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Kerry and Jane
townhall.com ^ | 2/19/04 | Robert Novak

Posted on 02/18/2004 9:27:40 PM PST by kattracks

WASHINGTON -- A 34-year-old flier lists speakers for an anti-Vietnam War rally at Valley Forge State Park, Pa., Sept. 7, 1970. Included were two of that era's most notorious leftist agitators, the Rev. James Bevel and Mark Lane, plus actress Jane Fonda, a symbol of extreme opposition to the war. Leading off the list was a less familiar name: John Kerry.

So much for the contention by Kerry supporters that his connection with "Hanoi Jane" (so called for her later visit to the enemy capital in time of war) was accidental juxtaposition in a photograph. In fact, Navy Lt. Kerry returned from heroic wartime service to help lead the radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), whose diatribes against flag and country are shocking from the distance of three decades.

Does this reflect on Kerry's qualifications for the presidency? Perhaps no more than George W. Bush's record in attending National Guard drills in 1972. When Democrats made President Bush's past part of the 2004 campaign, Sen. Kerry's past became fair game. Relentless attention to the Bush record has helped the president's political decline, while the Kerry record has been largely ignored.

Kerry now keeps his distance from Jane Fonda, expressing disapproval of her adventures in Hanoi. Rep. Charles Rangel on CNN's "Crossfire" Feb. 12 minimized a photo showing Kerry three rows away from Fonda at an anti-war rally: "There was some distance between Jane Fonda . . . and there was a guy that looked like it was Kerry that was a part of the crowd." He added to me: "I just hope that you wouldn't just identify me with your politics just because I took a picture with you."

Actually, Kerry and Fonda both were among war resisters with the most extreme positions in criticizing U.S. participation in the war. Kerry, as the New England representative, attended a VVAW executive committee meeting Sept. 11, 1970. Minutes show plans to picket the National Guard Association convention in New York, to sponsor "war crimes testimony" at the U.N. and to coordinate with Jane Fonda's speaking tour. A later VVAW staff meeting decided to bar the American flag from the organization's offices.

A VVAW flier of their period claims "American soldiers" commit atrocities "every day" against "the Vietnamese simply because they are 'Gooks.'" Kerry bought into the VVAW mantra that war crimes were not isolated in Vietnam. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan," U.S. troops committed unspeakable atrocities while they "ravaged the countryside."

Returning to Kerry's youthful indiscretions is valid only because of the inordinate attention on young Bush in the same period. Kerry's strategists never planned to go down this path, which inadvertently was opened when leftist moviemaker Michael Moore called Bush a "deserter" for allegedly missing National Guard drills. That triggered a feeding frenzy for Democratic politicians, helped along at first by Kerry.

In 2000, Kerry leaped on the National Guard issue, comparing the Republican candidate unfavorably with "those of us who were in the military." Four years later, Kerry was less direct, linking Bush's Guard service to people who "went to Canada" or "opposed the war." Kerry's surrogate, former Sen. Max Cleland (recently named by President Bush to the Export-Import Bank board) asserted "we need somebody who felt the sting of battle, not someone who didn't."

Kerry has since backed away from the National Guard question and ordered his surrogates to do the same, but that does not cover such irrepressible Democrats as Charlie Rangel. In 1992 when Bill Clinton's non-service was under attack, the congressman from Harlem brushed off his own heroic Korean War record as a way "to get off the street because times were rough." On NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday he sang a different song. "I've served in combat," he said, adding that "those who haven't shared it ought to give a lot of space to those that have been there."

Once again, Rangel suggested that Kerry did not even know Jane Fonda. Documents show they shared the same platform and the same wing of the anti-war movement. That is surely as valid as investigating how many National Guard drills Bush attended.

©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Contact Robert Novak | Read Novak's biography



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; hanoijane; hanoijohn; kerry; novak; vvaw
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1 posted on 02/18/2004 9:27:40 PM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
"Once again, Rangel suggested that Kerry did not even know Jane Fonda."

