Printer-Friendly Version

The Winter Soldier Investigation and John Kerry - Frozen in Time?
By Kevin Fobbs & Lisa Sarrach
February 11, 2004

February 7th represented in many ways a homecoming for front runner Democrat nominee Senator John Kerry, the winner of the Democratic caucuses in Michigan. In many ways, Motown is where his life long journey to capture the White House began.

It was April 1971 at a Howard Johnsons in Detroit, Michigan. Sponsored by Jane Fonda the newly organized Vietnam Veteran's Against the War held informal hearings and heard testimony from approximately 150 Vietnam Veterans. They dubbed the gathering as "The Winter Soldier Investigation." They spoke of the horrible atrocities they had witnessed or participated in. Sitting in on the informal hearing but not participating was recently discharged John Kerry, no longer on active duty but still in the Naval Reserves, John Kerry was now adamantly against the war he just fought and got wounded in, three times.

To hear him tell it as he testified in a Congressional hearing later in 1971, material much of which was repeated from the testimony given during the "Winter Soldier Investigation", you'd think that it would be difficult to make the claim that the War on Terrorism, the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq falls into the same category as this statement:

"Over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."

It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit, the emotions in the room, the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam, but they did, they relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.

They told their stories. At times they had 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 in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

Or this passage:

We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service as easily as this administration has wiped their memories of us. But all that they have done and all that they can do by this denial is to make more clear than ever our own determination to undertake one last mission, to search out and destroy the last vestige of this barbaric war, to pacify our own hearts, to conquer the hate and the fear that have driven this country these last ten years and more, and so when in 30 years from now our brothers go down the street without a leg, without an arm, or a face, and small boys ask why, we will be able to say "Vietnam" and not mean a desert, not a filthy obscene memory, but mean instead the place where America finally turned and where soldiers like us helped it in the turning.

The entire speech before Congress made John Kerry a rising star and gave him the platform necessary to launch his political career, which he did after law school and a stint as a Massachusetts prosecutor.

Should it matter that the "Winter Soldier Investigation" has been widely discredited in these intervening years by various authors and Vietnam Vets as largely false propaganda delivered by false veterans who either never served in combat in Vietnam or embellished their accounts to achieve their stated political goals?

Senator Kerry has never disavowed the statements he made so long ago in their name. He's never publicly questioned their veracity. The question now is that he is running for president and about to capture the Democratic nomination, does any of this matter? It has been proven in various books, most notably in "Stolen Valor" by BG Burkett, that much of the testimony at that Howard Johnson's in Detroit was exaggerated, embellished, and in some cases boldly fabricated.

With the Democratic caucuses now past and the general election looming with John Kerry the presumptive nominee, it would seem prudent to look back at the "Winter Soldier Investigation" held here way back in 1971 and propose to the electorate -

Does Senator Kerry's history as an anti-war activist matter and what does it portend for his candidacy and the decisions he might have to make as a Commander in Chief?

And what of John Kerry's participation in the "Winter Soldier Investigation," his subsequent organization of the "Dewey Cannon II" march on Washington where he famously threw ribbons and medals over a Capitol fence? Was it true outrage, or a carefully crafted act?

It was later discovered that the medals he threw were not his own, but other Vets' medals. His are in his office proudly displayed for constituents. He stated that he threw his own ribbons and was asked to throw the medals for other Vets who couldn't be there. That's fine, but it was an

embarrassing moment for him to be forced to reveal years later that he allowed reporters and others to assume the medals he tossed were his own.

Does he stand behind the statements made to the Senate all those years ago? Does he still believe it? How do his experiences in Vietnam color his attitudes today?

You could make the argument that all this has no place in our current political discourse. But then you'd have to talk to Terry McAuliffe, Wesley Clark, Michael Moore, and others who have decided that President Bush's service in the National Guard is still fair game. Just this past weekend, Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic Committee Chairman said this:

"I look forward to that debate, when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL" in the National Guard, Mr. McAuliffe said on the ABC program "This Week."

George Bush never served in our military in our country," he said. "He didn't show up when he should have showed up."

Just for the record, George W. Bush was never AWOL. He trained as a pilot, his unit was activated at the time of his training, and only because of a restructuring of his unit, was he not activated and sent to Vietnam. He flew for 22 months after training, and completed his required duties. While he did miss some time during a move to Alabama, he more than made up the time at the other end back in Texas. He was honorably discharged after almost six years credited service in the National Guard.

Back to Mr. Kerry. If he, his supporters, his opponents and others are allowed to continually question President Bush's capabilities, war service records, and the decisions he has made since we were attacked on 9-11-01, it seems only fair to be able to look at Mr. Kerry's record as a whole, including the frozen truth from the Detroit "Winter Solider Investigation from so long ago, and not just the parts he wants us all to focus on.

Is it a fair question to ponder how much do we need to know about the psychological make up of our presidential candidates? Is it important to know what makes them tick? It seemed very important in Iowa when Howard Dean appeared to have a melt down on national television after losing that state's primary. His numbers plummeted and he consequently lost much of the advantage that he enjoyed in New Hampshire, coming in a distant second.

Should it matter that after Vietnam he stated that he would never allow troops into battle without the United Nations' approval and as the lead agency. That he has previously attempted to cut back on CIA funding for intelligence and to slash spending at the FBI feeling that in a post-Cold War posture, the CIA was no longer necessary. That he has voted against many military spending bills that included the Abrams tank, Patriot Missile, B-1 Bomber, B-2 Stealth Bomber, and many other current pieces of our arsenal that have been so effective in Iraq and Afghanistan?

The problem with all of this is that this country is NOT in the same place we were 35 years ago. The same rhetoric that was effective during the Vietnam Era and the post-Cold War Era is not where we are as a country today. We are not running this war from the Oval Office, as was

asserted in Vietnam, but from Cent Com, with the generals in the field. They tell us what they need, and the Pentagon fulfills their requests when needed for troops, materials, and supplies.

Some have called Mr. Kerry too liberal; others have said he's not liberal enough. We think the more important question is whether he's capable of making the tough decisions to keep us safe, or has his experience forever colored him from thinking that the United States government is capable of acting honorably for the benefit of mankind and our country.

Is Senator Kerry frozen in time or will he be able to thaw and warm to the new dangers that face our world? Let the debate begin................

--------------

Kevin Fobbs is President, Lisa Sarrach is Vice President of National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a non-partisan civic, and citizen-action organization that focuses on taking the politics out of policy to secure urban America's future one neighborhood, one city, and one person at a time. Visit their web site at www.NuPac.org.

--------------------

Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.