Less than three months into planning for the Winter Soldier Investigation, most of the Vietnam veteran organizers and Jeremy Rifkin had become adamant that WSI disassociate itself from Mark Lane. [20], The organizers had two primary concerns when considering the testimony they would use. However, government officials have no record of the report and no other historian has seen it. It is now apparent that the missions were compromised and that Hanoi ran a counterespionage operation against us and our South Vietnamese ally by forcing our commandos to radio back the information that they, Hanoi, wanted us to hear. ---------- What happened when military investigators asked the "winter soldiers" for evidence of all the war crimes they had alleged? The process of declaring the commandos dead on paper was reaffirmed in 1969 by the colonel in charge of the operations for MACSOG, the Military Assistance Command Studies and Observations Group. ******************************************************, an excerpt from Senator John Kerry (as included in Amendment #4055). This announcement was received with skepticism by the veterans, but VVAW representatives agreed to meet with McGovern and Conyers.[46]. Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2009. fighting in the European theatre. whom the country was supposed to support, his statement is a Hills and Khesahns and Hill 81s and Fire Base 6s, and so many Hatfield also asked congress to hold hearings discussing the use of military force in Vietnam and their relation to international agreements ratified by the United States legislature. The charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence, and five years later at the WSI, Smith said that he stood by his statements. As noted in VVAW records, each veteran's authenticity and testimony were also checked shortly after the hearings by Nixon's "plumbers." [38] Many veterans testified that black soldiers were demeaned by platoon leaders and refusal to comply to orders often led to beatings and starvation,[38] and black soldiers were intentionally endangered by being placed as "point, rearguards, and side-guards". Then, to know where the term Winter Soldier was coined, we must fast forward one hundred ninety-five years to the Viet Nam War era and listen in on John Kerry, testifying as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, in front of the same body he would one day join, the U.S. Senate. Organizers hoped Lane would keep a low profile during the event, and he did, as he spent his time flying around the country defending his book. bars and chewing gum. [To HELL with the TRAITOR BITCH !!! Upon hearing of these claims by Pitkin, another WSI participant named Scott Camil filed his own affidavit refuting Pitkin's statements. Testimony given during the three-day event covered both broad policy concerns, such as the use of chemical agents, indiscriminate bombing and free-fire zones as well as more specific and unusual war crime incidents, including rape, torture and desecration of the dead. of those misfits abuse," and this was used as a rallying served in Nam. Post by Joe Blowtowski are these True? The Winter Soldier Investigation changed him and his comrades forever. is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy." own personal symbol -- and we cannot consider ourselves fear they have tried to deny that we are veterans or that we shooting anything that moves, and we watched while "We have not been able to confirm the existence of this report, but it's also possible that such records could have been destroyed or misplaced," said Naval Criminal Investigative Service public affairs specialist Paul O'Donnell. Non-white patients were reported to have been operated on without anesthetic on several occasions. in the not so far away JUNGLES - An initial steering committee was formed, consisting of Duncan, Ensign, Fonda, Lane, Hubbard, Rifkin and Fernandez, and continued to organize the WSI through September, 1970. them after coming back from Vietnam. Organizers of the event hoped to recoup some of their expenditures through the above-mentioned book, film and recording deals. statistics to prove that we were winning the war, to be used He has been married to Teresa Heinz Kerry since May 26, 1995. right to kill Laotians by remote control. The New Soldier: John Kerry and the VVAW. [42] This notion was also projected into medical treatment of soldiers and POWs. this country, because there is no moral indignation and, if country which fly the flag which so many have chosen as their people can go on killing each other for years to come. this country has been unable to see there is absolutely no missions, the bombings, the torture of prisoners, the Each veteran's authenticity was checked before the hearings by the investigation event organizers, and subsequently by reporters and United States Department of Defense (DoD) officials. made a mistake. as veterans to say we think we are in the midst of the We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own yet people have