This is bullcrap. Fonda footed the bill for MANY of Kerry's anti-war activities, including, I believe, the Winter Soldier gathering in Michigan in the early '70's.

2 posted on 02/18/2004 9:39:02 PM PST by soozla (BUSH/CHENEY 2004**Send John "Effin'" Kerry back to Easter Island!!!!!)
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To: kattracks
I recommend that anyone interested in this subject go to your public library and check out Gerald Nicosia's Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement, (Crown, 2001). It meticulously documents the players, including Kerry and Fonda, the strategy, planning, financing, etc. of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and other organizations. John Forbes Kerry contributed to the book by way of two interviews with the author, in late 1988 and 1989. He is extensively quoted. A 30 page "notes" section reveals dozens of other books and articles that potentially can shed much light on our subject. I will be putting excerpts up on the Kerry Dossier thread and other threads.
3 posted on 02/18/2004 9:44:35 PM PST by ntnychik
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To: Hon
FYI.
4 posted on 02/18/2004 9:49:32 PM PST by Howlin
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To: kattracks; ImaTexan
And the beat goes on....

President Bush' "AWOL" story was always a non-issue because it was based on lies. Kerry's involvement with Fonda, however, is based on facts. Just wish someone could find more pictures of the two of them together (legitimate pictures, not photo-shopped).

5 posted on 02/18/2004 9:51:39 PM PST by bjcintennessee (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff)
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To: Howlin
More FYI if you haven't already seen this............

FONDA/KERRY CONNECTION

6 posted on 02/18/2004 10:05:08 PM PST by soozla (BUSH/CHENEY 2004**Send John "Effin'" Kerry back to Easter Island!!!!!)
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To: kattracks
I think everyone should read this - I don't have the authors name, but know the source well.

Subject: John Kerry...You decide

Sent to me by an old shipmate....

I was in the Delta shortly after he left. I know that area well. I know the operations he was involved in well. I know the tactics and the doctrine used. I know the equipment. Although I was attached to CTF-116 (PBRs) I spent a fair amount of time with CTF-115 (swift boats), Kerry's command.

Here are my problems and suspicions:

(1) Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three purple hearts. I never heard of anybody with any outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware so fast, and for such pedestrian actions. The Swifts did a commendable job. But that duty wasn't the worst you could draw. They operated only along the coast and in the major rivers (Bassac and Mekong). The rough stuff in the hot areas was mainly handled by the smaller, faster PBRs.

(2) Three Purple Hearts but no limp. All injuries so minor that no time lost from duty. Amazing luck. Or he was putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? Combat on the boats was almost always at close range. You didn't have minor wounds. At least not often. Not three times in a row. Then he used the three purple hearts to request a trip home eight months before the end of his tour. Fishy.

(3) The details of the event for which he was given the Silver Star make no sense at all. Supposedly, a B-40 was fired at the boat and missed. Charlie jumps up with the launcher in his hand, the bow gunner knocks him down with the twin .50, Kerry beaches the boat, jumps off, shoots Charlie, and retrieves the launcher. If true, he did everything wrong. (a) Standard procedure when you took rocket fire was to put your stern to the action and go balls to the wall. A B-40 has the ballistic integrity of a frisbie after about 25 yards, so you put 50 yards or so between you and the beach and begin raking it with your .50's. (b) Did you ever see anybody get knocked down with a .50 caliber round and get up? The guy was dead or dying. The rocket launcher was empty. There was no reason to go after him (except if you knew he was no danger to you just flopping around in the dust during his last few seconds on earth, and you wanted some derring do in your after-action report). And we didn't shoot wounded people. We had rules against that, too. (c) Kerry got off the boat. This was a major breach of standing procedures. Nobody on a boat crew ever got off a boat in a hot area. EVER! The reason was simple. If you had somebody on the beach your boat was defenseless. It couldn’t run and it couldn’t' t return fire. It was stupid and it put his crew in danger. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. I never heard of any boat crewman ever leaving a boat during or after a firefight.

Something is fishy.

