Kerry called to task on exactly how his career began - CoverUps.com

April 2007

Kerry’s Outrage

John Kerry’s dubious political career began on the coattails of Vietnam atrocities, which he claimed were rampant and commonplace among U.S. troops in Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF) is calling Kerry to task on his initial findings some 40 years ago now, which he never seems to let us forget about. However, below are some eye-opening facts from the email newsletter circulated by the VVLF.

• When John Kerry slandered an entire generation of men who fought in Vietnam he branded them as "war criminals."Today, much of the same thing is being said about our young men and women in Iraq.
• A lawsuit filed in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas may finally force Kerry to answer for the events that launched his public career,one that made him an anti-war hero for many American liberals and a turncoat for millions of Vietnam veterans.
• The lawsuit challenges the basis, the factual accuracy of Kerry's acrimonious testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971.
• Kerry's public career was catapulted with his portrayal of American soldiers as murderers, rapists and torturers.
• For the anti-war, anti-American protesters, the American soldiers are the "terrorists," and the enemies are the victims of a barbaric U.S. military which tortures and murders defenseless civilians.
• The Lawsuit has it roots in 2004 with the documentary Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal. Many may recall the film, although it is probably best known for not being seen, suppressed after Sinclair Broadcasting Company courageously announced it was going to air the documentary in its entirety.
• Thanks to Kerry and his liberal colleagues in the Senate and their enablers in the mainstream media, Sinclair was browbeaten into withdrawing the film,its broadcast license threatened by a Kerry campaign manager in 2004. The film's producer, Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning investigative reporter, interviewed former POWs for the documentary.
• I was among those whom Sherwood, a decorated Marine combat veteran himself, asked to participate in Stolen Honor. I was a POW for nearly six years, held in North Vietnam prison camps, including the notorious Hanoi Hilton, a place of unimaginable horrors -- torture, beatings, starvation and mind-numbing isolation.
• When Kerry branded us "war criminals," he handed our captors all the justification they needed to carry out their threats to execute us. Thanks to Kerry, Jane Fonda and their comrades in the anti-war movement, our captivity was prolonged by years. The communists in Hanoi and Moscow couldn't have had a better press agent to spread their anti-American propaganda.
• To guarantee Stolen Honor would never be seen by anyone -- not even theatre-goers -- the producer was slapped with a libel and defamation lawsuit.
• The POWs and the wives of POWs who participated in Stolen Honor refused to abandon the facts conveyed in the film. For some of us, it was the first time since our release by the Communists in 1973 that we were able to have our voices publicly heard,to tell our stories about the consequences of Kerry's treachery.
• We believe that we can prove that the purpose of nearly two years of litigation was to cover up for Kerry's treachery, to drain us financially and spiritually, and to prevent us from setting the record straight.
• At stake is ultimately nothing less than the integrity of the American military in Vietnam , the honor of the men who served their country, the nobility of those who gave their lives, and the truth of America 's history in Vietnam. Until or unless we do correct the existing record, the American military may never be free of the myths and smears of Vietnam , its honor and integrity cleansed as it fights to defend freedom at home and around the world.

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Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation

Our Take

The public needs to know the true story about what really happened in Vietnam . We need to be aware of the evidence that may suggest otherwise that our troops were no guiltier of war atrocities than any combatant geared for the big win. Moreover, if John Kerry misconstrued facts about his own experiences in Vietnam , how can he be trusted to raise objective concerns about today’s task in Iraq? We applaud the VVLF for taking him to task.