SwiftVets.com

[Me#1You#10]

Online Petition

To: Senator John Kerry (D-MA)

Upon your return from Vietnam, you betrayed your fellow veterans by accusing them of engaging in horrendous war crimes. Through your post-war activities, and during Senate testimony viewed by the entire nation, you created and nurtured the myth that American soldiers in Vietnam were involved in such crimes on a daily basis, and that such activity was sanctioned by our commanding officers. Specifically, you stated that we: "had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, [and] razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."

You continue today to make claims of atrocities for which you have no documentation, no support, and no evidence.

You met with North Vietnamese officials in Paris and worked with them in the furtherance of their political and military objectives against the United States.

As you now seek to become Commander in Chief of our armed forces, we believe it is incumbent upon you to better explain to the American public your conduct in this matter. Specifically, we ask you to:

• Acknowledge to the American public that you did not personally witness any such atrocities or, in the alternative, cite such examples and then provide an explanation of what actions you took relative to these alleged war crimes.
  
  
• Explain to the American public the nature and extent of war crimes in which you participated.
  
  
• Explain to the American public your justification for contacting and working in conjunction with a foreign government then at war with the United States.
  
  
• Provide an acknowledgment and apology to the American veterans for your all encompassing accusations, and more specifically to our POWs for any extensions of their internment caused by your actions.
  
  
• Personally respond factually to the challenges made against your service in Vietnam by some 275 men who served with you.

Senator Kerry, the vast majority of the men who served with you, and the entire chain of command, have refuted your representations of your conduct in Vietnam. To date, you have repeatedly refused to respond to these statements, electing instead to have professional political operatives flood the media with efforts to discredit these former comrades. We want to hear from you.

We the undersigned consider your response on these five points to be critical to this nation's decision to entrust our military forces to you. If you betrayed us once, we need to be assured that you will not do it again.

It is time for you to set the record straight.

SwiftVet/POW Online Petition Link