi to meet with the enemy.
An FBI confidential surveillance report dated November 11, 1971, was released as part of the twenty-thousand-page file on the VVAW, made available after a Freedom of Information Act request and published on the Internet during the 2004 presidential campaign. This report indicates that the FBI was monitoring Kerry to see if he planned another trip to Paris to meet with the Communist delegations:
John Kerry and Al Hubbard, members of the Executive Committee, VVAW, were planning to travel to Paris the week of November One Five—Twenty [November 15–20] for talks with North Vietnamese Peace Delegation.5
An analysis of the FBI reports made public make clear that the government’s concern about the VVAW coordinating their activities with the Vietnamese Communists was founded in facts. The VVAW Steering Committee meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, from Friday, November 12, 1971, through Sunday, November 14, 1971, was a raucous meeting, the dramatics of which are emphasized by recently released FBI undercover investigative files. John Kerry is clearly listed in the FBI reports as one of the five members of the steering committee.
The fireworks started a couple of hours into the meeting, when steering committee member Al Hubbard arrived from the airport by taxicab. Hubbard, one of the VVAW’s most controversial leaders, announced to the group that he had just come from Paris, where he had met with the Vietnamese Communist delegations to the Paris peace talks. Hubbard had clearly crossed over to the enemy side. He reported with excitement that he had just concluded negotiations with the Vietnamese Communists, and that they were ready to release a group of American POWs to the VVAW, provided that the VVAW send a delegation to Hanoi around Christmas. Hubbard told the group that the Communist Party of the USA had paid for his trip and that he was now acting as a member of the Coordinating Committee of the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Consider this extract from the FBI files:
Al Hubbard, the reputed original organizer of the VVAW, flew into Kansas City at six thirty PM on Friday, November Twelve, last. He discussed [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT]. His flight, alone, to Paris where he met with Xuan Tui [phonetic], from which trip he had just returned. Xuan Tui, one of the North Vietnamese Delegates to the Paris Peace Talks, and Representatives of the PRG and the DRV spoke to Hubbard. Hubbard said that the PRG represents revolutionaries in South Vietnam and the DRV are North Vietnamese. They wanted to make arrangements for more Americans (presumably VVAW or New Left activists) to travel to North Vietnam. Hubbard also gave the impression that the North Vietnamese would generally support future VVAW actions but gave no other details as to that support.6
A follow-up report several days later gave further details:
[BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] advised that Hubbard gave the following information regarding his Paris Trip.
Two foreign groups, which are Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and Peoples Republic Government (PRG) (phonetic), invited representatives of the VVAW, Communist Party USA (CP USA), and a Left Wing group in Paris, to attend meetings of the above inviting groups in Paris. Hubbard advised he was elected to represent the VVAW. An unknown male was invited to represent the CP USA and an unknown individual was elected to represent the Left Wing group from Paris. He advised at the meeting that his trip was financed by CP USA. Hubbard said while in Paris an individual named [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] accompanied the visitors and acted as liaison between the visitors and the inviting groups.
Hubbard said while they were in Paris he met with an individual named Swanwee, a representative of North Vietnam. They talked about the POW issue and the possibility that a VVAW delegation might be able to go to Vietnam in the near future and discuss the possibility of the release of American POWs.
[BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] advised that after Hubbard’s talk regarding his trip [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] and John Kerry the [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT]7.
Once again, the “Swanwee” referred to in the report was the phonetic rendition of Xuan Thuy, chief North Vietnamese delegate to the Paris peace talks.
Joe Urgo, a VVAW national staff member, spoke next to the Steering Committee. According to the FBI report, Urgo supported Hubbard’s assertion that the Vietnamese Communists were open to VVAW members coming to Hanoi. The FBI report makes it clear that the discussions the VVAW was having with the Vietnamese Communists were aimed at helping the Vietnamese promote the antiwar movement in America. The “Xuan Tui” referred to in the report is most certainly Xuan Thuy, the chief North Vietnamese delegate to the Paris peace talks. The indication is that the VVAW wanted to work with the Vietnamese Communists to advance their goals, not to pursue a separate or different VVAW agenda:
Joe Urgo joined Hubbard in Friday night’s discussion and later on Sunday, November Fourteen, Last, Urgo himself said more, regarding the possibility of a VVAW instigated release of Prisoners of War (POW) by the North Vietnamese. It was not specified by either Urgo or Hubbard if such a POW release would be part of the next VVAW trip to North Vietnam, but it is expected that this is the reason for that VVAW trip. Hubbard said that he would know ten days after he left Paris or sometime around November TwentyThree—TwentyFour, next, when in the near future, and how many VVAW members would be allowed to enter North Vietnam, and thus the persons to go on that trip would be designated by VVAW National Leadership at that time. A list of Ten to Twelve was to have been made of persons to prepare for the trip. [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT]
Urgo, who had returned from North Vietnam in August, last, with [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] of the War Resisters League and [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] of the Women’s Strike for Peace, spoke as if he himself were working for the North Vietnamese officials. Urgo said that the North Vietnamese do not want to shift American New Left emphasis away from the anti-war issue onto any other issue. Thus, they would not want to discuss POW exchange during a VVAW trip to North Vietnam but would rather occupy VVAW visitors with indoctrination. 8
According to several FBI reports covering these meetings, John Kerry indicates that he was present and heard these discussions. A separate FBI surveillance report, filed on November 24, 1971, provided corroboration of the November 19 report. Again, John Kerry was listed as being present as an executive committee member.
Public records indicate that Kerry continued to represent the VVAW in public speeches through April 1972, nearly five months after learning that Al Hubbard, once one of his antiwar “band of brothers,” had crossed over to the Communist side. Nowhere in the FBI files is there any report that the steering committee at the November 1971 meeting ever stopped to discuss 18 U.S.C. section 953, which directly forbids United States citizens from negotiating with foreign powers, or Article III, Section 3, of the United States Constitution, which defines treason in part as giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. It is clear that the VVAW leaders understood the serious nature of their activities. Over the course of the weekend meetings, they relocated twice to avoid surveillance by government authorities. That turned out to be a vain hope, since the FBI had multiple informers inside the meeting.
The FBI surveillance record now made public clearly indicates that the VVAW as of November 1971 was working directly with the enemy against U.S. military objectives in the war. The VVAW did not stop at attempting to undermine support for the war in the U.S. by propagating its false claims of war crimes and atrocities. It was also actively contemplating attempts to effect the release of POWs as further evidence of the correctness of its position and to take steps to actively encourage soldiers in the field to refuse orders to engage the enemy in combat. Producing tapes for broadcast in Vietnam to induce U.S. service personnel to stop fighting indicates both negotiating with the enemy and the intent to give direct aid to the enemy in time of war.
John Kerry, who until recently claimed to have resigned from the VVAW in June 1971, has now acknowledged that he was present, as the FBI reports show and a number of eyewitnesses have claimed. Still, Kerry insists he remembers nothing of the Kansas City meetings, a fault of memory that is remarkable given the nature of what was discussed.
There is also good reason to believe that prior to the Kansas City meeting in November 1971, Kerry himself had made a second trip to Paris to meet with the Vietnamese Communists. Evidence for this comes from Gerald Nicosia, a very pro-VVAW and pro-Kerry historian who wrote a chronicle of the organization called Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans’ Movement.9 Nicosia originated the Freedom of Information Act request that led to the FBI making public the twenty thousand–document file on the VVAW and John Kerry. Writing in the Los Angeles Times on May 24, 2004, Nicosia noted, “Kerry’s public image was perhaps tarnished most in 1971 by his attempts to hasten the return of American POWs. The files record that Kerry made a second trip to Paris that summer to learn how the North Vietnamese might release prisoners.”10
Discussions of VVAW members traveling to Paris and Hanoi recur throughout the FBI surveillance reports. The discussions make clear that the goal is not just to arrange a release of POWs, but also to enhance the status of the VVAW and to advance the cause of the antiwar movement by the way in which the prisoners would be released to the VVAW. The FBI files now released make one point very clear: John Kerry and his VVAW comrades were welcome guests of the Vietnamese Communists in both Paris and Hanoi, guests who could be counted on to return to America and actively support the leadership of America’s wartime enemy.
John Kerry’s Antiwar Activities and the Communist Press
The Communist Party of the USA established the Daily Worker newspaper in 1924. By the 1970s, the paper was published under a different banner, the Daily World. Published in New York, the paper developed stories with a focus on America. Various Communist newspapers around the world republished Daily World stories under many different banners. In 1971, the Daily World devoted considerable attention to covering John Kerry and the VVAW antiwar activities.
The Communist world understood clearly then what John Kerry even today still tries to deny. The antiwar movement typified by the VVAW was not simply a protest movement. At its core, the VVAW was avowedly anti-American, willing to propagate lies about “war crimes” allegedly committed by American soldiers on a daily basis. The goal that the VVAW was seeking to achieve through its highly publicized demonstrations in Washington, D.C., during April 1971 was to convey one simple message: The United States had lost its moral way in opposing the Viet Cong. Kerry, as spokesperson for the VVAW, was trumpeting the theme the Communist world wanted heard. Navy lieutenant John Kerry could not have been a more perfect poster boy for the Communist Daily World than if he had been recruited and trained by the KGB itself.
Today, running for president in 2004, John Kerry can object that the Communist Daily World was free to cover whomever it chose, and that he did not seek out the paper’s coverage or give interviews to its reporters. Yet, the deeper reality is that anyone literate at the time, anyone deeply involved in the political and moral struggle that was Vietnam, could not ignore the impact of the extensive coverage given by the Daily World to the VVAW’s Dewey Canyon III April 1971 protest in Washington.
On Friday, April 23, 1971, the Daily World ran a front-page photo of John Kerry on the speaker’s platform, assisting former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark by handing him some papers while Clark addressed a crowd on Capitol Hill. The caption under the photo identified John Kerry as a “former Navy lieutenant and a leader of the group.” Ramsey Clark at that time was serving as legal counsel for the VVAW, and the group was actively engaged in a Supreme Court contest trying to prevent an injunction removing them from the National Mall in front of the Capitol, the spot they had chosen for a campsite during their protest in Washington. The next day, Saturday, April 24, 1971, the Daily World ran John Kerry’s photograph again on the front page, sitting in a studied pensive pose, his right index finger extended to his cheek, in a serious moment during his appearance before the Fulbright Committee.
Kerry Praises Ho Chi Minh
The FBI field surveillance reports document a speech that Kerry gave in 1971 in which he praised Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnamese Communism. The occasion was a speech Kerry gave to a group at the YMCA in Philadelphia on June 14, 1971. As reported by the FBI:
On June 29, 1971, [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] advised that JOHN KERRY of the National Office of the VVAW, spoke at the YMCA, Philadelphia, on June 14, 1971. In this talk he stated that HO CHI MINH is the GEORGE WASHINGTON of Vietnam. Ho studied the United States Constitution and wants to install the same provisions into the Government of Vietnam. KERRY criticized United States activities in Vietnam, saying we are destroying villages, cities, crops, and the people there and these activities must be stopped.11
Kerry gave many antiwar speeches in 1971. His tendency to idealize the Vietnamese Communists and to demonize the United States was possibly most apparent when he chose to praise by association with America’s founding father the man responsible for introducing Communism to Indochina.
Copyright © 2004 by John E. O’Neill and Jerome L. Corsi
Kerry, Kansas City, and the FBI files
September 7th, 2004
An American Thinker Exclusive
Steve Gilbert was the first to expose Kerry's involvement
in the VVAW's assassination discussions and his dealings
with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong delegations in
Paris.
By now you’ve probably heard that John F. Kerry attended a meeting of his Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) group in Kansas City in November 1971, where they considered a proposal to murder top governmental leaders. You have probably even heard that Kerry met at least once in May, 1970, and maybe several times subsequently, with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong Peace Delegation in Paris, and that he went on to aggressively agitate around the country and even before the US Senate for accepting their terms.
Not that long ago, the notion that John Kerry could have
been involved in such activities was so unthinkable that
when I first stumbled upon this information back in
January, I could not find any journalists in the news
media to take these stories seriously.
For even though the information is briefly touched-upon in a couple books on the anti-war movement—a passing reference to the assassination proposal in Gerald Nicosia’s Home To War, a photograph of the VVAW’s delegation in Paris in Richard Stacewicz’s The Winter Soldiers—the putative historians downplayed these events to such an extent you could almost believe they were trying to protect John Kerry’s reputation.
Indeed, Kerry supporter Nicosia even went so far as to portray Kerry as resigning from the VVAW after a melodramatic showdown with Al Hubbard months before the Kansas City meeting took place. All of which is pure fantasy, as the witnesses who have since come forward testify, and more compellingly, the FBI files (which Nicosia had then-unique access to) so clearly reveal.
For the material in the FBI files is not subtle at all. There is no nuance. It is almost impossible to believe that Kerry got so far in his political career without anyone ever bringing it up before. Especially when a historian had access to these very files. But also when so many people who lived through these events are still sitting up and taking nourishment.
Still, since most people have not read these FBI files, but at best have only heard other people’s interpretations of them, I thought it would be a service to transcribe a few pages from them, pages which briefly describe some of the events around that fateful November meeting in Kansas City in 1971.
I believe they offer a revealing glimpse into the people involved in the VVAW, including, most significantly of course, Presidential candidate John Kerry.
From an FBI file* marked “urgent” and dated November 12, 1971:
pp. 1922-3 of the Kerry FBI files
VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR, INC. (VVAW) IS--NEW LEFT
RETEL TO BH, OKLAHOMA CITY, [REDACTED] NEW YORK AND BOSTON NOV. TEN LAST.
FOR INFO NO, RETEL DISCLOSED THAT IT WAS LEARNED AT REGIONAL VVAW CONVENTION, NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, NOV. FIVE - SEVEN LAST THAT JOHN KERRY AND AL HUBBARD, MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, VVAW, WERE PLANNING TO TRAVEL TO PARIS, FRANCE, WEEK OF NOV. ONE FIVE - TWENTY NEXT FOR TALKS WITH NORTH VIETNAMESE PEACE DELEGATION.
[REDACTED] TO PAY HUBBARD’S EXPENSES FOR HIS TRIP TO PARIS, [REDACTED]
IT IS NOTED THAT THE “COMMUNIST PARTY” REFERRED IN RETEL IS PROBABLY COMMUNIST PARTY, USA, BECAUSE AL HUBBARD IS A MEMBER OF COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF PEOPLES COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE (PCPJ)…
Here is a fuller description of subsequent events from another FBI file dated November 18, 1971:
VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (VVAW)
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
NOVEMBER 12, 13, 14, 1971
INTERNAL SECURITY – NEW LEFT
A confidential source, who was furnished reliable information in the past, advised as follows:
On November 12, 1971, a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) was convened in Kansas City, Missouri. The meeting was attended by approximately sixty persons, not more than seventy, which included the Executive Committee, people from the National Office in New York, the Regional Coordinators from around the country and some other representatives from some regions.