Here we have a JFK wannabe (the guy Halsey wanted to court martial for carelessly losing his boat and getting a couple people killed by running across the bow of a Jap destroyer) who is hardly in Vietnam long enough to get a good tan, collects medals faster than Audie Murphy in a job where lots of medals weren't common, gets sent home eight months early, requests separation from active duty a few months after that so he can run for Congress, finds out war heroes don't sell well in Massachusetts in 1970 so reinvents himself as Jane Fonda, throws his ribbons in the dirt with the cameras running to jump start his political career, gets Stillborn Pell to invite him to address Congress and Bobby Kennedy's speechwriter to do the heavy lifting, winds up in the Senate himself a few years later, votes against every major defense bill, says the CIA is irrelevant after the Wall came down, votes against the Gulf War, a big mistake since that turned out well, decides not to make the same mistake twice so votes for invading Iraq, but oops, that didn't turn out so well so he now says he really didn't mean for Bush to go to war when he voted to allow him to go to war.

I'm real glad you or I never had this guy covering out flanks in Vietnam. I sure don't want him as Commander in Chief. I hope that somebody from CTF-115 shows up with some facts challenging Kerry's Vietnam record. I know in my gut it's wildly inflated. And fishy.

Keep smiling,

7 posted on 02/18/2004 10:14:12 PM PST by yoe (WMD come in small containers/vials...small minds don't want you to know that.)
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To: soozla
FGS, do NOT use NewsMax as a source.........LOL.
8 posted on 02/18/2004 10:19:15 PM PST by Howlin
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To: kattracks
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2004 12:07 p.m. EST Brinkley Details Kerry's Meetings With 'Hanoi Jane'

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley revealed Sunday that Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry personally met with "Hanoi Jane" Fonda at least twice during the days when the two played leading roles in the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War, including a never-before-detailed 1971 meeting in Detroit.

"The Jane Fonda incidents occurred in two places, one on a march from Morristown to Valley Forge, when they shared a platform at Valley Forge," Brinkley told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg.

"Then he met her in the more troubling Detroit Howard Johnson's Comfort Center [event], where there was this thing called the Winter Soldier Investigation."

It had been known that Fonda and Kerry had both helped organize the Winter Soldier protest at a time when he served as the VVAW's National Coordinator and she held the title Honorary National Coordinator.

But Brinkley, who wrote the definitive chronicle of Kerry's war years, "Tour of Duty," is the first authoritative source to suggest that Kerry and Fonda had a face-to-face meeting while organizing the event.

Brinkley's account of Kerry's contacts with Fonda suggests they had a much more extensive relationship than either of them are now willing to admit.

The activist and the top Democrat both offered accounts last week that minimized their contact during the 1970s, with Fonda describing efforts to link her to Kerry as part of a "big lie" campaign to discredit the presidential front-runner.

Of the Valley Forge protest, Fonda told CNN, "I don't know if we even shook hands."

For his part, Kerry said through a spokeswoman, "John Kerry and Jane Fonda were just acquaintances."

During Winter Soldier Fonda and Kerry solicited testimony from alleged combat veterans detailing U.S. atrocities, though many of the accounts were later completely discredited.

The Kerry campaign has refused to return multiple phone calls from NewsMax requesting details of the senator's interaction with Fonda during the February 1971 Winter Soldier event.

On a related subject, Brinkley said that Kerry's Vietnam War wounds, for which he received three Purple Hearts, were not particularly serious.

Asked about the severity of Kerry's injuries, Brinkley told Malzberg, "They were minor wounds."

Bump for the truth.

9 posted on 02/18/2004 10:23:03 PM PST by Balata
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To: kattracks
bump
10 posted on 02/18/2004 10:33:48 PM PST by Lokibob (All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
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To: yoe
In reality, Kerry threw some medals from another soldier, the hypocrite kept his own medals.
11 posted on 02/18/2004 10:42:24 PM PST by Mel Gibson (Suffer from Allergies, Asthma or Adversely Affected by Foul Air ? See "About Me")
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To: kattracks
A 34-year-old flier lists speakers for an anti-Vietnam War rally at Valley Forge State Park, Pa., Sept. 7, 1970. Included were two of that era's most notorious leftist agitators, the Rev. James Bevel and Mark Lane, plus actress Jane Fonda, a symbol of extreme opposition to the war. Leading off the list was a less familiar name: John Kerry.

