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Son of a VET Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 07 Aug 2004 Posts: 791 Location: TN
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:19 pm Post subject: Veteran Files Suit in Anti-Kerry Film |
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Quote: | Veteran Files Suit in Anti-Kerry Film
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA - A Vietnam veteran shown in a documentary criticizing Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)'s anti-war activities filed a libel lawsuit against the movie's director Monday, saying the film falsely calls him a fraud and a liar.
Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."
The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service.
Campbell attached copies of his military records to the suit, showing that he received the Purple Heart medal and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service as an artillery forward observer in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.
The suit names the film's producer, Carlton Sherwood, and his company, Red White and Blue Productions, as defendants.
"The defendants' malicious, reckless and scandalous misrepresentations and falselight presentations of Dr. Campbell were done with the specific intent to defame Dr. Campbell and place him in a false light, and with a reckless and outrageous disregard for the truth," Campbell's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.
Campbell's lawyer also threatened legal action against the Sinclair Broadcast Group, an owner of 62 television stations that has announced that it intends to pre-empt regular program to broadcast "Stolen Honor" two weeks before the election.
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041018/ap_en_mo/kerry_film_1 _________________
Stolen Honor |
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one more captins mast LCDR
Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 438 Location: Texas
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:23 pm Post subject: edit him out of the film |
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edit him out of the film, delete him, done deal. _________________ the strange mr aj |
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Bob_P Seaman Recruit
Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Los Osos, California
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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I sent him a little e-mail telling him how much it reminded me of what Kerry and the Winter Soldier bunch did to a lot of Viet Vets back in '71. Talk about shedding a false light on people! _________________ RivPatFlotV, Binh Thuy, RVN, '69 - '70 |
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Anker-Klanker Admiral
Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Richardson, TX
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | ...appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform." |
Last time I checked my dictionary "many" did not mean "all." This is a totally frivilous show-boating attempt to get "Stolen Honor" discredited. It will have absolutely no legal standing. |
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Rdtf CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 2209 Location: BUSHville
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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sounds like a self serving s.o.b. to me. Could wait til after the election! |
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jim_nyc Seaman
Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 198
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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Did he testify at the Winter Soldier Investigation? If so, maybe he is ready to sign an avadavat for the war crimes he committed or said he saw committed. If he is just part of a group of people shown in a protest then the earlier post about the words "many" and "all" will be the winning argument in a court of law. _________________ NEED SOME WOOD? |
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Stevie Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 1451 Location: Queen Creek, Arizona
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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sounds like a kerry supported to me.... with the kerry kamp behind it!
and more publicity... against the film! _________________ Stevie
Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage
morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should
be arrested, exiled or hanged. |
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Islander Ensign
Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 54 Location: Sacramento, California
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:49 pm Post subject: Stolen Honor |
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For those of you who live in Northern California, KOVR, CHannel 13 (Sacramento) will air Stolen Honor on October 23rd at 7:00p.m. I'm looking forward to it. _________________ 1st Cavalry (airmobile)
Vietnam, 1971-1972 |
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muggedliberal Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 92 Location: Alabama
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | Campbell. My name is Kenneth J. Campbell… My testimony will consist of eyewitnessing and participating in the calling in of artillery on undefended villages, mutilation of bodies, killing of civilians, mistreatment of civilians, mistreatment of prisoners and indiscriminate use of artillery, harassment and interdiction fire… |
http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=3875
~mugged~ |
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Barbie2004 Commander
Joined: 18 Sep 2004 Posts: 338
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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Truth is an absolute defense! First Amendment! And he actually isn't even the focus of the film, Kerry is the focus.
But you know if it were me, I would shoot back a letter reminding them of the above, and I would add one little more item:
I would file a counter lawsuit based upon their frivolous lawsuit if they dared to actually file suit!
Gee, you mean, he is NOT proud of what he did?? I thought they did what they did for "honorable" ends. Surely, he thought then as now that the American people would see it that way. . .hmmmmmmmm????
Me thinks they protesths too much!"
What ever happened to "Bring it on!"