The first meeting convened at 9:00 a.m. on November 12, 1971, in rooms A, B, and C of the Student Center, University of Missouri at Kansas City. Room A was a smaller room with an oval-shaped table and leather chairs. Rooms B and C were used for the general meeting and large rectangular tables were pushed together in the center at the room making a large conference table. The Regional Coordinators sat around the table and their delegates were behind them. This was done to facilitate the vote procedure. Many of the Regional Coordinators and other delegates discussed that they came to the meeting for a commitment to action and wanted VVAW to take the initiative in the peace movement.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., November 12, 1971, the Agenda Committee, composed of [redacted] adjourned to room A for a three or four hour meeting supposedly to discuss the topics to be considered by the general meeting.
AL HUBBARD did not make an appearance at the general meeting. There was only one black man at the general meeting. He sat with the California and Wisconsin delegations. He left Saturday afternoon. The Friday meeting ended at approximately 11:00 p.m.. A party ensued at the home of [redacted], which was attended by many of the delegates.
At the party SCOTT CAMIL, VVAW Regional Coordinator for
[redacted] and [redacted] from Gainesville, Florida,
bragged that he had a training range in either Florida or
Georgia but would not divulge the location. CAMIL proposed
the establishment of "readiness groups" of the "Phoenix
type". This proposal was made in the presence of
[redacted] VVAW Arkansas organizer, [redacted] and
[redacted] (LNU), all from Arkansas, [redacted] the VVAW
regional coordinator for Missouri and Kansas, and a
delegate from Montana, and three delegates from St. Louis,
names unknown.
When asked if CAMIL meant "Phoenix type" in the same
context as understood by military personnel, CAMIL
answered in the affirmative and outlined a plan
for "political elimination" of the "governmental chain of
command". The "Phoenix type" is a military term given to
groups with specific assassination assignments and the
delegates knew that CAMIL meant political assassinations
rather than political eliminations.
CAMIL said the activities would depend upon the men being
devoted enough to carry out their assignments. CAMIL said
that even talking and planning such activities was against
the law and therefore the "Phoenix type" groups should
carry out their assignments.
CAMIL said he had training ranges for rifle, pistol and mortar practice. He claimed he had rifles, pistols and rifle grenades, but no mortars. CAMIL's proposal for the “readiness squads" and the training was favorably received by many of the persons present and was thereafter quietly disseminated to those at the party. CAMIL indicated he was already conducting his own training program…
The general meeting on Saturday, November 13, 1971, started at 9:00 a.m. and was held in a church, the Institute for Human Studies, near 40th and Main Streets, Kansas City. The first day and part of the second day was spent establishing order. There were numerous interruptions and discussions and very little order during that period.
On Saturday morning MIKE OLIVER, a VVAW national leader from New York, acted as chairman and recognized persons wishing to speak from the floor.
JOHN KERRY, a VVAW national leader from Massachusetts, arrived and spoke to the committee. He resigned from the executive committee of VVAW for "personal reasons" but added he would still be active in VVAW and available to speak for the organization.
The next topic discussed concerned AL HUBBARD, a national VVAW leader from New York. HUBBARD was not present at the meeting and MIKE OLIVER read a telegram to all those present. The telegram had been sent from HUBBARD, who is currently in Paris, France, to [redacted] VVAW Regional Coordinator for Missouri and Eastern half of Kansas, at his residence in Kansas City, Missouri.
The telegram said that HUBBARD was in contact with the North Vietnamese Peace Delegation and he had been confidentially told that the next prisoner of war (POW) released would be effected to VVAW delegates. The telegram further said that the North Vietnamese had promised to not take any major offensive against US troops during the Christmas period up until December 31, 1971; however, they would defend themselves. In the telegram HUBBARD said he was currently negotiating with the North Vietnamese delegation to extend the Christmas cease-fire, which had already been agreed upon, for an indefinite period beyond the December 31, 1971, deadline. HUBBARD said the North Vietnamese are upset over President Nixon's use of POW issue as a reason to keep US troops in Vietnam.
MIKE OLIVER explained to those present that VVAW National Office had decided to send a five-man delegation to Hanoi, North Vietnam, early in December, 1971. They hoped to effect the POW release during that time so that the delegates could return to the US to participate in the national actions at Christmastime. This would demonstrate to the people at the national actions that VVAW has real power. When asked how many POWs would be released, OLIVER said no specific number had been mentioned but that at least one POW would have to be released in order to give the VVAW claimed validity. They planned to present this to the people of the United States and if they were successful in gaining public sympathy and support, they would enter further negotiations for POW release.
The Wisconsin delegation proposed a plan to contact 2,000 active-duty GI’s in South Vietnam and in effect ask them for a mutinous action by refusing to take up arms when ordered to do so. This proposal was favorably accepted by the committee
The topic of the funding of expenses for HUBBARD's trip to Paris was laid aside. OLIVER told the conference that [redacted] had paid for HUBBARD's trip from her own personal account. There was talk among many of the regional coordinators and others speculating as to why [redacted] paid the expenses. It was agreed informally between them that [redacted] is anti-war but neutral, meaning neither for nor against communism, and that by having the money come from her it would remove any taint or suspicion that the funds came directly from the Communist Party, USA.
This was not an official discussion and was merely speculation by some regional coordinators and did not include any person in authority. An agreement was reached to set aside the discussion because some of the delegates believed that VVAW should not be afraid of a "witch hunt". They stated that if VVAW was afraid of a "witch hunt", then they never should have set up the National Office next to the office of the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ).
The Agenda Committee again held a meeting of approximately one hour and returned to the general meeting prior to noon. SCOTT CAMIL proposed to the Agenda Committee the discussion of the training ranges and "readiness squads". The Agenda Committee would not allow CAMIL to discuss his proposal at the general meeting, because of the time element and other matters to be discussed but placed CAMIL's proposal on the agenda for a vote at the spring meeting in February, 1972….
Many of the delegates to the meeting slept in the basement of [redacted] house. A one-pound chunk of marijuana was made available for those delegates wishing to indulge, and many smoked themselves to sleep.
Some of the delegates who were present were: [redacted] Kansas City, Missouri, who was responsible for most of the arrangements; MIKE OLIVER; JOHN KERRY; SCOTT CAMIL from Florida…
*The FBI files are available on CDs for sale by Paperless Archives, and are represented to be copies of the original FBI files released under a Freedom of Information Act request.
Steve Gilbert
You must define lie differently then Webster.
"Almost as bad as Bush's lie about knowing Saddam had WMD but not quite."
Prove it. Give me Bush's actual verbatim quotes & the
supporting evidence that establish he lied.
I won't hold my breath waiting.
How many millions were slaughtered by the commies thanks to
Kerry?
I guess they don't count because somehow you were brainwashed
into believing the Vietnam war was wrong.
These are the same commies that Kerry met with to negotiate a
peace deal with. I bet you aren't even familiar with our laws
regarding treason.
It makes me sick to think anyone could justify the horrific
lies Kerry told that ruined so many lives & caused our POW's
to be mistreated even worse.
Kerry did not end the war sooner! He gave real hope to the
commies to hang on until we gave up after our liberal media &
Kerry's anti-war crowd turned America against the war.
The real question is how many people died needlessly because
of Kerry's treacherous actions? Kerry lied & millions died.
"Wstera, Has Kerry ever refuted what they say about him and Cambodia?"
He ignores it. And the mainstream media refuses to ever cover
the story. They all know it's a huge lie told purely for
political gain too.
Watch this video (click on the picture above "No Man Left Behind").
You heard John Kerry tell America one story about his Vietnam
service at the Democratic National Convention. Here's the
true story of John Kerry's Bronze Star.
Once again, this video uses John Kerry's own words (at 4:10,
5:30, 7:05 & 7:28 into the video) to prove he was not engaged
in hostile fire with the enemy. Further his injury occurred
earlier in the day. It was a minor, self inflicted wound as
he blew up rice with a hand grenade. This video proves he was
not eligible for his 3rd Purple Heart.
http://www.swiftvetsandpows.com/
Watch this video (click on the picture above "John Kerry's First Purple Heart").
How did John Kerry get his first purple heart when all three
officers required to approve it rejected his application?
Once again, this video uses John Kerry's own words (at 4:15
into the video) to prove he was not engaged in hostile fire
with the enemy when he received a minor, self inflicted
wound. This video proves he was not eligible for a Purple Heart.
http://www.swiftvetsandpows.com/
Watch this video (click on the picture above "The Sampan Cover Up").
In 6 minutes you will learn that John Kerry will lie about
anything. This video uses John Kerry's own words to prove he
will lie to cover up the death of a small child due to his
own incompetence.
http://www.swiftvetsandpows.com/
Watch this video (click on the picture above "Christmas in Cambodia").
In five & half minutes you will learn that John Kerry will
lie about anything. This video uses John Kerry's own words to
prove he will lie purely for political gain.
http://www.swiftvetsandpows.com/
Illegalities, Fraud and Contradictions Detailed in Report on Lead Organizer of Florida's Amendment 5 According to Employment Policies Institute
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Florida Department of Law
Enforcement has announced a statewide investigation into widespread fraudulent
voter registrations, many of which have been tied back to the leading
organizer of Florida's Amendment 5 ballot initiative to raise the minimum
wage. But this is just the tip of an iceberg of illegalities, fraud and
contradictions connected to the Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now (ACORN). In recent days, ACORN has been at the epicenter of
reports of potentially fraudulent voter registrations across the nation --
including many by ex-felons -- submitted by ACORN employees in the
presidential swing states of Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New
Mexico and Minnesota.
The Employment Policies Institute has updated and re-released its report,
"The Real ACORN: Anti-Employee, Anti-Union, Big Business" with the latest
details on ACORN's involvement in what appears to be widespread voter
registration fraud. The report includes statements from former ACORN
employees on the illegal nature of the organization's promotion of the ballot
initiative to raise Florida's minimum wage to $6.15 per hour.
"This report reveals ACORN's pattern and practice of deception and fraud,"
said EPI research director Craig Garthwaite. "The latest allegations of
widespread voter registration fraud should prove to be the last of ACORN's
nine political lives."
Former ACORN Miami-Dade field director Mac Stuart has filed a lawsuit
against ACORN and has made charges of rampant voter fraud operations. Stuart
was employed and specifically tasked by ACORN to generate 103,000 new voter
registrations from Dade County. He reports that ACORN threw out Republican
registrations while paying gatherers for Democratic ones, both actions illegal
in Florida. Stuart also charges that ACORN targeted ex-cons and that he
personally set up registration tables outside the Miami police department and
Dade County jail. He went on to state, "The voter registration project has
been operating illegally since it started."
ACORN has paid workers for every voter registration card collected -- a
felony in Florida and also illegal in Missouri and Pennsylvania. ACORN also
routinely accepted signatures for Amendment 5 from individuals who were not
currently registered to vote -- a requirement under Florida law.
Voter registration and petition fraud is just the latest chapter in
ACORN's long sordid history. The EPI report also reveals:
ACORN Involved in Union Embezzlement -- In the late 1990s, ACORN's Project
Vote was involved in an $850,000 embezzling scheme, where union funds and
kickbacks were used to illegally aid the 1996 re-election bid of then-
Teamsters President Ron Carey. A New York federal jury found the Teamsters
political director guilty of the conspiracy.
ACORN bilks AmeriCorps -- In 1996, the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps
program stripped a $1 million grant from the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC).
When applying, AHC had denied any connections to ACORN, since the grant was
not intended for political advocacy organizations. Evidence later uncovered
by the Inspector General found that not only was AHC created by ACORN, engaged
in numerous transactions with one another, and sharing staff and office space
-- but it utilized the AmeriCorps grant to increase ACORN membership, a
violation of federal guidelines.
ACORN Union-Busts Own Workers -- On March 27, 2003 the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) found that ACORN had violated the National Labor
Relations Act and was required to rehire and pay restitution to employees
terminated for attempting to form a union. The NLRB ruling is just the latest
in a trend of ACORN's union-busting tactics. ACORN employees have
historically demanded higher wages, safer working conditions and more timely
contracted wages. These efforts have been repressed behind closed doors by
the hypocritical ACORN leadership, which publicly advocates higher pay and
better working conditions for private sector workers.
ACORN and Minimum Wage Hypocrisy -- Most egregiously, ACORN promotes
ballot initiatives and local ordinances to force businesses to pay higher
minimum wages, as they are currently doing with the minimum wage proposal in
Amendment 5. In 1995, however, ACORN sued the state of California to have its
employees exempted from the state minimum wage. ACORN argued that being forced
to pay higher wages would mean that they would hire fewer employees -- the
very dilemma faced by businesses. Incredibly, ACORN stated that paying its
employees a lower wage would allow them to be more sympathetic to the low- and
moderate-income families they were attempting to help. ACORN argued that
abiding by the state minimum wage would limit their ability to promote their
agenda and would therefore be a violation of their First Amendment rights.
The trial court judge dismissed ACORN's suits, stating, "leaving aside the
latter argument's absurdity ... we find ACORN to be laboring under a
fundamental misconception of constitutional law."
"ACORN's history of voter registration fraud, hypocrisy, abuse of federal
grant programs, and disregard for sound economics should raise a red flag for
voters considering support for Amendment 5," Garthwaite said.
The full report is available online at http://www.EPIonline.org
The Employment Policies Institute is a nonprofit research organization
dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding entry-level employment.
SOURCE Employment Policies Institute
Web Site: http://www.epionline.org
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/10-22-2004/0002292745&....
CNN fesses up and admits it. But then, the liberal left & the
MSM spent the entire day hammering Bush with this huge lie,
compliments of the New York Times......
Report: Explosives already gone when U.S. troops arrived
NBC News says its crew was embedded with soldiers at time
(CNN) -- The mystery surrounding the disappearance of 380 tons of powerful explosives from a storage depot in Iraq has taken a new twist, after a network embedded with the U.S. military during the invasion of Iraq reported that the material had already vanished by the time American troops arrived.
NBC News reported that on April 10, 2003, its crew was embedded with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division when troops arrived at the Al Qaqaa storage facility south of Baghdad.
While the troops found large stockpiles of conventional explosives, they did not find HMX or RDX, the types of powerful explosives that reportedly went missing, according to NBC.
The International Atomic Energy Agency revealed Monday that it had been told two weeks ago by the Iraqi government that 380 tons of HMX and RDX disappeared from Al Qaqaa after Saddam Hussein's government fell.
In a letter to the IAEA dated October 10, Iraq's director of planning, Mohammed Abbas, said the material disappeared sometime after Saddam's regime fell in April 2003, which he attributed to "the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security."
Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003. According to NBC, troops from the 101st Airborne arrived the next day to find that the material was already gone.
Prior to the Iraq war, the high-grade explosives at Al Qaqaa had been under the control of IAEA inspectors because the material could be used as a component in a nuclear weapon, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. IAEA and other U.N. inspectors left the country in March 2003 before the fighting began on March 19.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday that five days after the IAEA received the letter from the Iraqi government, the agency alerted U.S. officials in Vienna, who in turn told National Security Director Condoleezza Rice. She then alerted Bush, McClellan said.
