I heard some interesting facts about Kerry’s anti-Vietnam War activities, that I wished I had known sooner.
First, the Swift Boat Vets claim that Kerry gave “false testimony” in front of Congress, that many of the vets at the Winter Soldier summit were “lying” and some had “never been to VietNam”.
But according to George Butler (the director of the Kerry documentary “Going Upriver” and Pumping Iron) there is NO EVIDENCE that any of the soldiers at the Winter Soldier summit were lying, and no evidence that anyone at the Winter Soldier summit hadn’t actually served in Vietnam.
Kerry did not lie in front of Congress. It’s well-documented that war crimes did occur in Viet Nam and that some were committed with the knowledge or even under the direction of commanding officers… for example the designated “free fire zones” where soldiers were instructed to shoot anything that moves inside the zone, including civilians. Shooting civilians is obviously illegal.
Also, Kerry’s testimony did NOT blame the grunts, it placed blame starting at the top, with the generals and the Pentagon and the White House.
Also, Kerry spent one paragraph discussing war crimes and atrocities, (in testimony that lasted 40 minutes if I recall correctly).
More: According to an editorial in Soldier of Fortune magazine, the Viet Cong stopped using torture against American POWs in 1969. John Kerry gave his testimony before Congress in 1971. I wouldn’t claim to know that torture was non-existant after 1971 but in my opinion anyone who claims that he was tortured “because of John Kerry” is deluded at best, and possibly lying at worst.
Also, I see people claiming that Kerry had a “secret meeting” with Viet Cong representatives in Paris. The meeting was not “secret”, it was public knowledge at the time and Kerry even mentions it in his testimony. Some anti-war vets wanted the anti-war movement to hold ongoing talks with the Viet Cong, and Kerry was against that (and to my knowledge no further meetings ever occurred).