Posted on 10/05/2005 12:49:08 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Oct 5, 2005 13:00 ET
Former Vietnam POWs Sue John Kerry
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 5 -- Sen. John Kerry and a top DNC campaign official have been sued for conspiracy and defamation in Federal District Court in Philadelphia by the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), which is led by a group of former Vietnam combat veterans, including several POWs, and the wife of a POW. The legal action comes just weeks after the group of highly decorated veterans, which includes a Medal of Honor recipient, was itself sued twice by Kerry campaign supporters who were once his fellow antiwar activists.
All the lawsuits stem from last year's Presidential elections and Stolen Honor, a documentary released last September that examined the impact of Kerry's 1971 anti-war activities on hundreds of American POWs still being held in the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison camp.
The Kerry campaign mounted a major effort to prevent Stolen Honor from being aired last October after the Sinclair Broadcasting Company announced plans to show the film on its 62 stations nationally. Sinclair was sued, boycotted and harshly condemned by Kerry campaign officials who publicly threatened to have the TV cable company's FCC license revoked if Kerry was elected. That was followed by protests from 18 U.S. Democrat Senators who called for FCC and FEC investigations of Sinclair. Amid the furor, the documentary's producer, Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and thrice wounded Vietnam veteran, was sued for libel by a Kerry advisor and member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, an organization Kerry represented as national spokesman in the 1970's. That case is scheduled for a jury trial next year in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas.
Sinclair eventually withdrew its planned broadcast of the film and, under pressure from Kerry campaign supporters, theater showings were canceled.
The federal lawsuit, filed this week by Sherwood and the POWs, charge Kerry and DNC campaign coordinator Anthony Podesta of conspiring to discredit the documentary and defaming the film's producer for the purpose of preventing Stolen Honor from being broadcast or seen in theaters.
Stolen Honor focused on Kerry's 1971 testimony before the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee when he accused U.S. combat troops of committing atrocities and war crimes on a "day to day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." The film examined, through interviews with 17 POWs and three POWs wives, the consequences of those allegations on some 350 American POWs still held in North Vietnamese Communist prison camps.
Some of the POWs interviewed for the documentary charged Kerry with "treason" and "perjury," while others said his 1971 Senate testimony placed their lives in jeopardy, protracted the Vietnam War and extended their confinement for years. All the POWs accused Kerry and his followers of fabricating "war crimes" and providing aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.
In recent weeks, the libel suit against Sherwood has been extended to name the VVLF and Newsmax as defendants. Another Kerry supporter and VVAW member has sued documentary producer Sherwood a second time for libel, also naming the VVLF and the Internet news company Newsmax as defendants.
Those libel suits were filed by Kenneth Campbell and Jon Bjornson, both long-time antiwar activists and members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), who allege that Sherwood, the VVLF and Newsmax defamed them in the documentary when it questioned the credibility of those, including Sen. Kerry, who claimed to have participated in, or, been witnesses to "war crimes" they allege were committed routinely throughout the Vietnam War. Although neither man is identified in Stolen Honor, both claim they appear in 35 year-old pictures and film clips used in the film and allege their reputations were harmed as a result. Campbell was a volunteer and an advisor to the Kerry campaign last year. Bjornson also supported Kerry.
Documentation for these suits is available at VVLF.org.
All the POWs and the wife of a POW who hold leadership positions in the VVLF also appeared in Stolen Honor. The VVLF's chairman is Col. Bud Day, a POW Medal of Honor recipient and the Air Force's most highly decorated veteran.
"It's time the American people learned the truth about Vietnam and Vietnam veterans," Col. Day said, "not just the sorry portrait they've seen in the movies or read about from politically motivated propagandists. We served with honor."
The Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF.org) is a 501(c)(3) public service corporation whose mission is to educate and inform the public about the Vietnam War, its events, its history, and the courageous men and women who sacrificed to serve their country in Vietnam.
Source: Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation
CONTACT: Audrey Mullen, audrey@advocacyink.com, or Dave Mohel, both for Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, +1-703-548-1160
Web site: http://www.vvlf.org/
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Bwahahahahahaahahahahahahaha!!!!! Suck on that, flower boy!
ping
I bought tickets and talked my husband into going. But when I showed up, it had been cancelled. I was really ticked! I hope this goes somewhere.
How sad. And on Teresa Heinz' birthday.
Lets see if there is any way to bring into the suit Hanoi Jane Fonda, most of the Kennedy Clan, and the Klinonistas, and Bubba himself......
Excellent!
Give him hell, boys!
Nail Jacque to the wall, guys!
They have right on their side. These people saved us from Hanoi John.
I won't hold my breath, but it would be even better if Kerry finally gets tried for treason.
Don't hold your breath.
Vietnam Veterans ~ Bump!
I won't. But, it would be nice to see him pay for his acts of treason.
He will pay some day and maybe not in our life time, but he will pay!
And if you were the Heinz family, wouldn't you sue Tu-Raz-Uh over the use of their faimily name? (I know. If you were a Heinz, you'd be on your yacht having bob bons fed to you by Paul Teuttle)
Naw, he's not my type.
"Some of the POWs interviewed for the documentary charged Kerry with "treason" ".....as a Vietnam vet(1st Cav 1970-71.. 11B..CIB may 1970) I believe John effing Kerry (and Hanoi Jane) legally could (and should) be charged with treason for their actions (aid and comfort to the enemy) during time of war
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