Can anybody post a copy of that flier?

12 posted on 02/18/2004 10:54:35 PM PST by mondonico (Peace through Superior Firepower)
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To: kattracks
Kerry and Jane

I'd like to sit down and write some Kerry and Jane verses for the "Bonnie and Clyde" melody. Consider yourself lucky that I'm gonna sleep instead. ;-)

13 posted on 02/18/2004 11:02:28 PM PST by Scenic Sounds (Sí, estamos libres sonreír otra vez - ahora y siempre.)
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To: ntnychik
One reason Winter Soldier came off as such a professional and convincing presentation was that for once the vets were not limited by a bare-bones budget. The total spent on the affair was estimated at between fifty and seventy-five thousand dollars. In addition to Fonda and Lane, there were donations from a wide spectrum of individuals and organizations---among them, the United Auto Workers' Emil Mazey, Michigan Secretary of State Richard Austin, and the Business Executives Move for Peace.

Legendary rockers Graham Nash and David Crosby (who were contacted by Jane Fonda) and folk-singer Phil Ochs gave benefit concerts before and during the hearings. Still, as with Operation RAW, VVAW went into the red before it was over, but they counted on the book contract they had with Beacon Press (to publish excerpts of the testimony), the forthcoming films of both RAW and Winter Soldier, and other revenue-bearing projects to bail them out.

Congressman John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan called for full Congressional investigations into charges leveled by the veterans at Winter Soldier; and Berkeley's radical black Congressman Ronald Dellums offered the veterans office space in Washington, where they could repeat their charges withi n a stone's throw of the House Armed Forces Committee and Foreign Relations Committee.

These American veterans signed their own symbolic "people's peace treaty" with the Vietnamese. As Jan Barry recalls, the gesture was intended as a means of embracing the people they had harmed, of asking forgiveness for those they had killed.

"VVAW was just beginning to initiate the `rap groups, which were groups of veterans sitting around in a room and confiding to one another the most troubling aspects of both their military service and their experiences in coming home from the war. Toward the end of 1970, Al Hubbard would bring in two psychiatrists, Chaim Shatan and Robert Jay Lifton, to guide the discussions."

14 posted on 02/18/2004 11:16:30 PM PST by kcvl
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Kerry for President National Steering Committee


Bobby Muller, President, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation; Founder, Vietnam Veterans of America





Mr. Bobby (Muller) (USMC lst Lt. 1968-69), also launched the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) in 1979. Mr. Muller went on in his life to also found the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) in 1980. He organized the first visit of VVA vets back to Hanoi during Christmas in 1981 and, in doing so, launched the entire process of reconciliation between veterans groups and the governments of both America and Vietnam which culminated in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations in July of 1995.

Mr. Mullers conception of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in 1991 which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and became a legally-binding international treaty in March of 1999.

15 posted on 02/18/2004 11:23:45 PM PST by kcvl
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Bobby Muller, a vet who inspired 'Born in the U.S.A.


"Did you know I'm the `cool rocking daddy'?" Muller asks, his hands gripping his wheelchair. He is referring to the Springsteen song "Born in the U.S.A.," the sometimes-misunderstood antiwar anthem in which the Boss sings about soldiers sent "to go and kill the yellow man" and includes the kicker: "I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A."

16 posted on 02/18/2004 11:30:04 PM PST by kcvl
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Muller also contributed a chapter to Kerry's 1971 antiwar compendium, "The New Soldier." Years later, Gerald Nicosia, in his history of the Vietnam protest movement, "Home to War," wrote that no one, "not even John Kerry, would prove more important to the future of the Vietnam veterans' movement than" Muller.