accepted a differentiation fed them by the Who's son or daughter, sister or brother, husband or wife, niece or nephew, friend or neighbor [11][51][52] In September 2005, it was re-released across the U.S. in small art house theatres. zones. Discharge papers were examined; military records were checked against DoD records; after all their digging, it was claimed that not one fraudulent veteran was found. retreat, and because it didn't matter how many American bodies John Kerry was an instant celebrity, and the group behind the three-day conference, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), certainly served his political ambitions well. To suggest that John Kerry lied in describing American atrocities when he returned home from Vietnam, a number of conservative commentators have noted that he relied on the testimony of the Winter Soldier Investigation, a meeting of antiwar vets that took place in 1971. "Winter Soldier Investigation: 3d Marine Division, Part I", "After Decades, Renewed War on Old Conflict", "Kerry went from soldier to anti-war protester", "Stolen Honor producer Sherwood falsely claimed Winter Soldier investigation "utterly discredited. WS is a sobering espose on everything about John Kerry and his anti-American, anti-soldier efforts during the aftermath of his soon to be scandal plagued Vietnam military service. ], Now I ask you: Scott Swett, webmaster at WinterSoldiers.com, has played a critical role in exposing the lies of the first Winter Soldiers Event. Detroit was proposed by Fonda because of its central location in the American heartland, and the "blue-collar" social status of most of the residents. These men have left all the (2000, February). Following those principles, we held that if Calley were responsible, so were his superiors up the chain of command — even to the president. The name "Winter Soldier Investigation" was proposed by Mark Lane,[14] and was derived as a contrast to what Thomas Paine described as a "summer soldier" in his first American Crisis paper, written in December 1776. On April 22, 1971, John Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during their hearings on the Vietnam war, and made reference to evidence brought forth by veterans at the WSI. "Race, Casualties, and Opinion in the Vietnam War". allowing that to go on for many years to come. "He has an angle on the war as a whole." have to say about these upcoming events - ah, never mind - [Yes, you too Mr. "GRIM REAPER" [12]. as one member of a group of one thousand, which in turn is a [7]. [11][21] The Detroit Free Press reported daily of participants who had been confirmed by the DoD as veterans.[25]. entire world already knows, so that we can't say that we have John Kerry was their spokesman and the leader of the Vietnam Veterans against the war. VVAW leaders felt it should be an all-veteran event, to maintain its credibility. Complete John Kerry Testimony, 04/22/71 . 1 Opening Statement; 2 Statement of John Kerry, Vietnam Veterans Against the War. [44], The previously secret two-week U.S. penetration into Laos in February 1969, which was part of Operation Dewey Canyon (primarily taking place in South Vietnam at the time), became a controversial subject at this event since the Pentagon had only days before denied that any American troops had crossed the Laotian border and carried out military operations. George E. Smith, he claims "I usually had more food than I could eat," although he would often grow ill from intolerance. It was a pivotal moment in the lives of young vets from around the country who participated, including the young John Kerry. Its major organizers included Jane Fonda, Dick Gregory, Phil Ochs, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Donald Sutherland. the last vestige of this barbaric war, to pacify our own ask if we will really be satisfied only when the troops march Most of the media reviews have regarded the film positively, with some calling it a "powerful" and "emotional" record of the era. YAF/HotAir correspondent Jason Mattera confronts John Kerry about his Winter Soldier testimony--and asks for a special autograph. In addition, film footage of the event, as well as some pre-event and post-event footage, and commentary can be found in Winter Soldier: A film / Winterfilm Collective in association with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. those rice paddies for want of support from their allies. A must read for those who desire to gain a full picture of John Kerry. yet we listened while this country tried to blame all of the many who have died would have returned to this country to John Kerry was born on December 11, 1943 in Aurora, Colorado, USA as John Forbes Kerry. In our opinion and from our experience, there is nothing in Before launching into their detailed testimony, each gave a brief statement of personal information including rank, division, unit, length of service and a summary of what their testimony would cover. us helped it in the turning. 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