“The War on the Homefront”

Polls showing 80% of veterans and military reject Kerry continue to be covered-up. Questions being raised about possible criminal activity, if Kerry elected could make nation vulnerable to blackmail.

The following material is taken directly from our monograph, “The War on the Homefront,” a history of V.V.A.R. compiled a few years ago.

On May 11, 1981, the headline of The Compass, the student newspaper of Suffolk County Community College, Long Island, read, “Professor Resigns for Vets.”

In his sociology classes that semester Mr. Magruder had his students study the Vietnam War. At the end of the semester, after giving them their grades, he asked them to vote as to whether the war had been a just war, or an “immoral” war as had been argued by the campus war protestors. 85% of the students voted that the war had been a just war. Puzzled as to why the students of the 80’s could see the truth so clearly, that there was nothing “immoral” about defending South Vietnam against Communist aggression, while the students of the 60’s could not, the students concluded that faculties, to serve their own largely leftist and Marxist ideologies, had misinformed their students, who in turn used the misinformation to serve their own purposes, primarily to avoid the draft.

The “peace” movement, the students concluded, was never really concerned about peace. Although it cloaked itself in an aura of great moral purpose, it in fact gave aid and comfort to the enemy, marched under the flag of the Viet Cong, allowed Hanoi to dictate its agenda, and turned its back on the American soldier. When the soldiers returned, it tried to stereotype them, with the help of the media, as dupes , or drug-crazed “baby killers.” That those who did all the suffering in Vietnam should on their return be asked to bear additional suffering at the hands of the very ones who had betrayed them was, the students concluded, absolutely unconscionable. They decided they wanted to help.

On May 10, 1981, Mr. Magruder and his students held the nation’s first rally on any campus to honor the Vietnam veteran. It was during a speech at this rally, before more than 400 students, faculty, and Vietnam veterans, that Mr. Magruder announced that he was resigning his position as Professor of psychology at the college to “protest the damage done to the Vietnam veterans by the erroneous views of many in the university and the media in the 60’s and their perpetuation of these views.”( The Compass, May 11, 1981.)

In his speech Mr. Magruder said, “As Arthur Egendorf, a Vietnam veteran and principal author of the study by the Center of Policy Research on the problems of the Vietnam veteran said, ‘For the first time in our history, homecoming was as difficult as, if not more difficult than, the battle itself.’ A whole new psychiatric category , ‘delayed stress syndrome,’ has become necessary to describe what was largely the impact on the returned American soldier of attitudes at home based on lies that had been told about the war by the media and academia.” Mr. Magruder had hoped by his resignation to bring this issue to national awareness.

Although The New York Times, Newsday and other media were present, none would report the event because of statements made by the students, who carried signs that included “Abbie Hoffman was Wrong,” “War Protestors Were Wrong,” and “Jane Fonda was Wrong.” As reported by the school paper, “Newsday had been notified of the rally in advance, and, although a reporter was present, the newspaper did not publish the event.” The noted New York newscaster Bill Jorgensen of NBC-TV told Mr. Magruder the next day that although the rally had been “clearly newsworthy and of national importance, because of their liberal bias no news organization in New York would touch such a story .”

This was the beginning of Vietnam Veterans for Academic Reform. It was followed immediately at the college by a “Crisis Conference on Bias in the University and the Media,” at which a dozen Vietnam combat veterans testified that the campus “peace” movement and the liberal media had lied about the war and that this would happen again unless these institutions were reformed. “The peace movement pulled the trigger on my men” said one former Army Captain. Although the conference was boycotted by the New York media, it was covered by WSGN Radio and the Western Student Press.

These betrayals by the media led to protests by students all the way to the White House, where, in that year, Mr. Magruder by appointment placed on record the Manifesto of the new organization which included criticism of the media. It was the beginning of a war between Mr. Magruder and the media, particularly CBS, which included forcing PBS to show a film that documented how the media had lied about the Tet Offensive, an expose of the lies in the CBS film, The Uncounted Enemy, ( “You have done an exhaustive bit of research and I congratulate you,”--General William C. Westmoreland - letter), an appeal to Congress backed by thousands of vets to investigate the media, a challenge to Dan Rather to a debate, which he refused, at the Stony Brook University Vietnam Symposium for which Mr. Magruder served as National Coordinator, and, when the media refused to report on the findings of this Symposium to the American people, a call to all Vietnam veterans to boycott CBS Evening News.

