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Nomorelies
Vice Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 977
Location: Texas
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 Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:03 am Post subject: KERRY'S BETRAYAL... SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE |
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041024/news_mz1e24shilli.html
| Quote: | Kerry's 'betrayal' of the American military
By Barry J. Shillito
October 24, 2004
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry shows no remorse for the damage he inflicted on his country, its allies in Southeast Asia and America's armed forces while he was a Navy lieutenant and a leader of the radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War in 1971.
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I recall that time vividly. I will never forget Kerry's scandalous conduct.
As a Pentagon official under two presidents, I made 10 inspection trips to Vietnam between 1968 and 1973. It was part of my beat. The Military Logistics Chiefs, my staff and I covered Vietnam thoroughly from the North Vietnam border to the Mekong Delta. We spent time in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. We knew Vietnam, the Vietnamese and our superb armed forces conducting this struggle.
As a presidential appointee under Presidents Johnson and Nixon, I spent time in Vietnam before, during and after the few months Navy Lt. John Kerry spent in that country.
No country in history had better intentions or made greater sacrifices, in the interest of humanity, than did the United States in Vietnam. This point was emphasized by President Kennedy as he made the decision to intervene, by President Johnson as he escalated the war and by President Nixon as we went through the major task of Vietnamization, i.e., turning the fighting over to the Vietnamese, and training and supplying them to do the job.
Our leaders, many with World War II and Korean experience, were the very best, and our military personnel from all our services, with a few minor exceptions, were outstanding.
Interestingly, I was with Army Gen. Creighton Abrams and Adm. Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt as the Riverine Interdiction mission in the Mekong Delta developed. I visited these forces with Zumwalt. Abrams couldn't say enough good things about Zumwalt and the positive changes resulting from the mission switch from coastal patrolling to interdiction on the inland waterways.
By 1971 Vietnamization was well under way. Over 300,000 additional Vietnamese had been added to their armed forces. We had drawn down our forces from 567,000 to under 300,000 allied, mostly U.S., troops in South Vietnam.
Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and President Nixon had announced our plans for doing away with the draft and establishing the all-volunteer military.
By this time, with the support of Jane Fonda, the vocal Vietnam Veterans against the war (VVAW) had formed. Over 800 Americans had been captured and were in North Vietnamese prisons. The Paris Peace talks were well under way, and those of us involved at all levels were trying to bring this conflict to a satisfactory conclusion.
The deep concern in Vietnam by U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese as to the anti-war group activities in the United States is remembered in detail by many of us. Meanwhile, Kerry was spinning false tales condemning his fellow sailors, soldiers and Marines.
In April of 1971 John Kerry, as VVAW spokesman, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Sen. J. William Fulbright. Most of Kerry's relevant statements were wrong. Again, it is vivid in my mind. That testimony plus Kerry's many other inflammatory speeches should have led to a full-scale investigation of his "admitted" crimes and of his allegations.
While we had more than enough information on Kerry and the VVAW for an investigation, we frankly thought they were "nut cases."
Think a minute about just one Kerry statement, i.e., "crimes were committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
Let me list a few of the people who were involved with and/or in the chain of command while Kerry was in Vietnam. Under President Johnson there was Defense Secretary Clark Clifford, Navy Secretary Paul Ignatius, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff Gen. Earle Wheeler, Adm. U.S. Grant Sharp, Abrams, Gen. Fred Weyand, Zumwalt, among others. Under President Nixon there was Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, Sen. John Chafee (then secretary of the Navy), Sen. John Warner (then deputy secretary of the Navy), Adm. Tom Moorer, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Jack McCain (Sen. John McCain's father), Generals Abrams and Weyand and Adm. Zumwalt.
The operational commanders knew the rules of engagement and often carried them out at great risk to themselves and their people. All levels of command knew what was going on.
Can you believe that these outstanding individuals and their subordinates would condone war crimes? Is it possible that the 27-year-old Kerry could have believed what he was saying?