Just as Kerry ran and lost his campaign for a congressional seat in Lowell, Muller tried to become a congressman from Long Island. But Muller says he lost his chance at getting nominated after he told party leaders that he couldn't support a Democratic presidential candidate who supported the war.

Instead, after graduating from law school, Muller devoted himself to securing more benefits for veterans. Muller, Kerry, and two other veterans cofounded Vietnam Veterans of America. "As far as I'm concerned, Bobby Muller is one of the great heroes of the veterans' efforts in the country," Kerry says.

When Time magazine in August 1979 compiled its list of 50 future US leaders, it picked Muller along with such notables as Senator Paul Tsongas. (Kerry, a private attorney at the time, wasn't on the list but went on to replace Tsongas in the Senate.)

But even as Muller was trying to help veterans, he angered many of them. In December 1981, a few months after Springsteen's benefit concert, Muller went to Hanoi as part of his campaign to get the United States to normalize relations with Vietnam. At the request of his hosts, a wreath was laid on his behalf at the mausoleum of communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Muller says that the Vietnamese included a card with it that said: "With Respect, Vietnam Veterans of America."

The visit "caused a firestorm back here in the States," recalled John Terzano, who was with Muller on the trip and is now vice president of the foundation. Some veterans called Muller a traitor who should be tried for treason. But Muller thinks he was just ahead of his time; this was long before Kerry returned to Vietnam and 14 years before President Clinton normalized relations.

In any case, the VVA and its 1981 offshoot, the foundation, were more stable financially because of the Springsteen concert. "Without Bruce Springsteen, there would be no Vietnam veterans movement," Muller often says. (Today Muller heads only the foundation, which is separate from the VVA.)

A couple of years later, Springsteen began thinking about a song titled "Born in the U.S.A.," a dark and deep tale about a recruit going off to war. The disillusioned vet comes back with "nowhere to go . . . I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A." Springsteen later confirmed in a television interview that Muller was the man behind the phrase.

Springsteen invited Muller to the Hit Factory, a recording studio in New York City, to hear the song. Springsteen later wrote that Muller "sat there for a moment listening to the first couple of verses, and then a big smile crossed his face."

As Muller recalls it: "Bruce said, `Did I get it?' I said, `You got it, man.' "



For years, the foundation survived on rock benefits and donations, including regular contributions from Springsteen. Until 1992, Muller says, he refused to take federal money because "it just was inconceivable that we could be in bed with the government." But Muller rationalized that with the end of the Cold War and the passage of legislation that provided money for land-mine victims, it was time to change. "I had been drowning in righteousness for years, and it was time to get smart," Muller says. Though he has regrets "every day" about working so closely with the government, he keeps telling himself it is the smart thing to do. Today, three-fourths of the foundation's $13 million budget comes from the US government -- a government that Muller notes regretfully has not signed the international treaty to ban land mines.

One day in 1997, a representative of the Nobel Peace Prize called Muller with the news: The Nobel had been awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, with Williams as a co-recipient. Muller wasn't named in the prize. Kerry, like many friends, regrets that Muller was not singled out. "In my judgment, Bobby Muller was one of the co-winners of the prize," Kerry says. "If there could have been a way for him to be named also, he should have been." (Williams did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.)

On this August day, however, Muller is concerned about the US involvement in Iraq. "This is Vietnam all over again," he says, arguing that the Bush administration has repeated the Vietnam-era practice of misleading citizens about the difficulty of winning the war and the peace in a foreign land.

But Muller is working within the system now, not dwelling on protest, and his view is again being channeled by Springsteen. A few weeks ago, Muller was in the audience at a concert when Springsteen made an unusual public statement about the Iraq war: "The question of whether we were misled into the war in Iraq isn't a liberal or conservative or Republican or Democratic question; it's an American one." Then Springsteen dedicated the next song to a man few people in the audience were likely to know: Bobby Muller.

Muller didn't mind the lack of recognition from the crowd. He was thinking the same thought as when Springsteen first played him a tape of "Born in the U.S.A.": "You got it, man."

