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Politics : THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (1253)	2/17/2004 12:51:28 PM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 2164

Vets against Kerry By: J. Stryker Meyer - North County Times Since the Vietnam War began to dominate the national news during 1960s, Vietnam veterans have been stigmatized through negative portrayals in Hollywood and media outlets. Last weekend, I ran into a political stereotyping that surprised me: a good friend and fellow journalist was talking about the Democratic primaries and mentioned John Kerry's candidacy and assumed that since the Massachusetts senator was a Vietnam vet that I, a Vietnam vet, would line up to support the Navy veteran. He asked "aren't all of the Vietnam vets around here" lining up to support him?" The answer to both questions is no. In North County, where there's a large population of veterans, I have yet to meet any Vietnam vets who said they would support Kerry. Among them is former Vista Councilman and present day college instructor Dal Williams, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the Marines as an officer. Williams said he would never vote for Kerry because of his "traitorous actions" after returning from Vietnam a decorated veteran. Williams points out that his opposition has to be clearly defined. He's not against Kerry for protesting the war after he returned from Vietnam, where he commanded a small U.S. Navy river boat. Williams points out that Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam. "The First Amendment protects his right to protest that war after he returns from Vietnam," Williams said last week. His gripe stems from Kerry's involvement in what was called the Winter Soldier Investigation in January 1971, by an organization called Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Other organizers included Jane Fonda, Dick Gregory, Phil Ochs, Graham Nash, David Crosby and lawyer-activist Mark Lane. For four days in Detroit, veterans told grisly tales of horror by U.S. troops in Vietnam, which ranged from using prisoners for target practice to burning villages and gang-raping women. In 1970, Lane published a book in which men claiming to be Vietnam veterans told stories of committing atrocities and witnessing war crimes committed by their fellow soldiers. He likened Vietnam vets to Nazis. Many of these tales were absurd. Many slandered Vietnam vets. However, New York Times reporters James Reston Jr. and Pulitzer Prize-winner Neil Sheehan and historian Guenter Lewy later wrote that many of the tales were false or exaggerated, that several of the men who testified had never been to Vietnam, and that the VVAW had told its loyalists not to assist investigations into the allegations of wrongdoing. In April 1971, the VVAW staged a demonstration where several Vietnam vets threw their combat medals over the White House fence to protest a government that betrayed them. Kerry was among them. After he was elected, his medals appeared on his wall. He later admitted that the medals he threw over the fence were not his. He never apologized for supporting the lies that slandered Vietnam vets or for the tossing of his fake medals. Thus, Williams echoes the sentiments of many Vietnam vets for Kerry: "May he rot in hell." nctimes.com