Once U.S. officials were alerted, the multinational force in Iraq and the Iraq Survey Group, charged with hunting for weapons in Iraq, were both ordered to investigate what was missing and the possible circumstances, according to State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
"We, from the very beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, did everything we could to secure arms caches throughout the country," Ereli said. "But given the number of arms and the number of caches and the extent of militarization of Iraq, it was impossible to provide 100 percent security for 100 percent of the sites, quite frankly."
The news of the missing explosives followed an IAEA report earlier this month that said high-end, dual-use machinery that could be used in a nuclear weapons program was missing from Iraq's nuclear facilities. (Full story)
"Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands, they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we've seen," the IAEA's Fleming said.
She described Al Qaqaa as "massive" and said it is one of the most well-known storage sites. Besides the explosives, it also held large caches of artillery.
Fleming said the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, Austria, did not know whether some of the explosives may have been used in past attacks.
The IAEA said that before the war it inspected the Al Qaqaa facility multiple times and verified that the material was present in January 2003. The agency said the material was mentioned in reports to the U.N. Security Council that were made public.
Ereli said coalition forces searched 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings at the Al Qaqaa facility after the war for weapons of mass destruction. The troops found none, but did see indications of looting, he said. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
"Some explosive material at the time was discovered, although none of it carried IAEA seals, and this discovery was reported to coalition forces for removal of the material," Ereli said.
Ereli said coalition forces have cleared 10,033 weapons caches and destroyed 243,000 tons of munitions. Another 162,898 tons of munitions are at secure locations and awaiting destruction, he said.
A senior administration official played down the importance of the missing explosives, describing them as dangerous material but "stuff you can buy anywhere."
The official noted that the administration did not see this necessarily as a "proliferation risk."
"In the grand scheme -- and on a grand scale -- there are hundreds of tons of weapons, munitions, artillery, explosives that are unaccounted for in Iraq," the official said.
"And like the Pentagon has said, there is really no way the U.S. military could safeguard all of these weapons depots or find all of these missing materials."
The official said the Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and documented the scope of the problem.
Threat from terrorists
A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.
"The immediate danger" of the lost stockpiles is its potential use by insurgents to make small, but powerful, bombs, an expert told the Times. The expert said the explosives could be transported easily across the Middle East.
According to the Times, the stockpiles missing from Al Qaqaa are the strongest and fastest in common use by militaries around the globe.
The Iraqi letter to the IAEA identified the vanished explosives as containing 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or "high melting point explosive," 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or "rapid detonation explosive," among other designations, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or "pentaerythritol tetranitrate."
Fleming said the IAEA, whose mission is to keep track of everything with potential nuclear weapons applications, had been monitoring about 100 sites in Iraq, but there were only a few of special concern, including Al Qaqaa.
"This is a real massive quantity of explosives that could have reached the hands of insurgents and could be used with deadly force and consequences against people in Iraq," Fleming said.
"One would have to assume it's been stolen by someone who has some sort of nefarious purpose for it."
Political fallout
With the U.S. presidential election eight days away, news of the missing explosives quickly became campaign fodder.
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry immediately seized on the information to accuse President Bush of incompetence in failing to secure the material, charging that "this is one of the great blunders of Iraq and one of the great blunders of this administration."
But in the wake of the NBC report, the Bush campaign fired off a statement saying that Kerry's criticism of the president over the missing material has "been proven false before the day is over."
"John Kerry's attacks today were baseless," Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said. "He said American troops did not secure the explosives, when the explosives were already missing."
Schmidt also said that Kerry "neglects to mention the 400,000 tons of weapons and explosives that are either destroyed or in the process of being destroyed" in Iraq.
But Kerry senior adviser Joe Lockhart fired back with a statement of his own, accusing the Bush campaign of "distorting" the NBC News report.
"In a shameless attempt to cover up its failure to secure 380 tons of highly explosive material in Iraq, the White House is desperately flailing in an effort to escape blame," Lockhart said. "It is the latest pathetic excuse from an administration that never admits a mistake, no matter how disastrous."
Lockhart did not elaborate on how the Bush campaign was distorting the NBC report.
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/26/iraq.explosives
Another Lie
By N.E. Republican
Kerry certainly has an active imagination. First it was the Cambodia story, then it was running in the Boston Marathon, now he has been caught in another lie.
According to an ESPN interview, Sen. John Kerry claimed to be just "30 yards away" from Bill Buckner's infamous error in game 6 of the 1986 World Series. That fateful game was held at Shea Stadium in New York on October 25, 1986.
However, thanks to a sleuthing Political Wire reader, a Boston Globe article (from the archive) says Kerry was in Boston that night at a banquet:
<<<<
N.M. GOVERNOR DETAILS HIS STATE'S SUCCESS STORY
Published on October 26, 1986
Author(s): Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff
New Mexico's governor, who holds the highest elected post of any Hispanic nationwide, and the head of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination were given awards for political excellence last night by the Massachusetts Latino Democratic Committee.
More than 250 people -- including Gov. Dukakis, US Sen. John Kerry and an array of state Cabinet members -- attended the banquet at the World Trade Center in South Boston honoring Gov. Toney Anaya and Alex Rodriguez.
>>>>
Kerry makes the same claim in a USA Today piece: "I was about 30 yards away from Billy Buckner when that ball wiggled away. I had cracked a bottle of champagne, was jumping up and down — prematurely."
Not the biggest issue in the world, but if Kerry was there I seriously doubt they had bottles of champagne in the stands behind the Mets dugout.
Is there anything this man won't make up? He is becoming worse than Al Gore!
http://nerepublican.blogspot.com/2004/10/another-lie.html
The liar
By: trevino · Section: Democrats
John Kerry, speaking to the United States Senate, 9 October 2002 --
America wants the U.N. to be an effective organization that helps keep the peace. And that is why we are urging the Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough, immediate requirements. Because of my concerns, and because of the need to understand, with clarity, what this resolution meant, I traveled to New York a week ago. I met with members of the Security Council and came away with a conviction that they will indeed move to enforce, that they understand the need to enforce, if Saddam Hussein does not fulfill his obligation to disarm.
__________________________________
John Kerry, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, 3 December 2003 --
Thanks to some friends in New York, I was invited to come up and meet with the Security Council in the week prior to the vote, and I wanted to do that, because I valued my vote. And I wanted to know what the real readiness and willingness of our partners was to take this seriously.
So I sat with the French and British, Germans, with the entire Security Council, and we spent a couple of hours talking about what they saw as the path to a united front in order to be able to deal with Saddam Hussein.
_______________________________
John Kerry, speaking to the Boston Globe, 10 December 2003 --
I spent a lot of time before the vote looking at this issue. I went up to the United Nations at the request of some friends. And I met with the entire Security Council in a room just like this at a table like this. I spent two hours with them. (inaudible), just me and the Security Council, asking them questions. The French ambassador, "Is there a time when President Chirac would be ready to come on board? What do we need to do to move the French people to a place where they understand the stakes? Are you prepared to spend money? Do you believe we might have to use force in order to disarm Saddam Hussein? At what point would you be ready to do that?" I went through that with all of them.
_________________________________________________
John Kerry, speaking to campaign rallies as reported in the New Yorker, 19 July 2004 --
Because I might well have been in Iraq if Saddam had stiffed the U.N., continued to not allow inspections, hidden things. But I would have brought other countries to the point of impatience with him. Then they would have been there with us. And the President could have done that. I know it because I spent the time to go up and meet with Security Council representatives. I talked to them at great length prior to the vote....I came away convinced that they were serious, that the resolutions did mean something, that they saw it as a moment for the U.N. to stand up for itself.
____________________________________________________
John Kerry, speaking to the Unity: Journalists of Color Conference, 5 August 2004 --
I believe in my heart of hearts and in my gut that this president fails that test in Iraq. And I know this because I personally, and others, were deeply involved in the effort with other countries to bring them to the table.
I met with the Security Council of the United Nations in the week proceeding the vote in the Senate. I voted to hold Saddam Hussein accountable because, had I been president, I would have wanted that authority, because that was the way to enforce the U.N. resolutions and be tough with the prospect of his development of weapons of mass destruction.
______________________________________________________
John Kerry, speaking to the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 26 September 2004 --
At the time, I said and I supported the president, but I said look, you ought to take an extra period of time, if the French have some reservations, let’s put it on the table. Let’s have a U.N. Security Council meeting. I met with the security council personally one week before the vote, and I asked the French ambassador and the British and the Germans and the others, ‘What are you prepared to do?’ And all of them said they were prepared to stand up and enforce the resolutions of the United Nations, but they wanted the time to do it properly.
__________________________________________
John Kerry, speaking to the American people in the second debate, 8 October 2004 --
I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable.
I came away convinced that, if we worked at it, if we were ready to work and letting Hans Blix do his job and thoroughly go through the inspections, that if push came to shove, they'd be there with us.
_______________________________________________
Every one of these statements is a lie. And, pace those on left and right who spent the weekend dreaming up world-shattering scenarios and are suffering from consequent anticlimax, this matters. Read on.
Posted On: Oct 25th, 2004: 01:47:23, Rated: 5.00/1
The pattern of quotes and representations is systematic, longstanding, and clear. John Kerry has invested substantial time and effort into promulgating the notion that he met with the Security Council of the United Nations -- either explicitly or sub rosa, all members of the Security Council -- just prior to the United States Senate's 11 October 2002 vote on the Iraq war resolution. (Note, by the bye, that the Kerry campaign itself tried to push the lie that the Senator met with the entire Security Council -- until forced to back down by Mowbray's fact-checking.) The reasons for the creation and dissemination of this myth are clear enough:
John Kerry wants to demonstrate his ability to work with foreign leaders.
John Kerry wants to relate the respect in which he is held -- he summoned the entire Security Council -- by foreign leaders.
John Kerry wants to buttress his case, however false it is, that he can induce foreign leaders to cooperate with him -- as here, so too in Iraq.
John Kerry wants to provide an ancedote on his superior perspicacity when it comes to divining the nature and intentions of foreign leaders.
John Kerry needs an anecdotal circumstance to explain why he's pro-war and anti-war all at once.
And so, the little self-serving lie, trotted out at regular intervals: harmless to the teller until exposed. Count this one as exposed. Make no mistake -- this lie of Kerry's is exposed as such, and as a lie rather than one of the many exaggerations to which the man is infamously prone. ("I personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blew up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, and razed the UN Security Council in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.") Joel Mowbray and the Washington Times are bound by the honorable conventions of honorable journalists, and so can only report that which is openly sourced and on the record. Bless them for it.
I'm not.
Let's go over for a moment just who was on the Security Council in 2002, and their reported roles in Mowbray's piece (my own paraphrases interspersed):
Permanent members
Britain -- Secondhand reports suggest meeting with Kerry.
China -- Nothing on record.
France -- Directly confirms meeting with Kerry. Jean-David Levitte, then France's chief U.N. representative and now his country's ambassador to the United States, said through a spokeswoman that Mr. Kerry did not have a single group meeting as the senator has described, but rather several one-on-one or small-group encounters. He added that Mr. Kerry did not meet with every member of the Security Council, only "some" of them. When pressed for those "some," Levitte could only name himself and the former UK Ambassador to the UN.
Russia -- Nothing on record.
United States -- An official at the U.S. mission to the United Nations remarked: "We were as surprised as anyone when Kerry started talking about a meeting with the Security Council."
Elected members
Bulgaria -- Stefan Tafrov, Bulgaria's ambassador at the time, said he remembers the period well because it "was a very contentious time." Denies meeting with Kerry.
Cameroon -- Directly confirms meeting with Kerry.
Colombia -- Ambassador Andres Franco, the permanent deputy representative from Colombia during its Security Council membership from 2001 to 2002, said, "I never heard of anything."
Guinea -- Nothing on record.
Ireland -- Nothing on record.
Mauritius -- Nothing on record.
Mexico -- Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico's then-ambassador to the United Nations, said: "There was no meeting with John Kerry before Resolution 1441, or at least not in my memory."
Norway -- Nothing on record.
Singapore -- Directly confirms meeting with Kerry.
Syria -- Nothing on record.
So what do we have, here? Three (or four, if you accept the secondhand reports of a UK-Kerry encounter) meetings of Security Council constituency personnel with Kerry. Four (including a mystery off-the-record nation) or five (including the United States) outright denials of any contact with Kerry. Those who say they did speak with Kerry demolish his tale of a single group sit-down -- which lie the Kerry campaign even now adheres to. Note two things, here:
First, Kerry's purported meeting with the entire Security Council managed to leave out a full third of the Council.
Second, go ahead and re-read the quoted lies above. Notice a surprise guest at the table in Kerry's imaginary international conference? Germans. Kerry is manufacturing a Security Council meeting involving nations that weren't on the Security Council in 2002.
This much is on the record.
Here's what's off the record. I write this with two caveats -- I'm not laying down everything that's off the record, and Mowbray and the Washington Times have done their own work independent of Red State on this count, so I reveal nothing whatsoever passed on to either in confidence. See the list of countries there? Seven nations have "Nothing on record" appended to them. But that doesn't mean their personnel had nothing to say on the subject. Let's put it this way: if you ever want to disabuse yourself of the myth that John Kerry will command unique respect in the wider world, go ahead and call some UN missions to fact-check his rhetorical invocations of their names and nations. Red Staters encountered a gamut of reactions, from outright stupefaction to the fellow who said, "Do you really want me to research this when we both know it's a lie?"
The one reaction we didn't encounter? "John Kerry? Sure, we met with him."
Bottom line, folks: John Kerry has spent the past two years repeating over and over and over and over and over and over and over again the lie that he had a single sit-down meeting with the United Nations Security Council prior to the Iraq war resolution vote. The reality is that he met with a mere handful of Security Council constituency personnel -- members of four, perhaps five, and certainly fewer than half of the delegations -- in scattered, ad hoc encounters over a vague period of time.
This isn't mere exaggeration. It's an outright lie -- by this standard, I've convened meetings of the Security Council -- and as I said, it matters. For this is no mere game of rhetorical gotcha. Rhetorical gotcha is digging up a film clip of John Edwards at a function with the Vice President; it is calling the President on a regrettable lapse of memory, and pretending this constitutes a serious critique of either. We can expect honest Democrats who reveled in these examples to feel sorrow and shame at the exposure of John Kerry. We can also expect this demographic to be vanishingly small.
This isn't gotcha: it directly undermines a key element of the Kerry mythos. After a public lifetime of anti-Americanism and fecklessness, Kerry knows that he needs drive home the five points listed above in order to convince the American people of his fitness to represent and lead our nation abroad. How to square this with that? How to explain the big lie? How to dismiss the appropriation of -- and believe us, the insult to -- these nations with whom Kerry will purportedly work and ally? How to pretend that this is the act of a man laying claim as a central campaign theme the pretense to superior diplomacy, and yes, honesty? How to explain that nettlesome Iraq war resolution vote now? What does John Kerry say? Does he forthrightly acknowledge his error? Or, like the loudmouthed teenager caught bragging about romantic conquests never made, does he simply pretend it never happened?