But I think we should get more letters of support out to Sinclair, stations, and advertisers! |
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Geano Lieutenant
Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 237 Location: Kentucky
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Here it is: National Veterans Inquiry on U.S. War Crimes in Vietnam Kenneth Campbell testimony
(Washington D.C., December 1-3 1970)
Kenneth Campbell
Moderator. The next witness will be Kenneth Campbell.
Campbell. Good morning. My name is Kenneth Campbell. I was a lance corporal with the First Marine Division in Vietnam. I was a forward observer, an artillery scout observer for Bravo Company, First Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. ¶
As a forward observer my job was to support the infantry company that I was attached to with artillery fire. ¶
As a Marine fighting in Vietnam, well prior to going to Vietnam, I went through the usual basic training in the special school for FOs. ¶
The things that I was taught were such things as, “the Vietnamese are inferior”; they were constantly referred to as slant-eyes, gooks, zips; and that there was little distinction between VC and suspected VC. ¶
And I was also taught in FO School that artillery was the greatest killer on the battlefield, and I was to use this whenever possible, and use it as much as possible. ¶
In mid-August of 1968 my company was at a place called Con Thien, which I believe is familiar to quite a few people. In Con Thien there is an observation post called OP 1. ¶
From this observation post I observed two villages north of the demilitarized zone. These were not in the DMZ; they were north of it, actually in the southern part of North Vietnam. ¶
I observed these villages through a pair of ship’s binoculars, which are quite a bit more powerful than regular binoculars; they are 20 by 120 power. And these villages were approximately ten miles away, but through these binoculars I could see them clearly.
Upon observing these vills, I went back to the FSCC bunker, which is the Fire Support Coordination Center. I went to a lieutenant there, who was at the time the officer in {4267} charge of the bunker. He was a personal friend of mine because he served as the FO team’s lieutenant when I first arrived in Vietnam, and then he was switched to the FSCC post after I was there for about three or four months. ¶
I mentioned the fact that I saw these vills and asked to fire on them. He gave me permission to fire on them, and I told him that they were — that there didn’t seem to be any kind of enemy activity there. But being as they were in a free fire zone I thought maybe I could fire on them. And he said yes, I could fire on them, and a good reason for firing on them is because they supply the NVA with food and support and that they were indeed the enemy also. ¶
So I went back to the observation post and I called in — directed — heavy artillery on these two villages. I directed 8-inch high explosive rounds, 175 millimeter high-explosive rounds and with mixed fuse. That is, a variable time and quick fuse. The variable time fuse would set the round off approximately twenty meters above the ground and would send shrapnel down and out, and the quick fuse would go off on the ground on impact. ¶
I fired both these missions, and observed the firing and I would make the approximation of about twenty-five, maybe even more, hootches destroyed, and I could actually see farmers, women and children, running from the exploding rounds, and some of them not making it. ¶
I believe that approximately twenty people didn’t make it to safety.
Moderator. Approximately when was this?
Campbell. This was in mid-August of 1968.
Moderator. And what did you see when you were looking through those binoculars?
Campbell. Before I called-in the strike?
Moderator. Yes.
Campbell. I saw two individual villages, several thousand meters apart, and I saw people walking through the rice paddies. It looked like they were working. There were water buffalo walking through just like any normal Vietnamese village.
Moderator. Did you see any arms or ammunition?
Campbell. No, I didn’t.
Moderator. How many rounds did you call in on the two villages?
Campbell. That’s hard to say. I called in quite a bit. A Marine battery of 175s consists of four guns, and I think maybe including the adjustment rounds, maybe twenty rounds of 175 and maybe about the same number of 8-inch. That’s including both missions.
Moderator. Would anybody from the press like to ask Mr. Campbell a question?
Floor. Yes. He called in this artillery fire in August of 1968. Here it is 1970, and you’re reporting it now as something that was wrong to do. What happened to you between then and now that changed your attitude toward, this?