17 posted on 02/18/2004 11:34:57 PM PST by kcvl
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To: yoe
WE NEED YOUR HELP, KERRY SAYS HE'S SUPPORTED BY HIS VIETNAM VETERANS (BAND OF BROTHERS), WE NEED AS MANY VETS AND SUPPORTERS TO SUPPORT OUR EFFORT WITH NUMBERS TO SHOW THE VETERANS DO NOT STAND WITH HIM AS HE CLAIMS. YOUR NAME WILL BE MAINTAINED IN CONFIDENCE. PLEASE SHARE THIS SITE WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, ETC., IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STAND WITH US IN OPPOSITION TO KERRY OR ASSIST WITH THIS SITE, WE NEED YOUR HELP, CLICK--> HELP

http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/Assistance.htm#Your support is appreciated:



VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA (VVA)/VETERANS ADMINISTRATION & PHONY WARRIORS


---AND SO MUCH FOR THE KERRY VVA SUPPORT!--

"To figure out just what percentage of that chapter were really Vietnam veterans, I sent off for the military records of those who claimed they had been in Vietnam. About 20 percent were pretenders. Only about half of the VVA chapter's entire roster were actually Vietnam veterans. And of those who had been in Vietnam, many had inflated their service, claiming medals and status they had not earned.

Remember Ann Funck and one-time chapter president Joe Testa of the Dallas chapter? Testa had a criminal record, indicative of the VVA's active recruitment of jailed inmates. The VVA; is the only federally chartered veteran's service organization that extends the privileges of its membership to felons and those with dishonorable discharges. They make it especially easy for those in the government's custody: Dues are waived, and the application form even has a place to put your inmate number. Each year, the VVA recognizes the "incarcerated member of the year." Page 573, Stolen Valor (Memo: If 20% of their membership are frauds, I can bet that about 20% of those receiving benefits from the VA are also frauds)

"The VVA's willingness to embrace anyone who agrees with the "Vietnam-vet-as-victim" agenda has created some strange situations. In 1993, three candidates ran for national VVA president. One, former membership chairman Wayne Smith, had been convicted of manslaughter after killing a man in Rhode Island. (His record also indicated disciplinary action while in the military.) Another candidate campaigned from his cell at the Ohio State prison, where he was incarcerated for murder. And there was incumbent James L. Brazee Jr., a lawyer whose only Vietnam experience consisited of twenty-one days of temporary duty assignment on a legal case.

What a Hobson's choice: Two convicted killers and a lawyer.

Before the election, a technicality disqualified Smith, who had been fired from his job at the VVA and had gone to work at the National Vietnam Memorial Fund. That left the incarcerated vet and Brazee. Not too incredibly, the lawyer was reelected VVA president. One of Brazee's first moves after being reelected was to form a national VVA task force on homeless veterans. "Homelessness is one of the most important issues facing VVA, as it cuts across many of the things concerning veterans," said Randy Barnes, the head of the new task force (Emphasis added.)

The Missouri VVA chairman during this period of time, Chris Davis, was also a convicted felon, serving time for committing a series of robberies with a group of "young, black, angry Vietnam vets" in 1971. In his last robbery, a police officer was killed. Davis received two life term, plus fifty-seven years. In prison, Davis became involved in the VVA and eventually was chosen head of the Missouri delegation. Meeting of the state VVA board had to be held in the prison.

This is the best the VVA can do? The VVA's aggressive agenda pushing Vietnam veterans as victims ensures that most real Vietnam veterans look elsewhere for their advocates. What's astonishing is that congressmen and other political leaders take them, seriously at all-Page 375-376, Stolen Valor.

HOMELESSNESS: In 1982, was estimated by a guy named Mitch Snyder to be between two and three million. Snyder had a criminal record and had abandoned a young wife and family, was not a veteran but gave that impression because he habitually wore a faded Army fatigue shirt, was a homeless man turned activist. "In 1984, a study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development put the number of the nation's homeless much lower, between 250,000 and 350,000 and four years later determined the numbers to be between 567,000 and 600, 000, less that the alleged 3 million. Snyder later admitted before his suicide that he plucked the three million figure from thin air after being pressured by journalist to quantify the problem. Pages 314 & 315, Stolen Valor.