One thing is certain: we don't have to.
http://www.redstate.org/story/2004/10/24/204215/41
Kerry's Fictional Diplomacy: Waiting for Kos
Truth laid Bear
October 25, 2004 05:46 AM
After spending a few paragraphs making fun of the significance of last night's revelation that Kerry lied about meeting with the entire U.N. Security council on Iraq, Daily Kos had this to say:
<<<But there is a punchline -- The story is wrong. Kerry did meet with everyone...
Update: I know I haven't sourced the assertion that Kerry met with everyone. When we see the story, with the names of the ambassadors who claim not to have met with Kerry, then it'll be easy enough to refute the allegations.>>>
As I pointed out late last night, the story is now out, as are the names of several Amabassadors who state they didn't meet with Kerry:
Andres Franco, Columbia
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico
Stefan Tafrov, Bulgaria
Kos is now on the record quite flatly declaring that he can debunk the heart of this story (and it will "be easy", in fact!). I'm waiting to see his followthrough.
Folks, I can't say for sure if lefty activists like Kos really don't think this story is a big deal (they are quite self-deluded enough to believe that), or if they're spinning. I'm inclined to think the latter.
This story is a major threat to Kerry, and I think the left knows it. Here's why:
- It is recent: this isn't a case of differing recollections about something that happened in the jungle 30 years ago.
- It is relevant: This isn't a case about lying about sex (as Bill pointed out): it was a lie right at the heart of Kerry's key foreign policy argument: that Bush failed to involve allies adequately in the war, and that Kerry would do better.
- It is simple. There's no confusing details; you don't have to learn the specifications of a Swift Boat or the precise qualifications required to receive a Purple Heart . He said he met with the entire Security Council. The representatives of the Security Council say he didn't. Period. Easy.
All these factors add up to a straightforward and clear story that most definitely could damage Kerry --- and should damage Kerry --- in the critical last week before the election.
Again, I'd ask my colleagues on the right side of the blogosphere --- yes, I'm talking to you --- to keep this in mind. Don't let Kerry off the hook on this one, or we might end up with nobody but ourselves to blame next week.
More from:
Michelle Malkin: "I don't agree with critics of the story who sniff that there's "nothing new" in exposing Kerry's lies and that therefore the story is a dud."
Hugh Hewitt: "There is clear Bush momentum that is going to accelerate as the non-meeting with the Security Council story gets legs and reminds voters of Kerry's magic hat, his never falling down on the ski slopes, and his gun running to the anti-communists of Cambodia..."
Red State, where it all started, rounds up historical Kerry quotes...
http://www.truthlaidbear.com/archives/2004/10/25/kerrys_fictional_diplomacy_waiting_for_kos.php
Christmas in Cambodia All Over Again
Roger L Simon
October 24, 2004
Is John Kerry a sociopath? That's an extreme statement but it would seem he at least exhibits sociopathic tendencies if the new report by Joel Mowbray in the Washington Times turns out to be correct. We all remember the Senator's bizarre (and to date unsubstantiated) claim that he spent Christmas in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Well, he appears to have gilded the lily once again, this time, incredibly, before our very eyes during the second presidential debate. From Mowbray:
<<<At the second presidential debate earlier this month, Mr. Kerry said he was more attuned to international concerns on Iraq than President Bush, citing his meeting with the entire Security Council.
"This president hasn't listened. I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them, to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable," Mr. Kerry said of the Iraqi dictator.>>>
Evidently, Senator Kerry while talking to millions of Americans never thought anyone would check this bold assertion. According to Mowbray:
<<<But of the five ambassadors on the Security Council in 2002 who were reached directly for comment, four said they had never met Mr. Kerry. The four also said that no one who worked for their countries' U.N. missions had met with Mr. Kerry either.>>>
Now THAT is strange. Cambodia revisited indeed. The mainstream media did its best to obfuscate that previous story, the New York Times burying it at the bottom of one of its articles on the Swift Boat veterans. But I will ask those same editors and publishers if they are going to do the same thing now. Do they think it's fine to let a man with this odd relationship with the truth serve in the White House during a time of terrorism, no matter what their "ideologies"? Time for some serious thinking and investigation. (via Power Line)
http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2004/10/christmas_in_ca.php
365 Special Forces Vietnam Veterans Have Something To Say
A collection of thoughts blog
They have written a strong, eloquent statement of solidarity with the Swift Boat Veterans and believe that John Kerry is unfit to be our Commander-in-Chief or to lead our nation as President.
I'm not talkin' 3 or 6 SFers, I'm saying that 365 of them signed this statement. Scrolling down the list of names is like a who's who of SF Vets. There are guys from Mike Force, 5th Group, SOG's three CC's, Project Delta, 7th SFG, 46th, 10th SFG, B-57, there are One Zeros, Project 404, a Son Tay Raider...
I know where I stand and its with these Veterans, many of whom I am proud to call "friend." On the list I saw Billy, Ringo, Bucky, Crazy Nick, Manes, Noe, Bennie McDonald, Dingo... finer men you couldn't ask for. These are the real deals, the heroes, men I have looked up to since I was a young lass. Carry on Gentlemen. HOOAH!
An Open Letter to Senator John Kerry and a Statement of Solidarity with our Swift Boat Brothers-in-Arms from Special Forces Vietnam Veterans
The undersigned Special Forces Vietnam Veterans support our Swift Boat brothers-in-arms and believe that John Kerry is unfit to be our Commander-in-Chief or to lead our nation as President. The Kerry presidential campaign has raised the significance of this deeply-felt and long-standing issue. While many, if not a majority, of the signatories of this request are Republicans and Bush supporters, many are not. Those who are Democrats have been effectively disenfranchised by Kerry’s candidacy.
For most of us the question of his fitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief, or in any other office of honor and high public responsibility, was settled permanently in the negative thirty-three years ago. He slandered and dishonored all Vietnam Veterans in false and exaggerated testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. By throwing away the symbols of his honors, he insulted all veterans of all wars by debasing the milestones of their valor.
He has unrelentingly opposed issues vital to veterans. He has supported measures that have led to genocide of our former allies, the Montagnards, and the enslavement of the people of Vietnam. He has blocked efforts to enact Human Rights legislation to help alleviate their condition. He has taken action which led to the abandonment of American POWs in Vietnam that most of us believe were left behind.
His stated plan to double special operations forces rapidly in response to today’s threats demonstrates his lack of understanding of what makes a Special Forces soldier and his failure to understand that the available conventional armed forces manpower pool is insufficient to provide the necessary qualified personnel without seriously degrading standards.
By Lieutenant Kerry’s own request, he returned to the United States after completing only one-third of his tour. He did this by seeking and receiving three Purple Hearts for wounds of questionable cause and severity. He was the commander of a military unit, in this case a Naval combatant craft, and he abandoned his crew to the fight to return to a life of ease. By the standards expected of a Naval line officer of the United States, even with the most charitable interpretation, this is contemptible.
There are serious questions concerning the circumstances of Lieutenant Kerry’s first Purple Heart, and perhaps about his other decorations, as well. These questions prompt us to call him to sign Standard Form 180 to authorize the full release of all records pertaining to his service. If his awards failed to measure up to the standards required, he should formally request that these awards be rescinded and removed from his record.
No apology, especially a Jane Fonda-type, insincere or tepid apology is acceptable. No legislative abridgement of our freedom of speech or because one candidate or the other does not wish to discuss the matter will halt the discussion of these issues. We have the American right to discuss these issues. We fought for that right.
We call upon the American people to reject his effort to become Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces and we urge other Veteran groups to join our solidarity with the Swift Boat critics of Senator John Kerry.
This statement is signed by the following 365 Special Forces Vietnam Veterans. 12 Special Forces veterans indicated that they did not wish to sign and their names are being withheld to preserve their privacy. Both of these lists have been cross referenced in the Special Forces in SE Asia Database to verify that they served with Special Forces in SE Asia.
Signatories
Rank Name Unit Assignment Date
LTC (RET) STEVEN J ABDALLA HHC, 5TH SFGA 03/70 - 03/71
SGT JAMES E ACRE CCS MACV-SOG 4/69 - 4/70
CPT (RET) WILLIAM J ADAMS 5TH SF GROUP 11/69-11/70
MAJ (RET) HERMANN ADLER 5TH SFGA B-52 (PROJECT DELTA) 66-67//69-70
CPT (RET) WILLIAM L ALBRACHT 5TH SFGA, II MIKE FORCE 08/69 - 08/70
1LT JERROLD M ALEXANDER A-242, CO B 9-69 TO 9-70
COL (RET) ROBERT L AMICK JR A-108, B-3, C-1 FEB/66-FEB/67
LTC (RET) WILLIAM R ANDREWS MACV/SOG/OP-33 04/68-04/69
SSG (RET) DONALD ANGLIN 5TH, RIGGER O6/71-O3/73
LTC (RET) JOSEPH J ANGSTEN JR A-361, B36 NOV 68 - NOV 69
MAJ (RET) JOHN B "BARRY" ARCHER DET. A-102 & 1ST MOBILE STRIKE FORCE, 5TH SFGA 11/69-12/70
1LT MICHAEL C ASH 5TH SFGA MACV SOG 10/69 - 11/70
SGT (RET) THEODORE D ASLUND 5SF 09/68
COL (RET) ROY W BAHR CCN/CCC,MACV-SOG MAR 68-MAR69
SP5 (RET) STEWART L BAKER S2, C-4 04/69-08/70
