SwiftVets.com

[mach9]

Film returns what Kerry stole from veterans
Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Oct. 24, 2004 | Wally Nunn
Posted on Sun, Oct. 24, 2004

Wally Nunn is former chairman of the Delaware County Council

Many pundits are asking, "Why is Vietnam an issue in the presidential election?" and "Why should a documentary about John Kerry's antiwar testimony be shown by Sinclair Broadcast Group before the election?" After all, they say, what happened 30 years ago is not relevant to issues that confront us today. Of course, many of these same pundits were in a feeding frenzy over President Bush's National Guard service. Somehow, that was relevant.


Well, Vietnam is an issue, and it is an issue for two reasons. First, Kerry based his acceptance speech on his service; a major portion of that speech was about Vietnam. He even showed a video of himself about his time there. Kerry and his representatives have repeatedly emphasized his service. In fact, Kerry brought up his service in all three debates.


The second reason is more personal. Many of us who were in combat have carried a burden for more than 30 years. We did not come home to parades; we came home to a country that in many ways wanted us to disappear. This attitude was born of many things, but most of all, it was driven by antiwar activists demonizing us. Kerry was among the most effective in that demonization.

On April 22, 1971, in testimony before a U.S. Senate committee, Kerry had the following to say of his comrades in arms. Referring to testimony by veterans including himself earlier in 1971, he said: "They 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... and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."

Kerry prefaced these comments by saying that these were "not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with full awareness of officers at all levels of command." If that is not enough, Kerry also said that the country had "created a monster"- the monster, he claimed, were the two million men who served in Vietnam.


In a word, Lt. Kerry lied. His lies, to draw attention to himself to enhance a political career, have hung over our heads for too long.


One of my best friends received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly risking his life to save more than 20 people, every one of them Vietnamese. The vast majority of those who served did not participate in the conduct that Lt. Kerry alleged. There are thousands of examples of GIs caring for and helping the local population. That is not to say isolated incidents like My Lai did not happen.

As painful as Lt. Kerry's words were to most Vietnam vets, they were doubly painful to most POWs. Men who spent five, six or seven years suffering the inhuman conditions imposed on them by their captors. All these men had to do to improve their condition was admit that they and their fellow prisoners, indeed all American service people in Vietnam, were war criminals.


The POWs were determined not to sign a false confession, though, and they suffered greatly as a result. Many, eventually, broke after years of torture. Imagine how those men felt when their captors presented them with Lt. Kerry's statements. An officer in the U.S. Navy was publicly confirming that Americans held captive in Vietnam were indeed war criminals. POW Floyd Kushner remembers the Vietnamese showing the prisoners a film of Kerry's testimony. Kushner and others felt as if they'd been stabbed in the back.


Once it was clear that Kerry would be the Democratic nominee for president, several Pennsylvania Vietnam veterans, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carlton Sherwood, decided to tell the POWs' story. The documentary that resulted, Stolen Honor, is very straightforward, containing the testimony of Lt. Kerry, the words of numerous POWs and their wives, file footage from the era, and narration by Sherwood.


Stolen Honor isn't the first documentary or film injected into the campaign. First, there was the infamous Fahrenheit 9/11, then Going Up River and Tour of Duty. None of these films, all arguably pro-Kerry or anti-Bush, provoked the wrath of mainstream media. Stolen Honor, on the other hand, is being cast as an attempt to smear Kerry. President Bush had nothing to do with it.


This film is the result of 30 years of having our honor stolen. Many of us supported the making of the film, and we wanted to get the word out. When Sinclair Broadcast Group offered to show our video on its stations, and we accepted, outrage in the mainstream media and the Kerry campaign was immediate and sharp. This isn't fair, they cry.


Well, here are my questions to them: Was Dan Rather's documentary indicting the President with clearly forged documents fair? Was it fair when ABC News' political director, Mark Halperin, wrote an Oct. 8 memo to his staff directing them to lean in Kerry's favor? Is it fair of The Inquirer, which has almost no Republican representation on its Editorial Board, to run 21 days of pro-Kerry propaganda? I am afraid that, to the detriment of the nation, the mainstream media have given new definition to the word fair. To paraphrase an old saying, you have to fight fair with fair. In the context created by the mainstream media, Sinclair is being fair.


Getting the message out about the return of our honor is our right. Getting the word out about Kerry's character is a necessity. No man who burned his "band of brothers" card should be considered for commander in chief. His character faults are too deep to permit him to lead troops, or to trust with our nation's future.

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Wally Nunn served in Vietnam as a helicopter crewman in 1967-68. He is a financial backer of "Stolen Honor."

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And this doesn't even mention Ted Kupfull's ridiculous vetting of Kerry's Verdigris Star or Larry O'Donnell's meltdown on MSNBC!

[istockracer]

I just watched "Stolen Honor" with my wife; devistated and outraged without prejudice! My deceased father-in-law was a Marine who served 3 terms in Vietnam, a Purple Heart recipient whom I had great respect for on many fronts. My wife, probably for the first time, experienced some of what he and many others experienced in a post war America driven by the likes of John Kerry's lies as she quietly wept throughout this documentary as though to feel his presence and pain. I expected disgust, but sheer outrage at this person's deceit and abandonment of Brothers and Country without accountability is criminal. I only hope and pray that all Vets. are able to recover all the honor and dignity which you may feel you lost knowing that America is grateful for your service and sacrifice. I can't believe this person is able to stand in front of America now, and repeat the very lies and treasonous statements, as of 35 years ago, incredible! Why is he not held accountable and at least being investigated for admitted participation in "war crimes"? I have donated twice to the cause and am praying more for this person to be exposed as the empty sole he is. God is watching! Thank you and God Bless
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A 43 yr old husband and father who did not serve, however, on 9-12-01 I called the local recruiting office of the MARINES and tried to join in the effort to protect this country. I-STOCK # 777