After an exhaustive search, the panel concluded that the number of homeless Vietnam veterans was too small to warrant a special agency. They did, however, conclude that Vietnam vets had a higher employment rate than their peers who didn't serve in the military--making them less likely to be homeless. Page 317, Stolen Valor

"I only wish you had mentioned one of the books listed as a phony by B. G. Burkett, namely, "The House of Purple Hearts," by Paul Solotaroff. It was about a homeless shelter in Boston. I read the book when it was first released in 1995. Yes, I believed every word until B. G. Burkett's, "Stolen Valor" came out, and proved most of the men in the book were a bunch of bums and misfits who made up their stories. You will find all of the information on this book in "Stolen Valor," pages 130-131, 321-324 and 342-345. I am sure many people have read this book, and believed every word just as I did" Shiela

Despite the image that Vietnam veterans suffered massive problems of unemployment, they were more likely to have a job than other males in the economy, veteran or civilian, according to a 1994 study done by labor economist Sharon Cohany for the Department of Labor. Based on data from the previous year, Cohany's study showed that the national unemployment rate was 6 percent for men eighteen and older. The rate for Vietnam-era Veterans was 5.0 percent, but only 3.9 percent for Vietnam vets. An earlier study indicated that the rate was the same for vets who saw or did not see combat. The unemployment rate for all veterans was 4.9 percent. How can a population with such low unemployment rate spawn high numbers of homeless? Page 317, Stolen Valor [Memo: Even though many Vietnam Veterans were discriminated against, they rose above it and obtained employment, obtained higher education, and became a productive member of the American Society).

Long ago, before I was aware of the Vietnam Veterans of America, I was invited to join a local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. I attended one, I say "one" meeting and not for the whole meeting.

As the members started to arrive, I was being introduced. The guys started talking about their experiences in Vietnam, I asked some questions. After a few minutes of this, I realized these guys had never been to Vietnam, at least the ones that had spoken to me. This group was interested in getting me to apply for, I think it was PTSD and Agent Orange, which I had never heard of until that time. I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. The men went through this list of symptoms, telling me I had this and I had that. I asked them what the hell were they talking about me having this symptom or that one. I told them I didn't have any of the crap they were running by me, at that point I was told, not to worry about it, they'd all vouch for me. I told them I didn't need them to do a damn thing for me and I left without even excusing myself and have never attended another meeting.

About 5 years ago, I was at Fort Polk on the 4th of July. The local Special Forces Chapter there was having a function for the 4th of July celebration event. There were tents set up at a location for vendors to sell food products/T-shirts, the SF chapter was selling Hot Dogs, etc.

The commander had about a battalion size element sitting around, they had been engaged in a number of completive events earlier that morning. I asked why they were all still here in the heat, it was now 1130am and hot as hell here in Louisiana. I was told, the commander was keeping all the troops here because there was a VIP coming who was going to give a talk on Vietnam, this guy was a Marine POW. He was running late, the troops had to suffer under the hot sun.

About an hour later, there were a couple of vehicles that drove up with lots of brass walking around and escorted this guy to the platform. He was into his speech for about 5 minutes, I turned to the Chapter commander and stated to him, "Who the hell is that guy, he's never been to Vietnam and he was never a Prisoner of War!"

The following week, I made several contacts and checked the Prisoner of War records, he was not on any list. I contacted the local media who followed up, they were quite hesitant to do any checking. When they did, the media called me to report this guy was the President of the local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of American and there are members there who vouch for his service in Vietnam. The media had also contacted the local Veterans Administration who further verified that he was in fact a veteran and a Prisoner of War.

The next step was to educate the media that the Veteran Administration is not a verifying source, they only repeat what the guy put in his records, without ever checking them. As for those who claimed to have served with him in Vietnam, their status should also be check.