Campbell. Well, one thing that changed my attitude toward it was immediately after firing I — my radio man was with me at the time, he didn’t seem to take to the incident too well, to the actual firing. He didn’t say much but he didn’t look like he agreed very much with the idea, which gave me second thoughts. ¶
And after that, I thought quite a bit about it and I never fired any more missions on unarmed vills for no other reason than that they were supplying the enemy with rice. ¶
And after I got back from Vietnam I really started thinking heavily about it. I just came to the conclusion it was all wrong and that I must have been temporarily insane to be doing something like that. ¶
But the more I thought about it the more the whole thing was insane; the whole war was insane and this was common procedure and for an FO to wipe out a vill was one of the biggest things he could do over there. ¶
One of the, you know — it was like an honor to be able to really wipe out a vill with artillery and to show how great destruction is with artillery. {4267c2}
Floor. Do you consider this an atrocity, Mr. Campbell?
Campbell. Yes, I do.
Floor. You said that you were told in FO school about the omnipotence of artillery. Can you think of other ways in which this kind of doctrine, this mystique was directed at the people using it?
Campbell. I’m not sure I understand the question — other than the artillery schools?
Floor. Yes. Did they indoctrinate you in the artillery school with the idea that artillery is the weapon in Vietnam, that artillery and air support are principal weapons?
Campbell. This didn’t cease in FO school. I worked with officers in artillery at different times when I was in Vietnam, and this kind of indoctrination continued there. It was done — this type of indoctrination was pushed because they wanted us to have pride in the unit we were in and the type of unit we were in. So I guess that’s why they did it.
Floor. The other thing is, who got the body count in this particular incident. Did anyone get the kill credit for it?
Campbell. The artillery battery that fired it got the credit.
Floor. For killing thirty people, right?
Campbell. Well, it was approximately — I couldn’t say thirty, I’d approximately say twenty.
Floor. How far away was this village from your observation post?
Campbell. Approximately ten miles.
Floor. Ten miles away.
Campbell. Yes.
Floor. So you counted approximately twenty body count from—
Campbell. Ten miles away, that’s correct. The reason why I could count so accurately was like I said, these binoculars were very powerful. They were 20 by 120 ship’s binoculars. They were not something you could handle with your hands. It was built on a stand, and they were heavy — they must have weighed about thirty pounds. If you can picture a gigantic pair of binoculars weighing thirty pounds, they were like a telescope only with two lenses instead of one.
Floor. Con Thien, in August of 1968, was a relatively peaceful place, is that correct?
Campbell. Well, compared to what? In 1967 there was quite a bit of activity going on in Con Thien; it was being shelled daily. In 1966 it wasn’t being shelled daily, it might have been being shelled every other day instead.
Floor. Given that situation what do you think the proper posture would have been for the artillery batteries in Con Thien?
Campbell. The artillery batteries at Con Thien should have been firing at artillery batteries firing at Con Thien, not firing at villages.
Floor. Did you always know exactly where they were?
Campbell. No, we didn’t but we had — I don’t know exactly how strong the intelligence, our intelligence, was, but there was always need to be firing at either suspected NVA batteries or else known NVA battery positions. ¶
Even when we knew where the NVA battery positions were, we still couldn’t get them with artillery most of the time because they draw all these guns back into their positions in the hills. ¶
You could fire as much artillery as you wanted. Most of the time it wouldn’t get to them.
Floor. Mr. Campbell, I’d be interested in your thoughts about the nature of the war?
Campbell. My personal thoughts are that there’s actually two types of people in the U.S. Forces in Vietnam. ¶
Those who actively participate in atrocities and those who are also taught this indoctrination but don’t actually carry it out. But they don’t act against committing atrocities when they see them, because they are convinced that this is a necessity of war and that it happens in every war, so why should they come out and say something against it — that’s the rea- {4267c3} son these things continue to go on. ¶
Yes, I’m definitely against these atrocities being committed; I wish they would be stopped. ¶
And I hope that through my testimony and the testimony of the other people here at this commission, maybe the American people will wake up and realize these things are actually being committed and that this isn’t some fantasy story being concocted just to get people like Lieutenant Calley off the hook. ¶
These things are being committed.