SGT JAMES H BALDWIN CCN - TFAE1 APRIL 71 - FEB72
MSG (RET) GEORGE L BEACH 5TH SPECIAL FORCES NOV.67-OCT.68
MSG (RET) GENE C BELL 5TH SFG 61-72
SSG (RET) FRANK L BELLETIRE CCC-FOB. 2 68 TO 69
CPT DONALD R BENDELL SR. ODA-242, CO B-5TH SFGA 05-68-03-69
MSG DON W BENESH RECON, CCC, 5TH SFGA 09/69 -09/70
SGT MARTIN T BENNETT TF2AE 08/70-08/71
MSG (RET) JOHN B BICE 403 RR SOD 10/66 - 10/67
MAJ (RET) ROBERT H BLAIR A-133; 1STSFG 06/62 - 07/65
CPT GEORGE A BLAKEY JR B-20 MOBILE STRIKE FORCE, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 68/69
SSG JOHN M BLEVINS JR A-415; A-412 05/67-06/68
SFC (RET) ALLEN R BODKIN CCS 06/68 - 05/69
COL (RET) JOHN N BOGART C-4 10/65 - 07/66
SFC (RET) JOSEPH M BOSSI PROJECT 404 04/69-04/70
MAJ (RET) ROBERT H BOST CCS 05/69-05/70
LTC (RET) LEONARD A BOULAS DET. B 52 PROJECT DELTA 07/64-11/65
SGM (RET) WILLIAM G BOWLES 1ST & 5TH SFG(A) 61/62/63/ 09/68-11/69
MAJ (RET) GEORGE G BOYD SOA/CCN - RT OKLAHOMA 11/69 - 12/70
MAJ (RET) JOHN J BRADFORD NHA TRANG MIKE FORCE, 5TH SFG 10/665 - 07/66
SP5 JERRY H BRAUDRICK A-104, C CO, 5TH SF, RVN 01/1965 TO 01/1966
SGM (RET) RONALD D BROCKELMAN C 1 MIKE FORCE & B-53 SOG 11/64-12/66&11/69-01/71
SGT RICHARD N BROKHAUSEN TF1AE, RECPN COMPANY ?? ?70/ MAR 72
SGM (RET) ROBERT E BROPHY MACV-SOG 05/66-05/67
SGT (RET) THOMAS C BROWN 5TH SPECIAL FORCES 5/66 - 67
LTC (RET) ROBERT K BROWN A-334; S-5 SFOB 02/69 - 09/69
LTC (RET) ALVIN H BUCKELEW TEAM OAK, PROJECT GAMMA 10/66-10/67
LTC (RET) JOHN P BURDISH III B-52/MEDICAL 02/68 - 10/69
CPT CLARENCE A BURRELL 5TH SFG, SFOB 07/69-08/70
LTC (RET) LEWIS H BURRUSS JR A-503 10/68
SGT PETER J BUSCETTO CCS 68-70
CPT (RET) JAMES E BUTLER CCN-RECON/MACSOG 08/70-01/72
SSG (RET) ROBERT D BYRNE B 55 MIKE FORCE JAN 70 - MAR 70
WO2 (RET) JAMES J CAREY A-232 & A-231 FEB 68 - APR 69
SGM (RET) RANDOLFO CESANI 5TH SFGA 67-68 & 69-70
MSG (RET) ROBERT A CHAREST B-56 SIGMA 5THSFG ABN 07/67-06/68
MSG (RET) STEVEN W CLARK 403SOD, 5THSFGA 10/68 - 06/69
SFC GEORGE E CLARK RCNDO;B-55 11/67-04/70
MAJ (RET) JOHN E CLECKNER II A 222-102, SFOB 1966-1969
CPT (RET) NEIL P COADY CCC 03/69-07/70
SGT VERNON E COLE C-2 09/26/68
LTC (RET) KEITH W COLLIVER STDAT-158, SPECIAL MISSION FORCE 01/7211/72
COL (RET) HENRY J COOK III A-402, A-403 67-70
SGM (RET) WILLIAM COOMBS S-4 LSC, 5TH SFGA 10/66-04/70
SGT JOHN J COPPINGER B-36 MGF 08/66 TO 05/68
MAJ (RET) ROBERT A COSTA A-503, C-4(S-3),CO E, S-3 11/66-11/67,11/68-11/69
COL (RET) ANDREW J COTTINGHAM JR 5TH GROUP/WRAIRSF/FEST(ABN) 09/66-08/67
SSG WILLIAM P COUGHLAN CCS 04/69=11/70
LTC (RET) LEONARD E COWLING DET A232,218,219 OCT65-OCT66
SFC (RET) STEPHEN L CRAIG DETACHMENT A-104 SEPT 1969 - SEPT 70
LTC (RET) WILLIAM J DADEK CCS 07/70-03/72
MSG (RET) GARY L DALTON 5TH SFGA,HQ/OMEGA PROJECT B-50/FANK CMD ITG 12-65-11-66/6-71-5-72
WO2 (RET) RONALD C DAVIDSON CCS/CCN 03/71-02/72
SGT JOSEPH A DAVIES DET. A-351 & DET. A-334, 5TH SFG (AIRBORNE) 04/66-05/67
MAJ (RET) MAURICE T DAVIS JR 5TH SFG/ SOG SEP 68/SEP69
COL (RET) JOHN J DEACY B-36, 3RD MSFC, CO.A, 5TH SFG (ABN) 11/67 - 05/69
SGT NORBERT C DEBOLT CCN 08/70-8/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT C DEES A-402, D CO, 5TH SFG(A) 01/70 - 12/70
MSG (RET) GERALD E DENISON MACVSOG FOB 2 9-67 10-68 3-71 11-71
SGM (RET) PHILIP F. D. DEVLIN 5TH SFGA, B52 & B51 01/70 - 12/70
1LT (RET) JOHN F DICK JR IDC,NHA TRANG 10/01/1968-12/30/1969
MAJ (RET) ROBERT E DOBBINS HQMACVSOG, OP-35 O5/69 - 12/70
SP4 DENNIS W DOBBS DET. A-238 BUON BLECH 10-67 - 10-68
SP5 DAVE DOVER FOB 2 MACV/SOG , DAK SEANG, DUC CO 3/67 - 1/68
SFC (RET) ALOYSIUS A DOYLE MGF, MSF, SMAG 12-63 TO 03-72
SFC (RET) LYLE D DRAKE B-55 (A-503) MIKE FORCE OCT 69 - OCT 70
MAJ (RET) THOMAS R DRINKARD SOG 07/67 -07/68
MSG (RET) JOHN F DRYDEN 3 A TEAMS, 5TH SFG 11/66 - 08/68
CPT (RET) LEE C DUNLAP 1ST SFG,MACVSOG,5TH SFG 06/67-03/68-05/69-05/70
SP5 (RET) STEVEN R DUNLOP [SHANAHAN] A-236 BUPRANG & A239 DUC LAP 11/10/69-11/10/70
MAJ (RET) ALVIN E DUNNEM A-749A 08/63-01/64
COL (RET) MICHAEL J DWYER TF2AE 06/71-06/72
SGT (RET) JOHN R DYKE JR 5TH SFG(ABN) CO D 9/66 TO 11/67
MSG (RET) GLENN E DYKE A-232 11/64-11/65
CSM (RET) MERLYN D ECKLES B-56 09/66-10/67
MAJ (RET) RANDAL ELLIOTT DET A-239 5TH SF GROUP 08/66-03/67
SSG (RET) THOMAS G EMBRY EAGLE FLIGHT 03/65 - 11/65
SSG STEVEN H EPPERSON A-231 05/69-04/70
MSG (RET) RICHARD L ESTES CCN 4/68- 4/69
MAJ (RET) AGUSTIN R FABIAN SOA B-52 07/69-07/70
SGT ROBERT J FAIR 5TH MOBILE STRIKE FORCE 08/68 - 08/69
LTC (RET) SAM M FELTENSTEIN II A-251 03/69-03/70
LTC (RET) KENNETH D FERGUSON 5TH SFGA JUL/63-AUG/66
CPT (RET) GREG R FINLEY 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 06/67 - 03/69
CPT (RET) PETER FITTS A-416 06/68- 11/68
SP4 JOHN J FITZPATRICK HHC (PUB INFO OFF), 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GP (ABN) 06/68 - =6/69
MSG (RET) RAYMOND F FLAHERTY 5TH SFGA JUNE 66 - MAY 67
COL (RET) ALLAN F FLEMING JR C&C 08/67-04/69
MSG (RET) GLENN R FORSYTHE 5TH, 7TH, & 10TH SFGA 11/63-07/79
MAJ (RET) RONALD P FORY RECONDO SCHOOL/COC 07/69-07/70
MSG (RET) EDGAR E FOSHEE B-52 1964-1965
MAJ (RET) TERRY A FOX B-40, 5TH SFG 07/69-05/70
SFC (RET) WILLIAM K FOXWORTH S3, HHC. 5TH SFGA DEC 67-DEC 68
SGM (RET) TRUMAN L FOY LSFG(ABN) 5SFG(ABN) 11/65-11/66 10/69-10/70
1LT (RET) CHARLES J FRALEY III B-43 A-432 2/68 -3/69
WO3 (RET) WILLIAM O FREYSER MULTIPLE MULTIPLE
MSG (RET) HARRY E FRIBERG A-503,A-102, MACVSOG 12/65-12/66, 09/70-09/71
MSG (RET) RAYMOND M FROVARP FOB-1, 3 & 4 & TF1AE 8/67-08/68;1/71-1/72
COL (RET) CHARLES H FRY DET A-217, 5TH SFG 01/67 - 07/67
MSG (RET) ALLEN E GANEY B-CO 5TH SF A-255 OCT 67 - 68
SGT BRUCE H GARDNER DET B52 5TH SF 1ST SFG 06/65-10/666
COL (RET) A LINCOLN GERMAN JR CDR., DET A-224/B-23/C-2 11/65-11-66 & 1/70-1/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT E GILBERT 5TH SFG 10/68 - 10/69
CSM (RET) CLIFFORD J GISSELL 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GP 09/68-09/69
COL (RET) GEORGE R GIVENS CO. A, CCN, 5TH SFGA 11/68 - 06/70
CSM (RET) EDWARD H GLEASON JR SOG, CCN, 1ST SFGA 67-75
SGT NICHOLAS J GODANO B-56 05/68-02/69
SSG JOHN W GOOD SOA CCC 02/70 - 03/72
LTC (RET) DAVID K GORDON CCN SOG 07/69 - 10/69
SGM (RET) FRANCIS M GRAHAM A-414, B-11 11/63-05/64--06/69-05/70
SSG (RET) DONALD A GREEN SOA CCC, 5TH SFGA 09/69 - 07/71
SGT MICHAEL D GREER MACV USARV 1/72-12/72
MAJ (RET) JAMES M GRIMSHAW 5TH SFG 03/66 - 03/67
1LT WILLIAM E GRITZBAUGH A-104, ETC. 11/69-11/70
SSG AARON W GRITZMAKER A-100 MAY66-525MAY67
MSG (RET) GEORGE E GROOM CO B 1ST SFG 04/6- 12/61
MAJ (RET) DONALD P GROSS 5TH SFG, RECONDO,PRU SEP 66-DEC 69
MSG (RET) JOSE GUERRA A-102 11/67 - 11/68
CPT MACK W GWINN JR SOG CCS 09-12-70
COL (RET) MAYO A HADDEN III DET B-52, 5TH SFGA 12/66-12/67 6/69-5/70
LTC (RET) REGINALD W HALL HQS S2 SECTION 12/67-02/70
SGM (RET) JEROME F HAMPTON RCNDO; C-2 01/70-12/70
SGT JOHN A HANSCOM A-242, B-24, CO.B, 5SFGA 04/69 - 04/70
MAJ (RET) PHILLIP L HANSON 46TH SPECIAL FORCES COMPANY SEPT. 1970 - SEPT. 1971
WO4 (RET) JOHN W HARRISON HQ 5TH SPECIAL FORCES NOVEMBER 1968
SGT JAMES C HARRISON B-56 07/67-07/68
MAJ (RET) JOHN R HAUCK A312, A324 MAR 1966-FEB 1970
MSG (RET) ROBERT F HEAD 5TH SFG./CSD/MACV-SOG 05/66-05/67 05/68-05/69
LTC (RET) GEORGE D HEIB B-4510 46THE SFCA JUL 67-JUN 68
SSG MICHAEL C HEINRICY 5TH SFG MACVSOG CCN 8/70 8/71
MSG (RET) PATRICK J HEMINGER CCN 06/70-06-71
COL (RET) ROBERT L HENDERSON DET C3, 5TH SFGA OCT 64-OCT 65
MSG (RET) PHILLIP M HERBERT C&C DET, FOB 1 05/67 - 04/68
SGT TONY R HERRELL FOB-3,-1,& -4 04/68-04/69
WO3 (RET) GEORGE W HEWITT SOG - CCS/CCN 12/69 - 12/70
SGT CHARLES W HIGHTOWER CO D, DET B43, A433 APRIL 66 THRU NOV 68
SSG (RET) TERRY L HILL 403RD SOD, 5TH SFG 03/68 - 10/69
MSG (RET) MELVIN HILL SOA CCN 05/66-05/67 03/70-10/71
MSG (RET) ROBERT M HINES SR MACV MAY68-MAY69
SGM (RET) CHARLES F HOAGLAND JR 5TH SF, MIKE FORCE II CORPS 08/67-08/68-08/71-05/72
LTC (RET) LEON M HOPE MACSOG 10/70-04/71
SGT (RET) EVERETT L HOUSTON USA SF CCN 01/69- 11/69
SSG CHESTER B HOWARD B-52, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP 6/1969 - 6/1970
MSG (RET) HUGH R HUBBARD NUMEROUS 1962-1972
MAJ (RET) THOMAS O HUMPHUS RANGER SEC, DET. B-52, 5TH SFGA 02/68 - 08/69
MSG (RET) CARLOS M INOT C CO., 5TH SFG(A) 11/67 - 11/68
SGM (RET) HAROLD JACOBSON 1SFG/CSD 61-63
MSG (RET) JAN JANOSIK 46THCO/WHITE STARE/B31/36/COMBODIAN PROGRAM 60/61/65-66/68/71-72
SGT DEAN A JARVIS B-36 A-363 (UITG) 07/71 - 04/72
SGM (RET) JERRY L JEFFCOAT 403 SOD, PLEIKU JUL 67 - AUG 68
MSG (RET) HENRY D JENNINGS 5TH SFG & MACVSOG SEP66TO JUNE 69
COL (RET) EDWARD M JENTZ MACSOG OP-35 JUN 1966 - JAN 1967
MSG (RET) ROBERT B JOHANSEN DET B-50, CCS 04/67-08/68
LTC (RET) ROBERT W JONES JR 5TH SF GP HGS & DET B-55 12/69 -12/70
SP5 (RET) STEVE E KABEL DET A-414, 5SFGA, 1SFGA 11/69 - 10/70
SGT TERRY N KAISER B-55 1966-1968
CPT (RET) LARRY M KEIL CCS 01/69-0170
SGT ALAN N KELLER FOB-2 05/66-04/67
SGT LESLIE W KELLEY A-106 07/69 - 07/70
WO4 (RET) LARRY D KELLY CCN 1/71-12/71
1LT (RET) KENNETH A KELSCH 5TH SFG, SOA 08/68-9/89
SGT (RET) GEORGE E KENNEDY B 15 5TH SFG (I CORP MIKE FORCE) JUNE1968 -APRIL 1969
SSG (RET) FRANK E KENNEMUR A411 DEC
1LT LESLIE C KENNEY II HHC 11/67-07/68
1LT JON R KER A-245 0169-0469
CPT (RET) DONALD L KING A-421 & B16 MSF 09/64-65 & 05/69-70
SGT (RET) ERNEST H KIRK DET. A415, B-41, 5SFGA 17 SEP 69-17 SEP 70
SSG STEPHEN J KIRK MACVSOG CCN FOB#1 JUNE 67-MAY 68
SP4 (RET) GARY P KLESITZ A255-B COMPANY-5TH SFG 10/69-10/70
MAJ (RET) HENRY P KOHN JR B-56, PROJECT SIGMA, 5TH SFG (ABN), 1ST SF (CCS) 05/68 - 05/69
SGT (RET) CHARLES J KOSCINSKI A-726 1964 JULY-NOVEMBER
SGT (RET) MICHAEL J KRAWCZYK FOB 1 CCN 10/68-05/69
SP5 GARY F LAMBERTY 403RD SOD 03/69 - 10/70
SGT BRUCE R LANG CCN 1971; PROJECT 404 1970 03/70 - 9/71
CPT (RET) JAMES P LATTIMORE A-232, B-20 MSF, 5TH SFGA 11/68 - 11/69
SSG (RET) JOHN B LAWSON B CO, B55, B53, SOG36 05/67 - 12/69
SGT (RET) JOSEPH L LENHART 5THSFGA,C4,A402,A416 07/67 - 07/68
SP5 GARY L LEONARD 5TH SF, TFIAE (CCN) 07/70 - 10/71
SGT DOUGLAS L LETOURNEAU CCN 10/68 - 10/69
SGM (RET) JAMES W LEWIS A-304,A-432,5TH SF JAN 67-DEC67
MAJ (RET) MICHAEL D LINNANE DET A 244 12/98-12/99
COL (RET) ROBERT W LOCKRIDGE A-334, 1ST SFG (ABN); HQ 5TH SFG(ABN) 11/64-05/65;12/66-11/67
LTC (RET) LANCE O LOLLINI 5TH SFG, HHC 68,69
SFC THOMAS B LONG JR A-255 12/65-12/66
SFC (RET) RILEY E LOTT JR 4TH CORP MIKE FORCE 12/64-12/68 7/69-7/70
MAJ (RET) WILLIAM T LUEDERS 7TH SF JAN 60 - DEC 63
MAJ (RET) DONALD E LUNDAY 5TH SFG, MACSOG 11-66-10/67,72/73
MAJ (RET) JAMES D MACDONALD C-4 10/67-05/69
MSG (RET) EDWARD H MACDOUGALL MACV SOG, 5TH SFGA 1965-66...1968-69