It turned out this guy had never been in Vietnam, those who vouched for him never served either and he was exposed. To me, that group has too many "Wannabe" fake warriors.

These fake warriors are abundant, the Special Forces Chapter in New Orleans elected a guy for president, his name was Evans. It turned out that he too was a phony, having never served a day in Vietnam. And, no, they are so good that even other veterans can't always tell. The problem is ramped and appalling, see http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies49.htm

TRUST ME I'M A WAR HERO

http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/Viet%20Vets%20of%20America.htm#VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA & PHONY WARRIORS

Photos at bottom of page...CRIMINALS!!!
18 posted on 02/18/2004 11:54:06 PM PST by kcvl
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To: Howlin; Hon
KERRY'S FAKE WARRIORS

WHO WERE THESE FAKE VIETNAM WAR VETERANS WHO FALSELY TESTIFIED IN CONGRESS WITH KERRY AGAINST VIETNAM VETERANS?

...more info about Kerry and his Vietnam Veterans Against the War: (Note: This morning on Fox, it was pointed out to a Kerry supporter that there are Vets against Kerry. This person replied Kerry has a Veterans Brigade supporting him and making calls for him. I suggest someone check these Veterans out, they may be the same ones he used back in 71 with the VVAW 71 to testify in Congress and fly our flag upside down, called us criminals, etc. They may just be frauds. See below.--RLNoe)

From: crocsix@mbo.net

Kerry relied upon phonies and wannabes for support. His prominence has allowed current phonies and wannabes to continue the unsubstantiated allegations made all those years ago and which Kerry appears to condone even today. For example:

Elton Mazione, claiming Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) credentials, Kerry's original organization, along with his friends, John Laboon, Eddie Swetz, and Kenneth Van Lesser. They claimed to kill children and remove body parts as part of the notorious Phoenix program. They were neither in Phoenix nor in Vietnam.

Kerry's VVAW leader friend from 1971, Al Hubbard, lied about being an officer, Vietnam Veteran, and sustaining war injuries. Michael Harbert, another VVAW crony of Kerry, lied about his Vietnam service.

Frank Dux: He charged many recognizable Vietnam vets with using techniques bordering on war crimes. Dux was a fraud and non Vietnam Veteran.

Yoshia K. Chee claimed we in Vietnam routinely resorted to the most hideous forms of torture, threw people out of helicopters, and decapitated prisoners. He was a phony.

Mike Beamon, an alleged SEAL and Phoenix assassin, was never in the military.

The Senator's own VVAW and similar groups relied upon people like: K. Barton Osborn, a Vietnam veteran and testifier of atrocities to Congress. He told of prisoners being thrown out of helicopters, a woman starved to death, a prisoner being killed by a six inch dowel pushed through his ear. Osborn was not in Phoenix, refused to name names, and provided no documentation.

Lieutenants Francis Reitemeyer and Michael J. Cohn. Both sought conscientious objector status because of Phoenix. Reitemeyer testified to being assigned to Phoenix as an adviser and maintained a kill quota of fifty bodies a month. They became famous as My Lai hit the news. Neither served in Vietnam, in Phoenix, or had any first hand information. Reitemeyer later denied receiving any assassination training.

19 posted on 02/19/2004 12:00:58 AM PST by kcvl
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(If you can read this, thank a TEACHER; If you can read it in ENGLISH, thank a VETERAN)



VIETNAM SPECIAL FORCES/ SPECIAL OPERATIONS

AND

OTHER VIETNAM VETERANS

EX-POWS-

KIA/MIA FAMILIES AND FRIENDS

AND

THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY

AGAINST KERRY

This site is not against the Democrats, it is against John Kerry, it does not look at any other issue other than his military service, the anti-war movement and how he has dealt with Vietnam's Human Rights. If Kerry was running as a Republican or Independent, this site would still exist in opposition.



http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/
20 posted on 02/19/2004 12:03:22 AM PST by kcvl
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