Kerry-Linked Anti-War Group Can't Bury Deceit
....While many former Vietnam veterans support the
candidacy of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry,
there is no sign of the man who appeared with Kerry on a
nationally televised news program in 1971 to allege
widespread atrocities by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.
That man, Al Hubbard, remains out of the spotlight,
perhaps because the war record he touted in directing a
prominent anti-war group that included Kerry, was
fabricated. Hubbard's deceit, which he later admitted.....
...Meet the Press host Lawrence Spivak introduced Hubbard
as a former decorated Air Force captain who had spent two
years in Vietnam and was wounded in the process.....
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....Hubbard's falsehoods were not confined to his military
rank, Overend told CNSNews.com . Hubbard "had no record of
any service in Vietnam ..." Overend said.....
....B. G. Burkett, author of Stolen Valor and a military
researcher, told CNSNews.com that Hubbard's type of deceit
was widespread among people associated with VVAW.
Burkett's book documents false testimonies and reveals
that many of the men who worked with VVAW and other anti-
war groups who had alleged war atrocities during the
Vietnam War had either lied about their background or had
claims that were unverifiable.
According to Burkett, the Pentagon investigated the VVAW's
Winter Soldier allegations and discovered that some of the
U.S. Marines listed by VVAW as having testified in Detroit,
"could prove that they had never been in Detroit and did
not testify at that event."
Burkett is critical of Kerry for never having addressed
the issue of whether VVAW and the anti-war movement relied
on impostors or phony servicemen. "He presented this
ragtag bunch of bums as your standard honorably discharged
Vietnam vet and I think nothing could be further from the
truth. They weren't," Burkett said.
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Message 19939203
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CITIZEN KERRY
....This particular article, explains how much of the
supposed atrocities were pure theatre.....
....all those horrific accounts of rape, torture, arson
and slaughter that the VVAW had recorded in Detroit seemed
to evaporate once the real investigation demanded by
Senator Hatfield began. As recounted in Guenter Lewy's
1978 book “America in Vietnam,” few witnesses agreed to
talk with military investigators, even after being assured
that they would not be asked about their own crimes. Many
of those who did permit interviews turned out never to
have been in combat. Some of the most gruesome claims came
from men who were imposters using the names of real
Vietnam veterans. One Marine who had been in combat
eventually told investigators that a member of the Nation
of Islam had helped prepare his statement, and admitted
that he had never witnessed any of the atrocities he had
testified to in Detroit. In the end, the Navy was unable
to verify any of the hundreds of war crimes alleged by the
Winter Soldier Investigation. Neither has anyone else
during the 33 years since, including journalists,
historians, and military and Congressional investigators.....
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juntoboys.blogspot.com
Message 19862018
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The New Soldier against Kerry
.....After Senator Mark O. Hatfield read the Winter
Soldier testimony into the Congressional Record, he asked
for an official investigation. When the Naval Investigate
Service did just that, many of the veterans refused to
cooperate (despite protections against self-
incrimination). One soldier admitted that his testimony
had been coached by members of the Nation of Islam; exact
details of the atrocity he'd seen now escaped his memory.
Several veterans hunted down by Naval investigators swore
they had never been to Detroit and couldn't imagine who
would have used their identities. (Somehow this episode
was left out of the "Winter Soldier" chapter of [Douglas]
Brinkley's [new] book [Tour of Duty, on Kerry's Vietnam
service, reviewed in the Standard by Andrew Ferguson last
week], but the details can be found in Guenter
Lewy's "America in Vietnam" and in Mackubin Thomas Owens's
account in the latest National Review.)
John Kerry seems to have had a way of eluding the bad odor
that clings to his old associates. On "Meet the Press" in
1971, he appeared with VVAW member Al Hubbard, a veteran
who was exposed around this time for lying about his rank
and combat experience (he had seen no combat). While this
confirmed suspicions about the dubious identities of many
of the winter soldiers, it didn't keep Kerry from becoming
famous. The young politician was able to have his cake and
eat it, too, becoming the establishment, patriotic face of
a radical, anti-patriotic movement. Quite a trick, really.
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powerlineblog.com
Message 19862007 |