SGT (RET) ROBERT B MACPHEE 6TH SFG,5TH SFG A103,MACV MY AN IV CORPS 3/67-9/67, 10/67-10/68
LTC (RET) EUGENE E MAKOWSKI DET A-111, CO C 5TH SFGA 11/67 - 10/68
CPT (RET) LARRY T MANES MACSOG/5TH SFG. 09-62--07-72
CSM (RET) REGINALD T MANNING A-322;B-32 01/69-01/70
SSG (RET) JAMES J MARABLE CO D 5TH SFGA 1ST SF 08/1969-08/1970
MAJ (RET) BOBBY H MARLER A-110, FANK/UITG 06/66-05/67 06/71-03/72
LTC (RET) HENDERSON R MARRIOTT III SMAG 71-72
SGT BARTON N MARSHALL 5TH SFG, II CORPS MIKE FORCE (PLEIKU) 03/67 - 03/68
MSG (RET) DEAN M MCBRIDE 5TH SFG MACVSOG CCS 1977
CPT (RET) GARY L MCCLENDON A 121 B 210 04/62-10/62 02/63-08/63
LTC (RET) PAUL J MCDILL 5SFGA, I CORPS MIKE FORCE 68-69
MSG (RET) BENNIE R MCDONALD DET. "A-411" CO. D, 5TH SFGA 01/67----01/68
MSG (RET) JOHN C MCGOVERN 5TH SFG, CCN, FOB1 FOB3 JAN. 1968- JAN. 1969
SGT TERRY L MCINTOSH A--414, CO D, 5TH SFGA 1968 - 1969
1LT JAMES D MCLEROY A-106; FOB-4 CCN 06/67-07/68
MSG (RET) JAMES MCLUCKIE 5TH SFG 1966/67-70/71-72
1LT (RET) CHARLES W MCMENAMY A-503 07/66-02/67
MSG (RET) LARRY S MCMILLIN SOG/ RECONDO/B40/A-421 05/66-05-67/10-69-5-70
MSG (RET) PATRICK D MCTAMANY A-415, 5TH SFGA 03/68 TO 03/69
SGT PATRICK W MEADE A-233 5TH SFG 08/66-09/67
CPT (RET) KEITH J MESSINGER JR CCN (RT VA) & MLT1 OCT 70-OCT 71
CSM (RET) GRADY F MILES 1ST,5THSFG,SOG,FOB2 APR60 FEB 72
CPT (RET) RICHARD L MILLER A-311/A-333 10/65-10/66 10/68-10/69
LTC (RET) RICHARD S MILLER XO B32, S2 C3, 5SFGA 01/68-01/69
LTC (RET) MICHAEL A MILLER CCN; SFOB 10/69-09/69
CPT TRAVIS W MILLS MACV-SOG 05/68 - 12/69
MSG (RET) DAVID S MITCHELL 5TH SFG, SOA RECONDO 06/69 - 06/70
CPT (RET) JAMES P MONAGHAN NUMEROUS NUMEROUS
SGT LEONARD D MOREAU B-56 11/67-10/68
MAJ (RET) JAMES F MORRIS C-2; SFOB; TDY 06-67-04/68
MAJ (RET) BOYD F MORRIS 5TH SF GRP 1963, 68-69, 71, 73
SFC (RET) MILLARD W MOYE JR CCC 12/70-12/71
SGM (RET) STEVEN A MOZIAN B-52 2/69-8/70
CSM (RET) ROBERT F MULCAHY 4THBNMSF 04/69-05/70
MAJ (RET) WILLIAM G MULLINS SR DET 12/68-12/69
SGT (RET) JACKIE W MULLINS A-413 02/68-05/69
SFC (RET) JOHN R NEWMAN CCC,5TH SFG(A) 06/70 - 06/71
SFC (RET) CLIFFORD M NEWMAN MACV SOG 08/69-08/71
CPT (RET) ROBERT L NOE CCN/S1 5SFGA/A105 1SFGA DEC68-APR74
SGT CHARLES A NOYES A-341 BU DOP 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GRP RVN 09/69 - 04/70
SGM (RET) ROLAND NUQUI B50/B36 RECON 09/66-09/67;03/69-03/70
MSG (RET) LLOYD G ODANIEL 5TH SPECIAL FORCES, SOG, PROJECT 404 11/65-6/73
SFC (RET) WILLIAM V OLDS 403RD 08/1967-04/1969
SGT JOHN A ONEILL JR UITG/FANK LHTC 04/71-03/72
CPT (RET) JOHN M OSHEA A-326, B-32, CO. A, 5TH SFGA 6/69-6/70
MAJ JOHN E PADGETT VARIOUS- 5TH SFG(A) APR 67-SEP 71
SGM (RET) CLARENCE A PAGE A-351 5TH SFGA 04/66-04/67
SGT (RET) JOSE L PALACIO A108 12/1969-6/1070
SSG MICHAEL L PARKS DETACHMENT A 341 5TH SFG AUG 68-MARCH 70
MSG (RET) WILLIAM T PARLON 5TH SF SOG 9/64 - 9/65; 1/72 - 4/72
SGT JOSEPH F PARNAR CCC 5/68-4/69
SFC (RET) JAMES D PARRIS B-57 5TH SFG 06/69-12/70
SGT (RET) LARRY R PAYNE 10, RT MICHIGAN, CCN 03/68 -03/69
LTC (RET) LYNWOOD M PELOT JR MACSOG OP20 06/70-06/71
COL (RET) RAYMOND A PENDLETON DET. A-253 07/66 - 08/67
LTC (RET) JOHN R PERCHARD JR COC 5SFGA A103 CO113 MSF 05/67 - 05/68
SFC (RET) ROBERT L PERKINS A-321, 0966 0470
SFC (RET) BRUCE E PERRY CCS 05/68-06/70
SP5 (RET) CHARLES J PESTA DETACHMENT B-36 JANUARY TO JUNE
SP4 JOHN E PETERS FOB I; CCC 4/68 TO 3/69
SGT DANIEL J PIERELLI B-23 03/69-04/70
SSG RONALD B PIPER B-36 3RD MOBILE STRIKE FORCE 05/68-11/68
MSG (RET) WARREN A POCHINSKI A 343, B 34, C 3. (CO A) 01/66 - 12/68
SP4 (RET) PAUL W POSEY JR A-344, 04/67-12/67
CPT JON C POTTER SOA B50/CCS 06/68-06/69
SFC (RET) DONALD T PRESLER A-301 BEN CAT 11/64 - 11/65
MSG (RET) EULIS A PRESLEY SOA 01/67-12/70
CPT (RET) DAVID J PRISTASH TEAM XO 12/66 - 4/68
SGM (RET) ROBERT A PRONIER B57 6/69-6/70
SGT (RET) ROBERT D PRYOR A-344 12/68 - 06/69
MAJ (RET) DONALD L PUGH A-321 , A-324 ,302,322, B-35 9/65-9/66;1/68-2/69
MAJ WILLIAM S RATCLIFFE A-235 10/67 - 12/68
CPT (RET) THOMAS H RAU B-20 II CORPS MIKE FORCE 06/69 - 04/70
MSG (RET) MARCUS E REED 5TH SGG 62,63, 65,66,70,AND71
LTC (RET) CARL J REGAN 1ST SFG, 5TH SFG 1962 -1964
SGT MICHAEL T RHODE DET A-322; 5TH SFG 05/68-09/68
SFC KENNETH J RICHTER 5TH SFG(A) A-219 MIKE FORCE 12/66 - 12/67
SGT WILLIAM R RIMONDI JR 5TH SPECIAL FORCES; CCN 04/71-09/71
MSG (RET) JAMES G RINGLAND III FOB1 05/67-06-68
SFC (RET) RONALD L ROBERTSON 14TH ENG BN, FT ORD NOV 78-JAN 80
SGT JON L ROEMER DETACHMENT B52 11/67 - 11/68
SGT (RET) GORDON L ROTTMAN A-333 04/69 - 05/70
SGM (RET) ANTHONY L RUBIO A-233,B-50,RECONDOSCHOOL, B-36 11/66-11/67,03/69-03/70
SP5 JEFFREY L RUSSELL ODA 362 ODA 364 FANK 3/72 - 2/73
COL (RET) EDWARD S RYBAT FOB-1;FANK 67-68;70-71
1LT (RET) DAVID F RYDER JR B-52 04/68 03/69
SGT DOUGLAS A SAPPER A/310 A/322 A/342 1965 TO 1966
MAJ (RET) STEVEN R SCHOFIELD MACVSOG, CCN 0368-0768
1LT (RET) GEORGE H SCHWINGHAMMER A-231 10/69-12/70
SSG MICHAEL G SCOTT 5TH SFGA, 1ST SF,CCN.B-52,FANK 12/67 05/69
CSM (RET) DOUGLAS C SEAL 403D RRSOD,5TH SFG 08/69-08/70
COL (RET) JAMES L SELDERS 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GRP (ABN) 11/68 - 11/69
SGM (RET) ATLEY J SHARP CCS OCT 68-OCT 69
MSG (RET) ANDREW D SHEPPARD A-331;B-52; C-4;FANK 1965-71
1LT STEPHEN G SHERMAN C-2 S-5; SFOB S-5 5TH SFGA 08/67-08/68
SP4 LONNIE T SHOULTZ JR DETACHMENT A-108, 5TH SFGA 2/66 - 12/66
SGT WALTER R SHURLING A-108 5TH SFGA 12/69 - 12/70
SSG LARRY E SILLS 46THSFCA, HALO/SUCBA DET ODA21 AUG 72 THRU AUG 73
SGM (RET) ROBERT N SILVA MR 77TH/5TH/7TH/10TH 1955-1979;1981-1983
MSG (RET) ROBERT H SIMMONS 539TH ENGINEERS/KB-1 FEB 68 - FEB 69
MAJ (RET) CLYDE J SINCERE JR MACVSOG; II CTZ MSF 06/66-6/69
MG (RET) JOHN K SINGLAUB MACSOG 05/66-08/68
MSG (RET) CLETIS D SINYARD SOA CCN 8/68 - 8/69
WO2 (RET) LOUIS SMITH JR FOB II 05/1966
SGT (RET) TERRENCE W "FISH" SMITH 5TH SFGA MACVSOGCCNRECON 69-70 71-72
LTC (RET) DAVID C SMITH SOG 03/67-05/68
MSG (RET) LEON P SONNENBERG CCS/CCN/B-53/FANK PTTB 09/69 - 11/72
MAJ (RET) STEVEN V SOSA MIKE FORCE,C-1 10/64-11/65
MSG (RET) MAX D SPEERS DET A321 BEN SOI RVN MAR66-MAR 67
SFC (RET) HERBERT J ST GEORGE B-50 (PROJECT OMEGA) 5TH SFGA 05/67 05/68
MSG (RET) ANDRE J ST LAURENT B-52/B-36/CCC/B-53 07/65-03/72
SGT JOHN M ST. MARTIN JR CCC RECON 12/68-08/69
SFC (RET) DONALD A STEBBINS B-40 A-402 11/68-05/70
SP5 ROBERT J STEPANIAN 5SFG DET A104/A105 3/68-3/69
SGT GEORGE J STERNBERG JR CCN 08/67-12/68
SFC (RET) LEE H STEWARD 46 SFA 1967---1968
SGM (RET) JIMMIE L STEWART 5TH SFG, MACVSOG (FOB-2/FOB-1) 05/66 - 04/67
MSG (RET) KENNETH D STICKNEY B35 CO A, 5TH SFG (ABN) 9/62-3/63 8/67-6/68
CSM (RET) RONNIE STRAHAN 7TH,5TH,6TH,10TH SFG 06/66 - 07/91
SGT ROBERT L STRANGE CCN 09/67-09/68
LTC (RET) DARR F SULLIVAN JR A-412, C-4, 5TH SFGA 07/65-07/66
SP5 (RET) JOHN L TALBOT 5TH SFG(ABN), SMAG 06/70 - 07/71
SGM (RET) DONALD J TAYLOR 5TH SFG AND MACV SOG 01/66 - 03/72
MAJ (RET) JAMES T TAYLOR A 749, A342, A302 06/65-02/66
SGT ROBERT W TAYLOR 5TH SFG SOA CCN 08/69 - 08/70
SFC DOUGLAS L THOMAS MAC/SOG CCS/CCN 4/69-1/72
SSG LYNN R THOMPSON CCN RECON 09/66-02/72
COL JOHN N TOBIN B 55, 5TH SFGA 05/69-05/70
MSG (RET) LAUGHLIN J TODD CCC RT CA 05/70-05/71
SFC (RET) LARRY L TRIMBLE FOB 4 07/68 - 07/69
CPT (RET) CHARLES F TRUCKS CCN; TF1AE 04/70-04/71
CPT (RET) DANIEL D TURNER SON TAY RAIDERS 08/70 - 11/70
CPT STEPHEN N TWINING B-55 A-504 4/70-2/72
MSG (RET) DONALD E VALENTINE 5TH SF GRP [ABN] 12/64-12/65 & 3/68-8/68
MAJ (RET) HARLAN E VAN WINKLE ODA341, 5TH SFG(ABN) 09/69-05/70
CSM (RET) JOSE E VASQUEZ DET. A-502, 5TH SFG (ABN) JAN 1967-FEB 1968
SGT MICHAEL J VERMILLION B-52 (DELTA), CCC MACVSOG 01/70 - 01/71
MSG (RET) DONNIE C VICKERS OPN.SGT.& 1ST SGT RECON CCS SOG 3/67-3/68,10/70-10/71
CPT (RET) JOHN D WAGHELSTEIN CDR, ODA -101 07/65-07/66
MSG (RET) JOSEPH A WASKAS 5TH SF GROUP(ABN) 10/1967 - 04/1969
MAJ (RET) THOMAS R WASKOVICH SOA / CCC 1/69-12/69
SGM (RET) PATRICK N WATKINS JR MACVSOG 67-68-71-72
SGM (RET) WILLIAM D WAUGH VARIOUS A TEMAS, MIKE FORCE, SOG 1954-1973
1LT (RET) RICHARD C WEIGOLD MACVSOG--CCS 06/68 - 05/69
MSG (RET) LEWIS H WELLS JR 5TH SF SOG 03/71 TILL 2/72
SSG (RET) HENRY D WETHERINGTON A-322,B-32,C-3, 5TH GROUP 10/67 - 10/68
CSM (RET) JAMES D WHEELER SOA (CCN), 5TH SFGA MAY 70-APRIL 72
SSG (RET) LAURIE W WHITLARK 5TH SFG(A) 07/67-07/68,,04/69-08/70
SFC (RET) FRANKLIN P WHITMORE CCN 1969 - 1970
WO3 (RET) ROBERT E WHITTAKER AVIATION SECTION,46TH SF GP THAILAND JULY,1971-JULY,1972
MAJ WARREN W WILLIAMS SOG, OP-35 DECEMBER 1968
SSG (RET) GENE H WILLIAMS 5TH SFG (ABN) & MACV SOG 07/66 - 10/68
SFC (RET) WARREN R WILLMAN CCS 06/68 - 07/69
SGM (RET) DAMIAN P WILSON 403RD RRU, 5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP (ABN) 11/67 - 11/68
CPT (RET) GARY G WINETEER A-242, A-244 10-66/10-67
SSG ROBERT B WOODHAM CCN 08/70-01/72
MSG (RET) JASON T WOODWORTH 1ST, 5TH SFG, SOG 06/63 - 01/69
CSM (RET) HARRY B WORD JR A-503 , B-52 66-67-68=69
MSG (RET) GARY L WRIGHT UITG/FANK 72-73
CPT (RET) EDWARD K YARBROUGH IV 5TH SF GROUP 4/66 -4/67
SGT RAYMOND K YARBROUGH C-3 - BIEN HOA 8/66 - 6/68
CPT KLARE W YAVASILE B-57 (03/68-02/69)
You really have your head buried deep in the sand, don't you?
To hear liberals tell it, Bush was the crooked liar whose
sanctions caused innocent Iraqi children to die. Now it turns
out Kerry's favorite foreign leaders & the UN were the real
reason.......
AP EXCLUSIVE:
Iraqis reveal in secret interviews how Saddam manipulated oil-for-food program
- DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, October 23, 2004
(10-23) 10:35 PDT NEW YORK (AP) --
Interviews with dozens of former and current Iraqi officials by congressional investigators have produced new evidence that Saddam Hussein micro-managed business deals under the U.N. oil-for-food program to maximize political influence with important foreign governments like Russia and neighboring Arab states.
The Iraqi officials, who were flown outside of Iraq for their own safety during the interviews, provided a list of foreign companies favored by Saddam and his top lieutenants for import contracts under the U.N. program. They also revealed a parallel blacklist of companies that the then-Iraq leader disqualified from getting deals, investigators told The Associated Press.
The precaution of redoubled secrecy comes after an Iraqi official involved in the oil-for-food investigation of corruption died in a car bombing in late June after speaking with investigators from the House International Relations Committee. The official, Ehsan Karim, who headed the Iraqi Finance Ministry's audit board, was interviewed in Amman, Jordan, on May 21.
