Vietnam Veterans on Election Center Stage

AP ^ | MATT GOURAS

[Former Military Chick]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The last time the Vietnam War loomed so large in a presidential election, it was 1972 and American soldiers were still fighting an elusive enemy in Southeast Asia. But the war has taken center stage again as both parties seek the support of Vietnam veterans - turning to them as the emerging elder statesmen among American war veterans.

At a conference this past week, on the 40th anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the Vietnam Veterans of America urged its members to make their voices heard.

``This election is probably more important than any election for president since the Vietnam era,'' Navy veteran Ed Vick, recently retired chairman of advertising giant Young and Rubicam, told the roughly 550 veterans at the convention Wednesday. ``We must vote.''

For Vietnam veterans - many of whom once felt disconnected from mainstream politics and ostracized by other veteran groups - it's surprising to be an important part of the 2004 presidential election.

``I had no idea I would be in the position I am now,'' said David Chung, a VVA member who said he returned from the war homeless. ``A lot of people thought or hoped Vietnam would go away, but 30 years later it is at the center of things.''

Many veterans see parallels between the current war in Iraq and the one they fought in. The enemy uses guerrilla tactics, casualties are mounting and public opinion is wavering.

Bill Chapman, a VVA member from Cocoa, Fla., remembers joining the Veterans of Foreign Wars when he returned from Vietnam and being told he didn't fight in a real war.

``Back then, VFW, the American Legion really didn't want anything to do with us,'' said Tom Meinhardt of Michigan. ``Now they are begging us to join their outfits.''

Democratic candidate John Kerry, a founding member of the VVA, is making his Vietnam experience a key part of his campaign, partly to highlight that President Bush avoided serving in Vietnam. In response, conservative groups are bringing out veterans to question Kerry's service.

That conflict sometimes evokes memories of the divisiveness that gripped the country during and after the Vietnam War, veterans said.

Many VVA members at the convention were hesitant to talk about the current political scene for fear of seeming to publicly endorse one candidate over another. Along with the group's connection to Kerry, its members include officials of the Bush administration such as Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who also addressed delegates Wednesday.

Others, like Chung, hold a strong opinion that Kerry abandoned his comrades by returning home and opposing the war.

The VVA said it never endorses a candidate.

Putting their war in the middle of an election battle threatens to fracture the group.

``It has caused some inner strife in the chapters,'' Chapman said. ``You have die-hard Republicans and you have Democrats, too, and it's tearing some chapters apart like never before. After the election, we need to remember we will still be brothers.''

``Ours was one of the most controversial wars in history,'' Chapman said. ``I'm still not over it, and it's more than 30 years ago.''

The VVA is pressing the issue of Veterans Administration health care, hoping the political focus on their war and their members will translate into more money for what they say is an underfunded hospital system that denies benefits to 200,000 veterans because it runs out of money annually. It also wants to make sure the current crop of soldiers gets better government support.

``I'm not taking either side (of the presidential debate), I'm taking the side of us,'' Vick said. ``When we say to our government, 'Do you care?' The answer should be, 'Yes, yes we care.'''

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On the Net:

Vietnam Veterans of America: http://www.vva.org

[Former Military Chick]

Thought you might be interested in this article.

[izzatzo]

The article mis-states, I believe, that John Kerry was a "founding member" of VVA. John Kerry was a "founding member" of Vietnam Veterans Against the War(VVAW) in the early '70's and VVA is different, having been founded in 1978 per its website. In other words, VVA is a slightly more legitimate organization than VVAW; and, the article is another example of media "accuracy."

[reformedliberal]

While you are correct, I hope this gets picked up and spread around in the MSM w/o correction, as it makes Kerry look abandoned by his Band of Brothers.

I don't see how many VN Vets are going to be able to vote Kerry, Democrats or not. Those committed to the left may stay home. I hope.

This is from a vet:

"One of my best pals, the poster boy for PTSD , a man who did not think too much of the war, is coiled up like an over-wound spring, waiting, in his words, "to deliver the humiliation that this scum deserves". He's also an Ivy League, private school, extremewealth sort."

[Chieftain]

This article was obviously written by a Kerry Kool-Aider who is trying to tie Kerry, one of the founders of the Anti-Vietnam veteran organization, Vietnam Veterans Against the War" (V.V.A.W.) with this true veterans organization.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

John Kerry : "war hero" or a "war criminal"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1186991/posts

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

VVAW supported demonstration, Washington Spring Offensive, April - May 1971

Kerry was a supporter of the "People's Peace Treaty," a supposed "people's" declaration to end the war, reportedly drawn up in communist East Germany.

It included nine points, all of which were taken from Viet Cong peace proposals at the Paris peace talks as conditions for ending the war.

One of the provisions stated: "The Vietnamese pledge that as soon as the U.S. government publicly sets a date for total withdrawal [from Vietnam], they will enter discussion to secure the release of all American prisoners, including pilots captured while bombing North Vietnam."

In other words, Kerry and his VVAW advocated the communist line to withdraw all U.S. troops from Vietnam first and then negotiate with Hanoi over the release of prisoners. Had the nine points of the "People's Peace Treaty" favored by Kerry been accepted by American negotiators, the United States would have totally lost all leverage to get the communists to release any POWs captured during the war years.



Vice President Spiro T. Agnew said that Kerry, "who drew rave notices in the media for his eloquent testimony before Congress," was using material ghosted for him by a former Kennedy speech writer (Adam Walinsky).

Picture #2, VVAW supported demonstration during the Washington Spring Offensive, April - May 1971.

Notice the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong flags.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

I'm John Kerry and I approve
the desecration of the American Flag.

[hobson]

I received a phone call from a Vietnam veterans group soliciting donations and in the middle of his pitch I stopped him and asked who they were supporting for President...he said John Kerry, I said take me off your calling list. He was still hymning and hawing when I hung-up.

[reformedliberal]

I think this is the biggest mistake I have ever seen in politics.

How many veterans are there? How many active military+Guard+Reserve?

I think this is going to swell the ranks of those attending he Vets March in DC on 9/12. It will be interesting to see the MSM spike that.