We have presented the above material simply to show that the struggle to bring out the truth about how the war protestors, and this includes John Kerry, damaged both the war effort and the soldiers when they returned, has been a long and bitter one. It is not an issue conjured up for political purposes in this campaign.

The presentation this week of the film Stolen Honor by various television outlets is a milestone in this struggle. The film accurately and powerfully shows the effect of the protestors, particularly the ‘71 testimony and actions of John Kerry as leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, on our prisoners of war.

Craig Gordon of Newsday’s Washington Bureau wrote of Kerry’s 1971 testimony to Congress in an article on February 21, this year, “It is considered by many to be one of the peace movement’s defining moments. Kerry’s speech helped galvanize the protests and turn popular opinion against the war.”

Our own documentary, Media and Campus Lied About Vietnam shows how the protests affected the return of other veterans. It is based on 62 interviews with veterans by Mr. Magruder at the Houston Vietnam Veteran parade in the late 80’s. We tried but were not successful in getting this 38-minute documentary to the public, but we hope to show it later this year. Anyone who can get it on TV may e-mail Magruder44@aol.com for a free copy.

To give you some idea of the complaints, here are excerpts from what was said by every veteran that appears in our film.

Veteran A: Now that hurt me a lot. They yelled at us, “Nixon’s hired guns, do one need a college education to do that?

Veteran B: All they cared about was themselves, and those who served in Vietnam they didn’t give jack---- about and that stinks. When a country turns its mind and body against a veteran who fought a war for that country, that stinks.

Veteran C: When I returned I could only keep going if I forgot my Vietnam service, shut it out of my life. But I don’t feel that way any more. I have every reason to be proud of what I did in Vietnam.

Veteran E: They protested the fact that the American soldier was in Vietnam, but when we came back they treated us like dirt—they didn’t care.

Veteran F: When we came home we wanted to fit back into society as soon as possible. But it didn’t work out that way. They kept saying, “you must be one of those baby killers, one of the psychopathic killers of Vietnam.” When you start living with something like that you start telling people you were not over in Vietnam, just out of the country.

Veteran G: They were idiots...we came home alone, straight into the jaws of insensitive idiots. The peace movement was very diverse, from Vietnam Veterans Against the War to mother and fathers who couldn’t understand.

Veteran H: Because of them we were portrayed as people that we were not, as “baby killers” and all of that. If they could make those returning feel they had done something wrong it added credibility to their arguments. It was a tack taken so they would not have to go.

Veteran I: Oh boy, do I remember that, spitting at us at the airport and saying we were rapists, that we raped babies, and they left a mark on us making people think that we were no good.

Veteran J: When they got back they were blacklisted as very uncomfortable reminders to those people who opposed the war, and many of them felt the arrogant need to isolate many of those who tried to come home and re-penetrate those peer groups—they were ordered to the closet. It was especially difficult for disabled veterans, who were told their sacrifice was a stupid and unnecessary act of patriotism.

In August of 1980, right before Senator Ted Kennedy made his bid for nomination against Jimmy Carter at the Democratic Convention in New York, Mr. Magruder stood outside Madison Square Garden handing out 1000 copies of an 11-page expose he had written about the incident at Chappaquiddick. He showed that Kennedy could not possibly be considered for President because that would make the nation vulnerable to blackmail from aides who knew the truth about the cover-up.

“If Kennedy did not tell the truth, then he is depending on any number of persons, high and low, to hold the line. Such people would have a subtle but powerful lever on matters affecting national policy.”