Moderator. In the interests of time we’re going to move on to the next witness. Will you save your questions for Mr. Campbell until the end?
_________________ _________________ MSM Lead Nov 3 2004 "Kerry Oval Office Hopes killed by 10,000 Mice..."
Candidate had declared mice "only a nuisance".
States they "moved too Swiftly".... |
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Barbie2004 Commander
Joined: 18 Sep 2004 Posts: 338
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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My letter to Sinclair:
Quote: | Dear Sinclair Broadcast Group:
This letter is written to express my support of the airing of Stolen Honor as planned.
Since Chad Clanton, Democrat representative and Kerry spokesman, threaten the license of Sinclair Broadcast Group if "we [the Democrats] get in," it is quite clear that they will come after Sinclair no matter what Sinclair does.
That is, even if Sinclair changed its mind, I have no doubt that Sinclair has made it to the Democrats "hit" list. Therefore, by not airing Stolen Honor, Sinclair would be, by default, helping to elect those very individuals who will attempt to use the governmental powers to do harm to Sinclair, should they be given the chance.
In short, please don't back down. Air Stolen Honor as planned. The public has a right to be educated about the prior actions of prospective presidential candidate. As the producer has stated, had the main stream media, or any major media outlet, had informed the public of Mr. Kerry's post-Vietnam activities, like they have regarding President Bush's guard service, which we have heard adnauseum, particularly given that CBS aired a "news" item on forged documents and ABC's Halprin Memo, none of this would be going on.
Stand your ground. It may very well save this country from people who clearly have no respect for informing (educating) the public, and allowing the American people to determine for themselves whether or not to accept the premises in any broadcast, not to mention the Democrats and Mr. Kerry's disdain for the First Amendment.
This is long enough, so I would like to make a couple of suggestions, if might. Please have a Bush spokesperson or this will just turn into a "bash Bush" event, without Mr. Bush being able to defend himself, or at the very least, a conservative such as Sean Hannity.
Additionally, I would recommend the producer or Brit Hume as moderator. He would provide calmness to any discussion. Of course, last, but most certainly not least, Mr. Odell and/or Mr. O'Neill should be there. They deserve to meet their accusers face to face. The film and Mr. Bush cannot be allowed to just be attacked with no retort. Please have representatives from all sides present.
By the way, the advertising for the showing of Stolen Honor has been genius!
Finally, please show Stolen Honor in its entirety. I, and just about everyone I know, are very anxious to view it.
Finally, we are going to learn more about Mr. Kerry and his post Vietnam activities! Thank you very much. I look forward to seeing Stolen Honor.
Sincerely,
<name>
p.s. I would also recommend showing Celsius 41.11. At least the parts that I have seen, are very moving and educational with respect to what was really going on in Iraq before the war, as opposed to the Michael Moore version, which seems to be very one-sided. |
Get those letters out. |
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ASPB Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Posts: 1680
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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His name is not mentioned in the dialogue. Just advise Sinclair and the Stolen Honor director to pixelate his face on the version that is broadcast and he has no grounds for a suit of any kind. _________________ On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
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RV Seaman Recruit
Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 35 Location: los angeles
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wpage Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004 Posts: 213
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Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2004 4:42 am Post subject: |
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If you would like to e-mail the a$$ who has filed the lawsuit his address is below. I sent him one.
The area code for the University of Delaware is 302. The prefix for University phone numbers is 831, unless otherwise noted.
Name: Campbell, Kenneth James
Department: Political Sci & Int Relations
Title: Associate Professor
Campus Address: (Deleted by Admin)
Campus Phone: (Deleted by Admin)
E-mail: (Deleted by Admin)
Admin note: Please do not post personal data of private individuals in this forum. Thanks. _________________ B Co. 2/5th, 1st Cav 71-72 RVN (11B) also
D Co. 1/12th, 1st Cav 1972 RVN (11B)
Battle of Kontum 1972 Easter Offensive
www.thebattleofkontum.com |
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