Oliver North's open letter to Senator John Kerry

[David]

Dear John,

As usual, you have it wrong. You don't have a beef with President George Bush about your war record. He's been exceedingly generous about your military service. Your complaint is with the 2.5 million of us who served honorably in a war that ended 29 years ago and which you, not the president, made the centerpiece of this campaign.

I talk to a lot of vets, John, and this really isn't about your medals or how you got them. Like you, I have a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. I only have two Purple Hearts, though. I turned down the others so that I could stay with the Marines in my rifle platoon. But I think you might agree with me, though I've never heard you say it, that the officers always got more medals than they earned and the youngsters we led never got as many medals as they deserved.

This really isn't about how early you came home from that war, either, John. There have always been guys in every war who want to go home. There are also lots of guys, like those in my rifle platoon in Vietnam, who did a full 13 months in the field. And there are, thankfully, lots of young Americans today in Iraq and Afghanistan who volunteered to return to war because, as one of them told me in Ramadi a few weeks ago, "the job isn't finished."

Nor is this about whether you were in Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968. Heck John, people get lost going on vacation. If you got lost, just say so. Your campaign has admitted that you now know that you really weren't in Cambodia that night and that Richard Nixon wasn't really president when you thought he was. Now would be a good time to explain to us how you could have all that bogus stuff "seared" into your memory -- especially since you want to have your finger on our nation's nuclear trigger.

But that's not really the problem, either. The trouble you're having, John, isn't about your medals or coming home early or getting lost -- or even Richard Nixon. The issue is what you did to us when you came home, John.

When you got home, you co-founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War and wrote "The New Soldier," which denounced those of us who served -- and were still serving -- on the battlefields of a thankless war. Worst of all, John, you then accused me -- and all of us who served in Vietnam -- of committing terrible crimes and atrocities.

On April 22, 1971, under oath, you told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that you had knowledge that American troops "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 country side of South Vietnam." And you admitted on television that "yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed."

And for good measure you stated, "(America is) more guilty than any other body, of violations of (the) Geneva Conventions ... the torture of prisoners, the killing of prisoners."

Your "antiwar" statements and activities were painful for those of us carrying the scars of Vietnam and trying to move on with our lives. And for those who were still there, it was even more hurtful. But those who suffered the most from what you said and did were the hundreds of American prisoners of war being held by Hanoi. Here's what some of them endured because of you, John:

Capt. James Warner had already spent four years in Vietnamese custody when he was handed a copy of your testimony by his captors. Warner says that for his captors, your statements "were proof I deserved to be punished." He wasn't released until March 14, 1973.

Maj. Kenneth Cordier, an Air Force pilot who was in Vietnamese custody for 2,284 days, says his captors "repeated incessantly" your one-liner about being "the last man to die" for a lost cause. Cordier was released March 4, 1973.

Navy Lt. Paul Galanti says your accusations "were as demoralizing as solitary (confinement) ... and a prime reason the war dragged on." He remained in North Vietnamese hands until February 12, 1973.

John, did you think they would forget? When Tim Russert asked about your claim that you and others in Vietnam committed "atrocities," instead of standing by your sworn testimony, you confessed that your words "were a bit over the top." Does that mean you lied under oath? Or does it mean you are a war criminal? You can't have this one both ways, John. Either way, you're not fit to be a prison guard at Abu Ghraib, much less commander in chief.

One last thing, John. In 1988, Jane Fonda said: "I would like to say something ... to men who were in Vietnam, who I hurt, or whose pain I caused to deepen because of things that I said or did. I was trying to help end the killing and the war, but there were times when I was thoughtless and careless about it and I'm ... very sorry that I hurt them. And I want to apologize to them and their families."

Even Jane Fonda apologized. Will you, John?


Oliver North
August 27, 2004

[revwardoc]

Being one of the prime movers in the Iran-Contra scandal and chastizing Kerry takes a lot of balls!

[razar]

OH YEAH THERE IS A GOD THAT ANSWERS PRAYERS.

I JUST LOVE TO SEE "OFFICERS"GET IN EACH OTHERS SHIT!!!
----------------COOL--------
THEY ALL DESERVE EACH OTHER,AND ALL THE CRAP THEY SPEW ABOUT THEIR GLORIOUS COMBAT DAYS.

I KNOW THERE WERE GOOD "OFFICERS' WHO WENT THE DISTANCE FOR THEIR TROOPS,BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE KIA OR DID NOT GO INTO POLITICS.

IF THE MOVIE AND BOOK WERE TRUE ABOUT COL. HAL MOORE IN THE IA DRANG WITH 1ST CAV,THEN I WISH I COULD HAVE SERVED UNDER HIM. , AND VOTED FOR HIM FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.

OH WELL--SHIT HAPPENS AND TIME MARCHES ON--

[Andy]

Iran-Contra was necessary because of the Bolin Amendment. Sorry to say he was my Congressman. The Contra's, the country of Nicaragua, what ever happened to them? Are they still communist?

I always thought it was interesting that North testified before Congress, who were all ready to hang him, in the summer of 1987, the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Star Chamber Court. More than a little Ironic.

But the issue isn't about North, it's about Kerry. When John was bad mouthing all of us, I was home and trying to put it behind me. Kerry didn't help. Had friends who were still in RVN, Fonda and Kerry were not helpful to them either. For some of us it was hard being called a baby killer by people who knew it was true. If had to be true, a former officer said so.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[Seascamp]

Hind sight is always 20/20 but given what I know now about USN Kerry vs. USMC Col. North, I would have gotten off the bus at USNTC, ran like hell over to next door to the USMC training center, beat on the gate and begged for asylum and membership.

Scamp

[MarineAO]

Originally posted by Seascamp Hind sight is always 20/20 but given what I know now about USN Kerry vs. USMC Col. North, I would have gotten off the bus at USNTC, ran like hell over to next door to the USMC training center, beat on the gate and begged for asylum and membership.

Scamp

Still Can do It, Just Sign Here ________________________

[Seascamp]

Well what can I say Sarge besides too zoon alt, too late schmart. Can?t hear or see, but can still make my mark zo here it is.

X

Scamp

[MarineAO]

Originally posted by Seascamp Well what can I say Sarge besides too zoon alt, too late schmart. Can?t hear or see, but can still make my mark zo here it is.

X

Scamp

OK Now Raise your right hand and repeat after me..........


I (state your name) do solemnly swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign or domestic. And to obey all orders of those appointed above me. So help me God.

[Seascamp]

Well Sarge, I don?t recall un oathing so I guess I?m good to go. Gots me a crimson hash mark and a few decos and do-dads that suggest that I talked the oath talk and walked the oath walk before. I?ll have me one of them LAVs but I?ll have to go over to stores and see if I can grab up a turbo charger and some other hot rod stuff. Last time I was around Marines they called ?Magoo? but no to worry about that. I could see well enough to know the difference between Marine Helicopter Aviation and the 5/2 Marines, usually.

Devil Dog, Pvt. Scamp

[Gimpy]

Originally posted by revwardoc Being one of the prime movers in the Iran-Contra scandal and chastizing Kerry takes a lot of balls!

And................a LOT of 'BOVINE MANURE" as well!