Kerry may have the same problem. There has been serious talk and some evidence presented that there may be criminal aspects to his visits with the Viet Cong in Paris. There could be criminal aspects to his presence at a meeting in Kansas City where assassination of U.S. Senators was discussed, and he may have lied under oath in his ‘71 testimony to Congress. We have seen many articles on the Internet using Military Code and FBI files to argue for criminal acts. And there are other aspects, although not so serious, that the media has not told the American people, such as the fact that he did not go immediately to Vietnam, he asked his draft board for a deferment to go study in Paris, and there is almost certainly a problem with his discharge, which he will not release to the public. But by far the most dangerous aspect of his being elected as President is the fact that polls the media will not report to the public show that 80% of the military do not consider Kerry an acceptable Commander-in-Chief, which means that valuable members of the military will resign in protest, as happened when Clinton became president, and others will not re-enlist. This in a time of war.

On Oct0ber 30, 2004, Dolph Simons Jr., publisher of The Lawrence Journal-World titled his Saturday Commentary, “Key Media Organizations Show Bias in Campaign Coverage.”

“One facet of the bitter contest that is of concern to this writer is the performance of some of the media national media. Rather than report the news, it appears some members of the media...went out of their way to time and plan stories that they thought would be of help to the Kerry candidacy. A recent poll of Washington-based reporters disclosed that the number of reporters favoring Kerry outnumber those who favored Bush by 12 to 1. Unfortunately, this bias does enter into how stories are played and timed.”

While we are happy to see a publisher editor writing about bias in the media, there is hypocrisy here. Only two weeks earlier Mr. Magruder stood for two hours before the office of this man’s newspaper with a large sign that read “Stop the Media Cover-up for Kerry.” Reporters and editors of the paper walked right on by, never asking about the issue. The issue is the cover-up by the Kansas, and then the national, media of the polls we received from some 32 Vietnam veterans organizations that collectively show that 80% of these vets are opposed to Kerry as Commander-in-Chief. The samples involved were in some cases many times larger that those used by national polls. Released three times, the issue was never mentioned by the mainstream media, although some lesser outlets reported on it such as Insight Magazine Online, NewsMax, and Mr. Magruder was interviewed on two national radio shows, George Metcalf and American Freedom Network. Powerful confirmation of these results came yesterday from The Army Times, although even this did not receive much media coverage. The media knows that if the public knew that the Army rejects Kerry, this would have a large influence on voters. The Kerry candidacy has revived the whole issue of Vietnam, and the media is trying to protect its New Left version of that war, the same one held by John Kerry.

WASHINGTON - Members of the military and their families overwhelmingly favor President Bush as commander in chief over his Democratic challenger John Kerry, according to an independent poll released Friday. The respondents named Bush over Kerry by 69 percent to 24 percent on who would be trusted more “to handle the responsibilities of commander in chief of the military.” The survey, part of the National Annenberg Election Survey, also showed military support for Bush consistently exceeding that of the country as a whole.

Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the Bush campaign, told reporters the poll results showed “the folks who know best, who obviously have the most concerns and the most interest in decisions made by the president related to going to war, they support the president overwhelmingly.”

There are two issues here of absolutely vital importance to the nation. First, the media is withholding from the public documented evidence that veterans and the armed forces by a significant majority reject Kerry as Commander-in-Chief, and what this means is that if Kerry wins there will be a paralyzing tension between the armed forces and the Commander-in-Chief in a time of war. This we absolutely cannot have.

Second, there are matters in Kerry‘s past that are being examined that may be of a criminal nature. If this were true it could make the nation vulnerable to blackmail.

What the media has to worry about is all this coming out after a victory by John Kerry, the revelation that they threw the election, betraying the American people.

The need for the reformation of our universities and the media is just as great today as it was on that day on Long Island on May 10, 1981. Their bias, the loss of contact with reality, poses an enormous danger to the American people in this hour of crisis. 12 to 1! That is obscene bias in a country where the public is split down the middle. What do reporters think they know that the rest of the country doesn’t know?

We urge everyone to join us in this fight in any way you can until the headline “Veterans, Military, Overwhelmingly Reject Kerry as Commander-in-Chief” appears on the front page of every major newspaper in the country.

This article may be reproduced in any form. Copy this article, distribute, add us as a link.

Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963

Current Communist Goals

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 10, 1963

Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.

At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.