Posted on 02/26/2004 5:37:05 AM PST by beaureguard
A former Special Forces green beret who served in Vietnam has touched a nerve with fellow veterans after penning a scathing column hammering Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
"I've been deluged with e-mails," Don Bendell told WND. Most of the e-mails and phone calls he's received are from fellow Vietnam veterans, though he says some are from military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Take a look at my website," Bendell said, "and the number of guest-book entries."
Bendell says the servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan who have contacted him have been "fervent" about their desire not to see Kerry as their commander in chief.
In his column, Bendell accuses Kerry of "rewriting history" through his 1971 testimony to Congress. In that speech, which has been referenced by many opponents of Kerry, he said of fellow soldiers in Vietnam: "They 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, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."
Writes Bendell:
I was a green beret officer who volunteered for duty in Vietnam and fought in the thick of it in 1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the elite. We saw the most action. Everybody in the world knows that. But we did not just kill people; we built a church, a school, treated illnesses, passed out soap, food and clothing, and had fun and loving interaction with the indigenous people of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy, Baghdad, Saigon and everywhere American soldiers ever served. We all gave away our candy bars and rations to kids, our hearts to oppressed people all over the globe. My children and grandchildren could read your words and think those horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry. You are a bald-faced, unprincipled liar and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me and all my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there were a couple bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did, as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it, or at the very least report it. Why is there not a single record anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested? The answer is simple. You are a liar. Your medals and mine are not a free pass for lifetime, Sen. Kerry, to bypass character, integrity and morality. I earn my green beret over and over daily in all aspects of my life.
Since it was first posted on Feb. 11, Bendell's column has been passed all over the world via e-mail and has been posted on several different websites.
Besides criticizing Kerry's testimony before Congress, Bendell slams him for opposing a bill that would have helped the Montagnard people of Vietnam:
John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam Human Rights Bill, H.R.2883, in 2001, after it had passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and thousands of pro-American Montagnard tribespeople in Vietnam died since then who could have been saved, by you. Earlier, as chair of the Senate Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the efforts of any and all veterans to report sightings of living POWs, when you held those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and nail to push for the U.S. to normalize relations with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry? Simple, your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO of Colliers International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS of dollars for Collier's International to become the exclusive real estate representative for the country of Vietnam. Bendell says he has an expose coming out in the April issue of American Spectator that further details his charges against the senator.
In talking with WND, the veteran also criticized Kerry for marrying two women who happened to be multibillionaires: "I'm sure that it was true love," he said.
Emphasizing the fact his opinions do not represent any organization, Bendell mentioned he has been involved in non-political veteran groups, including a stint as president of the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Special Forces Association.
He says he tells Democrats to vote for John Edwards in the primaries: "Just don't vote for Kerry."
Bendell, who has spoken on many radio shows since his column gained popularity, is the author of several books and owns karate studios in Colorado.
The parting shot from Bendell in his column: "Medals do not make a man. Morals do."
Will this fit on a bumper sticker?
And a real war hero doesn't go around telling everyone he's a hero. Kerry is a fraud on so many levels.
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