The Iraqi officials also helped investigators identify Iraqi front companies, which operated abroad to solicit and process alleged bribes from foreign companies and to help facilitate imports for the Iraqi government, including dual-use military goods such as vehicles.
The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, was created to permit the former Iraqi government to sell limited amounts of oil in exchange for humanitarian goods as an exception to U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
One of the documents, known as "the exempt list" and obtained by AP from congressional investigators at the House International Relations Committee chaired by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., catalogues companies personally approved by Saddam and top lieutenants to circumvent Iraqi regulations to sign deals. The list contains hundreds of names of companies from more than two dozen countries.
No French, Chinese or American companies are on the list, but more than 280 Russian and 100 Saudi companies account for well over half of the list. The investigator who provided the document to AP said Congress might not have the full list.
Earlier this month, the top U.S. arms inspector, Charles Duelfer, published a report that listed foreign companies and individuals who had received vouchers for oil contracts under the U.N. program from the former Iraqi government. The report said Saddam himself approved companies.
Duelfer's report alleged that Saddam's government had used the oil vouchers to both solicit kickbacks and to reward countries and individuals willing to cooperate with Iraq's political goals. Companies and individuals from Russia, France and China dominated the list.
Saddam was able to "subvert" the $60 billion U.N. oil-for-food program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003, the Duelfer report said. In addition to oil-for-food schemes, Iraq brought in over $8 billion in illicit oil deals with Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Egypt through smuggling or illegal pumping through pipelines during the full period that sanctions were in place, the report added.
But the new lists obtained by AP of both companies favored and spurned by the Iraqi government are a more overt illustration of Saddam's manipulation of the program.
One investigator described the exempt list as the equivalent of the list in Duelfer's report of oil voucher recipients, but in this case for goods imported under the U.N. program.
"Until now, it had been thought that only vouchers for oil were handed out, but due to disclosures by Iraqi officials from the Ministry of Trade, we now understand that the practice was spread even further," said the investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Companies on Saddam's special lists got vouchers giving them priority for deals in humanitarian goods under oil-for-food, or to act as middlemen for companies providing goods.
Some Iraqi officials confirmed the lists were crafted to reward companies from countries supporting Iraqi political goals, especially the lifting of U.N. sanctions, investigators said.
"These lists illustrate how Saddam Hussein cynically manipulated and corrupted the oil-for-food program," said Hyde. "The fact, disclosed in the Duelfer report, that some countries based their Iraq policies on these corrupt practices is shameful."
The exempt list came from an official at the Iraqi Ministry of Trade and was authenticated separately by over a dozen current and former Iraqi officials, investigators said.
The official told investigators in Amman that names could be placed on this list by Saddam through his secretary, Abdel Hamoud, by Iraqi Vice-President Taha Ramadan, or Hussein's sons Oday and Qusay, according to notes of the interviews obtained by AP.
"Many foreign delegations were coming to Baghdad by plane with businessmen and sometimes even artists," the official told investigators, according to other notes that were read to AP. "They broke sanctions laws and spread propaganda then they would go to the ministry of trade. Anyone who could agree to a contract for any item at a set price would get a voucher."
Another official explained that Saddam and others sometimes asked that foreign delegations bring favorite artists with them for entertainment. He alleged that Saddam granted vouchers to a prominent Egyptian actress, called Raghda, whose picture he kept in his bedroom.
Iraqi officials said that as many as 3,000 to 4,500 contracts or about 10 to 15 percent of all deals for importing goods through the U.N. program were granted to companies on the exempt list. The list includes numerous large Russian oil companies -- whose names also appear on the oil vouchers list published in Duelfer's report -- including Gazprom, Lukoil and Tatneft.
In the past, Russian companies have denied any wrongdoing in the oil-for-food program.
A handful of obscure companies from Western countries including Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Italy and Switzerland appear on the list.
Over 250 companies appear on Saddam's blacklist, obtained from an Iraqi Health Ministry official, according to congressional investigators. The document also details reasons the companies lost favor with the Iraqi government. Dozens of the companies are blasted for "dealing with the Zionist entity," apparently referring to Israel.
One contract in English obtained by AP from investigators required companies given deals with the Iraqi government to sign a pledge that says, "We hereby confirm our commitment and pledge not to deal with Israel."
American companies Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett-Packard Co., and Eli Lilly and Co., make the list for this reason and Agilent Technologies Inc. -- which was spun off from Hewlett-Packard -- is accused by Vice President Ramadan of changing its name from Hewlett-Packard to "enter into Israel," according to the document.
Lukoil, which reportedly clashed with Baghdad after refusing to break sanctions to begin development of an Iraqi oil field, is the only company to make the oil voucher list, the exempt list and the blacklist. Its entry onto the blacklist is dated October 2002. In December 2002, Iraq announced the cancelation of a $3.7 billion contract with Lukoil to develop the oil field.
WOW! Is there anything John Kerry won't lie about to get
elected? And when Kerry is caught in his egregious lies, why
does he continue lying until irrefutable evidence forces him
to tell new lies that revise history?
Security Council members deny meeting Kerry
By Joel Mowbray
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
U.N. ambassadors from several nations are disputing assertions by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry that he met for hours with all members of the U.N. Security Council just a week before voting in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq.
An investigation by The Washington Times reveals that while the candidate did talk for an unspecified period to at least a few members of the panel, no such meeting, as described by Mr. Kerry on a number of occasions over the past year, ever occurred.
At the second presidential debate earlier this month, Mr. Kerry said he was more attuned to international concerns on Iraq than President Bush, citing his meeting with the entire Security Council.
"This president hasn't listened. I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them, to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable," Mr. Kerry said of the Iraqi dictator.
Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in December 2003, Mr. Kerry explained that he understood the "real readiness" of the United Nations to "take this seriously" because he met "with the entire Security Council, and we spent a couple of hours talking about what they saw as the path to a united front in order to be able to deal with Saddam Hussein."
But of the five ambassadors on the Security Council in 2002 who were reached directly for comment, four said they had never met Mr. Kerry. The four also said that no one who worked for their countries' U.N. missions had met with Mr. Kerry either.
The former ambassadors who said on the record they had never met Mr. Kerry included the representatives of Mexico, Colombia and Bulgaria. The ambassador of a fourth country gave a similar account on the condition that his country not be identified.
Ambassador Andres Franco, the permanent deputy representative from Colombia during its Security Council membership from 2001 to 2002, said, "I never heard of anything."
Although Mr. Franco was quick to note that Mr. Kerry could have met some members of the panel, he also said that "everything can be heard in the corridors."
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico's then-ambassador to the United Nations, said: "There was no meeting with John Kerry before Resolution 1441, or at least not in my memory."
All had vivid recollections of the time frame when Mr. Kerry traveled to New York, as it was shortly before the Nov. 7, 2002, enactment of Resolution 1441, which said Iraq was in "material breach" of earlier disarmament resolutions and warned Baghdad of "serious consequences as a result of its continued violations."
Stefan Tafrov, Bulgaria's ambassador at the time, said he remembers the period well because it "was a very contentious time."
After conversations with ambassadors from five members of the Security Council in 2002 and calls to all the missions of the countries then on the panel, The Times was only able to confirm directly that Mr. Kerry had met with representatives of France, Singapore and Cameroon.
In addition, second-hand accounts have Mr. Kerry meeting with representatives of Britain.
When reached for comment last week, an official with the Kerry campaign stood by the candidate's previous claims that he had met with the entire Security Council.
But after being told late yesterday of the results of The Times investigation, the Kerry campaign issued a statement that read in part, "It was a closed meeting and a private discussion."
A Kerry aide refused to identify who participated in the meeting.
The statement did not repeat Mr. Kerry's claims of a lengthy meeting with the entire 15-member Security Council, instead saying the candidate "met with a group of representatives of countries sitting on the Security Council."
Asked whether the international body had any records of Mr. Kerry sitting down with the whole council, a U.N. spokesman said that "our office does not have any record of this meeting."
A U.S. official with intimate knowledge of the Security Council's actions in fall of 2002 said that he was not aware of any meeting Mr. Kerry had with members of the panel.
An official at the U.S. mission to the United Nations remarked: "We were as surprised as anyone when Kerry started talking about a meeting with the Security Council."
Jean-David Levitte, then France's chief U.N. representative and now his country's ambassador to the United States, said through a spokeswoman that Mr. Kerry did not have a single group meeting as the senator has described, but rather several one-on-one or small-group encounters.
He added that Mr. Kerry did not meet with every member of the Security Council, only "some" of them. Mr. Levitte could only name himself and Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of Britain as the Security Council members with whom Mr. Kerry had met.
One diplomat who met with Mr. Kerry in 2002 said on the condition of anonymity that the candidate talked to "a few" ambassadors on the Security Council.
The revelation that Mr. Kerry never met with the entire U.N. Security Council could be problematic for the Massachusetts senator, as it clashes with one of his central foreign-policy campaign themes — honesty.
At a New Mexico rally last month, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Bush will "do anything he can to cover up the truth." At what campaign aides billed as a major foreign-policy address, Mr. Kerry said at New York University last month that "the first and most fundamental mistake was the president's failure to tell the truth to the American people."
In recent months, Mr. Kerry has faced numerous charges of dishonesty from Vietnam veterans over his war record, and his campaign has backtracked before from previous statements about Mr. Kerry's foreign diplomacy.
For example, in March, Mr. Kerry told reporters in Florida that he'd met with foreign leaders who privately endorsed him.
"I've met with foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly," he said. "But, boy, they look at you and say: 'You've got to win this. You've got to beat this guy. We need a new policy.' "
But the senator refused to document his claim and a review by The Times showed that Mr. Kerry had made no official foreign trips since the start of 2002, according to Senate records and his own published schedules. An extensive review of Mr. Kerry's domestic travel schedule revealed only one opportunity for him to have met foreign leaders here.
After a week of bad press, Kerry foreign-policy adviser Rand Beers said the candidate "does not seek, and will not accept, any such endorsements."
The Democrat has also made his own veracity a centerpiece of his campaign, calling truthfulness "the fundamental test of leadership."
Mr. Kerry closed the final debate by recounting what his mother told him from her hospital bed, "Remember: integrity, integrity, integrity."
In an interview published in the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Mr. Kerry was asked what he would want people to remember about his presidency. He responded, "That it always told the truth to the American people."
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041024-110609-9428r.htm
Say, NYT article says DUBYA's IQ is higher than Kerry's.
This must infuriate the intellectual left that someone so
eloquent and intellectually nuanced in the ways of the world
would actually be 'less smart' than their arch enemy.
(Hat tip to Scared but Hopeful)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/politics/campaign/24points.html
Here's the money quotes:
Mr. Sailer estimated from Mr. Bush's SAT score (1206) that his I.Q. was in the mid-120's, about 10 points lower than Al Gore's.
Mr. Bush's score on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test at age 22 again suggests that his I.Q was the mid-120's, putting Mr. Bush in about the 95th percentile of the population, according to Mr. Sailer. Mr. Kerry's I.Q. was about 120, in the 91st percentile, according to Mr. Sailer's extrapolation of his score at age 22 on the Navy Officer Qualification Test.
Linda Gottfredson, an I.Q. expert at the University of Delaware, called it a creditable analysis said she was not surprised at the results or that so many people had assumed that Mr. Kerry was smarter. "People will often be misled into thinking someone is brighter if he says something complicated they can't understand," Professor Gottfredson said.
(edit: I note that indcjournal has the same link)
Why Kerry Fears ‘Stolen Honor’
Christopher Ruddy
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004
John Kerry fears you will see “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal.”
His campaign has devoted a huge amount of resources – and even risked increasing interest in the documentary – to stop Sinclair Broadcast Group from airing it on television.
http://tinyurl.com/699su
Sinclair is a large station group, with 62 stations, but its reach covers only about 25 percent of the U.S. market – a fraction of the almost total reach of the big networks: CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox.
So, what is Kerry so worried about?
After watching the film, you can understand why.
For starters, “Stolen Honor” offers a compelling indictment of John Kerry as a man and as an American. This is powerful stuff. Any reasonable, independent American would likely be swayed by it.
This election could be so close that every vote will count. Kerry has to pay attention to what Sinclair will air in battleground states where it has stations, places like Charleston, W.V.; Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; and Pensacola, Tallahassee and Tampa, Fla.
Kerry cannot risk this.
This past summer the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched their first TV ad – including fellow vets who criticized Kerry’s activities as a naval officer in Vietnam. The ad caused a hubbub and Kerry blew it off.
But then the Swift Boat Vets ran an ad featuring former POWs alleging that Kerry betrayed them and his country with his anti-war activities.
With that charge Kerry’s lead over Bush evaporated – and the Swiftees became a national sensation.
The issue of Kerry’s Vietnam activities has been a blur in the minds of Americans. All the men in his boat, save one, stand by his account, while almost everyone else who was there says Kerry is a liar.
But what is not a blur is what Kerry did after he returned from Vietnam.
Kerry, as we know, became one of the major leaders of the anti-war movement.
That story has not been fully told – and “Stolen Honor” opens the window for the first time.
Kerry thought that after decades had passed people would forget. He even brazenly tried to play off his Vietnam War experience as the main selling point of his campaign.
But some people have long memories, included the POWs, many who spent over five years in brutal imprisonment that included regular torture.
Kerry was not the cause of their imprisonment, but as 17 of these men aver in “Stolen Honor,” Kerry gave aid to the enemy when he, a decorated war hero, accused American soldiers of having committed war crimes, including burning villages and killing babies.
The POWs remember Kerry because he apparently was oft-quoted by their Vietnam captors.
Kerry had made a name for himself in America for his anti-war activities, and in communist Vietnam he became a national figure. In fact, to this day, Kerry is lionized as a hero in the country’s war museum.
Today, this same man is on the doorstep of the White House and trying to gain entrance. He wants to be commander in chief.
But the men who remember him, who have no political ax to grind, do not want us to forget what young John Kerry did.
One is James Warner, a POW who won two Silver Stars. Warner and his family remember Kerry well, because it was Kerry who contacted Warner’s family as he was suffering in a Vietnamese prison. Kerry pressed Warner’s family to denounce the United States’ war effort.
And then there is Steve Pitkin, a 20-year-old veteran in 1971 who is featured in “Stolen Honor.” Pitkin now says Kerry pressured him to make up stories of atrocities when he testified during Kerry’s Winter Soldier hearings.
Clearly, Kerry is afraid Americans may see this film and that is why he has ordered his campaign to launch a massive 11th-hour effort to stop this film.
Sinclair was the major target. Since it announced its plan to broadcast the film, Sinclair has been hit with a barrage of negative media attacks. Democrats – 18 senators – demanded the FCC intervene and stop the airing of the program. Kerry’s campaign wrote to Sinclair and demanded they not show the program.