The American military felt betrayed by Kerry & Co. Much of the resentment they experienced on arriving home was caused by Kerry and his ilk. I can't begin to estimate what John Kerry cost our country and Southeast Asia in money and lives.
There are words to describe a person who aids the enemy in time of war. John Kerry can be described by most of these words.
The kindest conclusion I reach is that while articulate, he was either naive, an opportunist, easily misled or not too smart. Possibly a combination.
One thing for sure is that the flagrant character flaws displayed by John Kerry in 1971 should not be forgotten and, lacking any remorse on his part, not be forgiven. To me, it seems impossible that a person who has done as much damage to his country and the world as John Kerry did, would be considered for commander in chief of our great country.
Looking at Kerry's sworn testimony against his fellow Vietnam veterans, I do wonder when he is telling the truth.
Shillito, now a retired businessman living in San Diego, served as assistant secretary of the Navy and assistant secretary of defense during the Johnson and Nixon administrations. As an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II, he was shot down over occupied Europe and was a prisoner of war from 1943 to 1945. |
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent Article!
Wish the MSM would pick it up.
I note that Shillito was a POW from WWII.
Odd how the MSM will not interview any former POW's about Kerry.
Only ONE POW is the darling of the Media, Senator John McCain.
They can safely interview him because he won't talk about it!!! |
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Wynne
Lieutenant
Joined: 19 Sep 2004
Posts: 228
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| Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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What a terrific article! But so sad. However, I am very grateful that the truth about Viet Nam and John Kerry are being brought out at last. I myself accepted the lies unthinkingly for 30+ years -- until now. I never believed atrocities were commonplace and I supported our troops wholeheartedly but I did not understand the truth about the Viet Nam War itself nor did I realize the extent of the tremendous harm Kerry and the VVAW caused. I have been enlightened and educated in just the short time I have been on the SBVT forum, reading the posts from those who were there, from those who know, from the dedicated people who are doing research on this website to bring out evidence of the truth. And I am spreading the word. A big thanks to every one of you!
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TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE VICTOR |
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one more captins mast
LCDR
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 438
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 9:38 pm Post subject: Kerry has never been the leader of anything |
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Not in War in Vietnam, not in the VVAW, not the Senate, not his own
campain,
He is the complete tool of the "ones" behind the MSM .
They pull his chain, and he goes where the chain goes,
note the :NYT lie on the explosives, and his run to Lie like them
he never leads and never will , the strings above his head do that
and he does not even see them.
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the strange mr aj |
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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: Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Wynne wrote: | | What a terrific article! But so sad. However, I am very grateful that the truth about Viet Nam and John Kerry are being brought out at last. I myself accepted the lies unthinkingly for 30+ years -- until now. I never believed atrocities were commonplace and I supported our troops wholeheartedly but I did not understand the truth about the Viet Nam War itself nor did I realize the extent of the tremendous harm Kerry and the VVAW caused. I have been enlightened and educated in just the short time I have been on the SBVT forum, reading the posts from those who were there, from those who know, from the dedicated people who are doing research on this website to bring out evidence of the truth. And I am spreading the word. A big thanks to every one of you! |
same here.... I didn't believe all our military was doing that stuff... I didn't pay a whole lot of attention when all that started.... I guess I just figured they'd sort it all out in the hearings etc... and was glad the war would be over.... never realized all else that happened
I did have a flashback the other day while talking to my neighbor boy (13) - of Vietnamese people (maybe Cambodia - I don't know) in boats trying to get on helicopters? did that really happen or am I flashbacking from a movie (don't remember any movie I've seen like that - I don't watch movies much - I saw 2 movies last yr and prior to that I hadn't been to a movie in about 3 yrs - and that was a Christian movie - prior to that it had been 5 yrs since I went to a movie.... and I don't rent them etc).... so I'm thinking that was a real flashback.... I see it in the living room and on tv I had in the early 79's so I'm thinking it is real. Boy, that's been locked somewhere in my brain for a loooonnng time.
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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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