Sinclair took other beatings as well. Stock analysts have trashed their stock – costing the company more than $100 million in market value. One of the major law firms of trial attorneys even threatened to launch a major shareholder lawsuit. A coalition of liberal groups began a massive effort to contact Sinclair advertisers to pull their ads.
The gutsy Sinclair is sticking to its guns and will air portions of “Stolen Honor” this Friday. Still, the whole film has yet to be shown to the American people.
As Kerry’s team was hitting Sinclair, two frivolous lawsuits suddenly were flung against Carlton Sherwood and his production company, Red, White and Blue.
Kerry’s campaign also lashed out when a small movie theater in suburban Philadelphia sought to show the film this past Tuesday night. The Kerry campaign sent an e-mail to local supporters calling them to action. Calls poured into the theater, and legal threats caused the owner to cancel the showing.
When Carlton Sherwood came to the theater anyway to hand out free DVDs to those who came and found a locked door, he was also greeted by pro-Kerry goons who were their to rough up him and his supporters. The police had to be called to clear the area.
Is this the America we know?
As several radio hosts noted to me, Michael Moore’s film was shown throughout the country in major theaters. There was no objection from Republicans – despite the fact that it was filled with hate, distortions and outright lies.
But a 43-minute documentary cannot be shown on TV or anywhere.
And the real American heroes who appear in the show and expose the real John Kerry have already become the targets of media assassination.
“Stolen Honor” offers more than insight into John Kerry. The drama that has unfolded around the efforts to show Americans this film offers a picture of how America is changing. We can see from this episode the type of place America will become if John Kerry makes it to the White House.
http://tinyurl.com/699su
Guardian Backs Off on Assassination
As we have noted, yesterday the Guardian published a column by Charlie Brooker that called for the assassination of President Bush. The column concluded:
<<<On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?>>>
The Guardian has now pulled the Brooker column; in its place is this notice:
<<<The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer.
"Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action - an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind.">>>
The entire Brooker column can still be read here. You can judge for yourself whether there is anything "humorous" about it. http://piratescove.typepad.com/piratescove/2004/10/the_guardian.html
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/008292.php
And one more from the, "By Any Means Necessary" libs.....
Preacher Ted? REally. No kidding.
POWERLINE
This morning Ted Kennedy, of all people, preached a sermon at the Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia in which, according to the Associated Press, he "urged the congregation to vote for Kerry." Here is an AP photo of the congregation <holding their Kerry/Edwards signs>: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/capt.ksd10210242056.battleground_pennsylvania_ksd102.jpg
Is it legal to hold political rallies in churches? Not if the church wants to maintain its tax-exempt status. But somehow the rules don't apply when the preacher is a Democrat. All those worries about how dangerous it is to mingle religion and politics don't apply, either.
Posted by Hindrocket at 04:59 PM
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/008293.php
Kerry Covered up Second Meeting with Vietcong Negotiators
John Kerry met twice with representatives of the North Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war, in separate visits to Paris over the span of more than a year - and planned a third meeting before he left the leadership of the anti-American protest group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
The unauthorized sit downs between Kerry and the enemy delegation, as detailed in this week's Weekly Standard, took place at the Paris peace talks in 1970 and '71 - and fly in the face of claims by the Kerry campaign that there was only one such meeting.
Noting that both the Washington Post and the New York Times had to retract recent reports attacking the Swiftboat Veterans and POWs for Truth for running an ad claiming that Kerry "secretly met with the enemy," the Standard explained that the confusions stems from attempts by the Kerry campaign to cover-up the earlier meeting.
"Kerry did go to Paris to meet the Communists in 1971, some time during the summer, probably in August. But this was a second trip, and Kerry's advocates have done their best to veil the fact that there was more than one trip."
The Standard added that Kerry's first meeting with North Vietnamese negotiators "took place in or around May 1970, eleven months before his Foreign Relations Committee testimony" where he trashed soldiers in Vietnam as "war criminals" and "monsters."
That first meeting "appears to have been kept secret for nearly a year," the Standard said, until Kerry mentioned it during his Senate testimony - which would validate Swiftvets' claims.
The Times' misreport centered on the claim that Kerry had met with "both sides" during the Paris talks. But like the single meeting report, this is also untrue.
"In 1971 when Kerry described his first Paris meeting, he said he had talked to 'both delegations.'" But the future presidential candidate wasn't referring to the U.S. and North Vietnam, but instead to both Communist delegations.
Correcting its error the next week, the Times reported that it had "misidentified the parties with whom Mr. Kerry said he had met at the Paris peace talks. . . . The parties were the two Communist delegations - North Vietnam and the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government."
The Standard notes that Kerry actually planned to meet a third time with enemy negotiators, but the trip never came off.
"FBI files reveal that Kerry planned a third such trip together with [VVAW leader Al] Hubbard for November [1971]. But, as it turned out, Hubbard went without Kerry, perhaps because the two had by then fallen out over revelations that Hubbard's repeated claims to have been an officer and a Vietnam vet were fabricated."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/24/30416.shtml
Review by NYT of Stolen Honor (the movie not the Sinclair Broadcasting mishmash) is pretty good.
Alessandra Stanley in The New York Times on October 21, 2004 said:
"Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," the highly contested anti-Kerry documentary, should not be shown by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It should be shown in its entirety on all the networks, cable stations and on public television . . . . it does help viewers better understand the rage fueling the unhappy band of brothers who oppose Mr. Kerry's candidacy and his claim to heroism."
"You are the one with the focus. Lie after lie. If you cared half as much about the lies of the Bush Administration you would understand what bs you post."
Ok, since you are so sure of yourself, pick out 4 of the most
egregious lies you believe I have posted. List them & then
provide your best evidence to prove they are lies.
If you do, I will gladly provide my best evidence to support
their accuracy & we can then openly, honestly, rationally &
logically debate our differences.
However, for you to simply claim I have lied with ZERO
evidence proves absolutely nothing.
Kerry's Dishonorable Discharge
- Mark Alexander is Executive Editor and Publisher of The Federalist Patriot, a Townhall.com member group.
October 23, 2004
"Never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing..."
--Thomas Jefferson
"Reporting for duty"? For a guy who's hitched his entire presidential campaign to his military service record, John Kerry sure is parsimonious when it comes to releasing that record. As noted in this column on more than one occasion, Kerry has consistently refused to sign a Standard Form 180 authorizing the Department of Defense to release all of his records.
George W. Bush's military records were so spotless that Dan Rather gleefully trotted out some fabricated documents in order to kick up a little dust. Of course, if Rather were a real journalist rather than just a TV talking head, he might actually develop a source who could find out what the remaining (approximately 100) pages in Kerry's DoD service jacket reveal.
What, exactly, is Kerry hiding? It is already common knowledge that most of his celebrated heroics were spurious, and that most of his medals were without merit (see "Kerry's Quagmire" at http://FederalistPatriot.US/alexander/ ). But given that the cat's already out of the bag, why not just sign the Standard Form 180?
For his part, Kerry claims he received an "Honorable Discharge" and that all his records have been released and are posted on his website, Kerry-04.com -- uh, make that JohnKerry.com. But Kerry has refused to say when he received an Honorable Discharge. Indeed, some of his military records are posted on his site -- but not all of them. Here, an experienced eye can read enough into what has been released by Kerry to develop a good profile of what hasn't been released.
It is our considered opinion, therefore, that John Kerry was separated from the military under a less than honorable discharge.
Among Kerry's released records is a 1977 cover letter from Jimmy Carter's Navy Secretary, W. Graham Claytor. What is revealing about this document is that it notes Kerry's original discharge was subject to review by a "board of officers" -- yet no such review should be necessary for an Honorable Discharge.
The review was conducted in accordance with "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163," which pertains to grounds for involuntary separation from military service.
As many Vietnam veterans who served their nation with dignity and honor will recall, Jimmy Carter's first official act as president was the signing of Executive Order 4483 --less than an hour after his inauguration on 21 January 1977. EO 4483 provided general amnesty for draft evaders, war protesters and other offenders of that era. Its corresponding, and equally dubious, DoD directive took effect in March of 1977, expanding that amnesty to include separation from military service by other than honorable discharges. The DoD specified an appeal procedure whereby discharges could be reviewed on an individual basis to determine whether the status of a particular discharge could be revised.
Having lost his first bid for Congress, Kerry no doubt decided that his political future would be brighter as a war hero rather than a war protestor. While there are several categories of discharges beneath honorable, including general, medical, bad conduct and other than honorable, it is very likely that Kerry's discharge was dishonorable.
Supporting this assertion is the fact that Kerry had all his medals mysteriously reinstated in 1985. He claims that he lost his medal certificates (perhaps these are what he famously threw over that Capitol fence in protest), but when a military officer is subject to a Dishonorable Discharge, in addition to the loss of pay benefits and allowances, all medals and honors are revoked.
In any case, it would be a cinch for John Kerry to refute our claim by simply signing that Standard Form 180. But he won't. Nor will hard-hitting journalists like Katie Couric and Dr. Phil press him on this issue.
Thus, while Kerry can correctly say -- thanks to Jimmy Carter -- that he received an Honorable Discharge, he could also say with equal precision that he received "other than honorable discharge." His activities as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were, indeed, forgiven by Carter's EO 4483 and the subsequent DoD directive.
However, according to legal scholars, John Kerry's meetings with enemy agents from Communist North Vietnam on multiple occasions between 1970 and 1972 are not covered under EO 4483. For that reason, we delivered to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday of this week a "Petition for Investigation and Indictment," calling on the Department of Justice to determine conclusively whether Kerry's actions, in direct violation of UCMJ (Article 104 part 904), U.S. Code (18 USC Sec. 2381 and 18 USC Sec. 953) and other applicable laws and acts of Congress, constitute treason. (To read the text of the petitioners' request, go to http://patriotpetitions.us/kerry/letter.asp )
Why prosecute Kerry now?
In October, 2003, Mr. Kerry chose to make his disputed Vietnam War record the centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency. In response, the more than 180,000 signatories of the above-referenced petition chose to make Mr. Kerry's war record the centerpiece of their campaign to determine whether his actions are subject to the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3.
The pertinent language states: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President ... having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
While it is clear that no action will be taken on the petitioners' request prior to 2 November, we remain committed to holding Senator Kerry accountable for his actions regardless of the outcome of his presidential bid. Indeed, we are all committed to serving Kerry with an irrevocable dishonorable discharge from public office.
Quote of the week...
"They're the men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam. They're his entire chain of command, most of the officers in Kerry's unit. ... And they're the men who spent years in North Vietnamese prison camps. Tortured for refusing to confess to what John Kerry accused them of being -- war criminals. ... Why is this relevant? Because character and honesty matter. Especially in a time of war."
--Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and POWs for Truth in their most recent ad on Kerry's war record and character.
On cross-examination...
"On more than one occasion, Senator Kerry has referred to the fight at Tora Bora in Afghanistan during late 2001 as a missed opportunity for America. He claims that our forces had Osama bin Laden cornered and allowed him to escape. ... As commander of the allied forces in the Middle East, I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality. ... Contrary to Senator Kerry, President Bush never 'took his eye off the ball' when it came to Osama bin Laden. The war on terrorism has a global focus. It cannot be divided into separate and unrelated wars, one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq. Both are part of the same effort to capture and kill terrorists before they are able to strike America again, potentially with weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist cells are operating in some 60 countries, and the United States, in coordination with dozens of allies, is waging this war on many fronts."
--General Tommy Franks
Campaign Violence in Arizona
POWERLINE
Violence by Democrats against Republican campaign offices continues to spread. The Arizona Daily Sun reports:
<<<Political motivations turned criminal Thursday night or early Friday when vandals smashed a large glass door with a section of cinder block at the Republican Party headquarters in downtown Flagstaff.
A pile of shattered glass joined egg shells filling the entryway to the GOP offices, located on Humphreys Street across from Wheeler Park. Fliers with information criticizing President Bush were stacked up outside the door.>>>
The photo below shows the entry to the Flagstaff Bush-Cheney headquarters, and the smashed front door. Click to enlarge
The Flagstaff attack followed only a day after a bomb threat against the Bush-Cheney headquarters in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: the party of hate is fast becoming the party of violence.
UPDATE: A reader in Winston-Salem, North Carolina sent us this photo of his neighbor's Bush-Cheney sign, crumpled by Democratic vandals. (His own sign was stolen.) This kind of thing is happening all over the country, as the Democrats violate all past norms of civility. Click to enlarge:
ANOTHER UPDATE: I love this one. Reader David Lind sent us this photo, which was taken by his wife. A Bush supporter had his lawn sign stolen, and put up this one instead. Click to enlarge:
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/008274.php
Voter Intimidation in Florida
POWERLINE
The Sun-Sentinel reports on the efforts of Democrat Party thugs to indtimidate Republicans voting in Florida:
<<<One woman who voted early in Boca Raton, at the Southwest County Regional Library, complained that as she stood in line, two men behind her were "trashing our president," Fletcher said, declining to identify the woman. She tried to ignore them. Then the man touched her arm and said, "Who are you voting for?"
"I said, 'I don't think that's an appropriate question,'" the woman said she responded. "Uh oh! We have a Bush supporter here," screamed the man behind her.
For the 2 1/2 hours she had to wait in line, she was heckled by the man. As they neared the voting room, someone in the rear of the line yelled, "I sure hope everyone here is voting for Kerry!" she reported.
That's when the man behind her held his hand over her head and screamed, "We have a Republican right here!" There were "boos and jeers" from the crowd.
Elaine Fandino complained to the Republican Party that she took her mother to vote on South Military Trail in Palm Beach County and was confronted by 25 people supporting John Kerry for president. The crowd was "very angry and used foul language," she reported. She said the man next to her said, "Where's my shotgun?"
In Broward County, at the regional library in Pembroke Pines, a voter complained that Kerry supporters used abusive language about President Bush and had signs and banners within 50 feet of the entrance.
Kerry supporters were "shoving anti-Bush propaganda at us," complained the voter, who said he shouted back "Vote President Bush!"
A woman who voted in Plantation at the West Regional Courthouse said she was offended to see five or six people with "huge stick on badges" for Kerry/Edwards, standing near the voting machines.
"Never in all the years of voting do we remember being allowed to show a badge or poster or literature while inside the area where the voters are standing ready to cast their vote," she wrote.
Juan D'Arce of Miami complained to the Republicans that he tried early voting in downtown Miami. He was wearing a Bush pin, but he couldn't stand the taunting, so he turned away and did not vote.
Howard Sherman complained about his voting experience at North Shore Branch Library in Miami-Dade County. He found a crowd of Kerry supporters blocking the door.
"They were positioned directly in front of the entrance to the library in such a manner that it would be impossible to avoid them while entering the polling place," he reported.
Sherman said he tried to slip through the thinnest part of the crowd, but a woman in a Kerry T-shirt grabbed his arm and asked if he was voting for Kerry.
"I seem to recall from civics class that this sort of electioneering is illegal," Sherman complained to the Republicans.>>>
I don't think it is alarmist to say that the future of our democracy is threatened by the Democrats' thuggish tactics.