By Brian Ross and Chris Vlasto ABCNEWS.com April 26— Contradicting his statements as a candidate for president, Sen. John Kerry claimed in a 1971 television interview that he threw away as many as nine of his combat medals to protest the war in Vietnam.
"I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine medals," Kerry said in an interview on a Washington, D.C., news program on WRC-TV called Viewpoints on Nov. 6, 1971, according to a tape obtained by ABCNEWS. Throughout his presidential campaign, Kerry has denied that he threw away any of his medals during an anti-war protest in April 1971.
Calling it a "phony controversy" instigated by the Republican party, Kerry said on Good Morning America today that he has always accurately said what took place. "I threw my ribbons. I didn't have my medals. It is very simple."
He also said he — and the military — didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons. "We threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through," he said.
And in an interview with ABCNEWS' Peter Jennings last December, he said it was a "myth."
But Kerry told a much different story on Viewpoints. Asked about the anti-war veterans who threw their medals away, Kerry said "they decided to give them back to their country."
Kerry was asked if he gave back the Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for combat duty as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam. "Well, and above that, [I] gave back the others," he said.
The statement directly contradicts Kerry's most recent claims on the disputed subject to the Los Angeles Times last Friday. "I never ever implied that I did it, " Kerry told the newspaper, responding to the question of whether he threw away his medals in protest.
"I'm proud of my medals. I always was proud of them," he told Jennings in December, adding that he had only thrown away his "ribbons" and the medals of two other veterans who could not attend the protest.
Flip Flop?
The disputed incident happened 33 years ago this past weekend, on April 23, 1971, when Kerry led the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War in a protest against the war they fought.
Many veterans were seen throwing their medals and ribbons over the fence in front of the U.S. Capitol. The Boston Globe and other newspapers reported that Kerry was among these veterans.
"In a real sense, this administration forced us to return our medals because beyond the perversion of the war, these leaders themselves denied us the integrity those symbols supposedly gave our lives," Kerry said the following day.
But in 1984, when he first ran for the U.S. Senate, Kerry revealed he still had his medals. According to a Boston Globe report on April 15, 1984, union officials had expressed uneasiness with Kerry's candidacy because he had thrown his medals away. Kerry acknowledged the medals he threw away were, in fact, another soldier's medals. He reportedly invited a union official home to personally inspect his Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, awarded for his combat duty as a Navy lieutenant.
In the 1971 Viewpoints interview, he made no mention of the ribbons or the medals belonging to another veteran.
And in 1988, Kerry again clarified his statement by saying he threw out ribbons he had been awarded for three combat wounds, but not his medals. "I was proud of my personal service and remain so," he told the National Journal.
Eight years later in 1996, Kerry said while he did throw out his ribbons, he didn't throw out his own medals because he "didn't have time to go home [to New York] and get them," he told The Boston Globe.
Kerry's campaign Web site says he "is proud of the work he did to end the war. The Nixon Administration made John Kerry one of its targets and Republicans have been smearing him ever since. John Kerry threw his ribbons and the medals of two veterans who could not attend the event, and said, 'I am not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try to make this country wake up once and for all.'"
Posts: 44 | From: Forest Lake, MN | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
You know that I dislike this guy, but what are we really making a big deal about?
He threw his medals? No, he threw a buddy's medals? Oh, he would've thrown his own medals but couldn't get them? Oh, he didn't throw his medals, just his ribbons? Oh, he's proud of his service, but not his medals, or wait, not his ribbons, but his medals are fine, but he murdered and raped, oh sorry, HE didn't murder and rape, just other, and oh yeah, we did a good thing over there, but not the murder and rape, oh, okay, just his ribbons, not his medals.
I have some news for you guys:
Most of the ribbons are a representation of medals that are worn on your Class A dress jacket.
I have TWO "National Defense Medals" but on my Class A jacket I wear ONE ribbon, with a little metal thing in the center (that represents the second award). If I threw that away, I am essentially throwing away the medal.
BUT, I still don't see what the big deal is.
We all know this guy has no substance behind him, so what does this prove? Wow, he threw his medals away? I don't think that's as big of a deal as this:
He went to war, and then came home and founded an organization that protested the very war that he used as a launching pad for his career.
If American's can't see that this guy will bring our country to it's knees, than they're truly the "Sheeple" that shouldn't have the right to vote.
posted
The big deal is it is basically a slap in the face of every Veteran that has served, died and fought for this country! Him throwing away his medals/ribbons is like say F-U to all the Military, and as far as I'm concerned when he threw away those medals he therw away his military history. It also has to do with the prestige of the medals. Yeah they hand out National Defense medals in boot camp, but he threw away 3 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, Combat Action Ribbon etc. those aren't medals/ribbons that everyone gets. THATS why it is such a big deal.
Having served four years in the Corps I know the correlation of medals/ribbons and Kerry is trying to weasel his way out of this with semantics.
Well, that and the fact that it shows yet another instance where he has "flipped" his story about his past actions.
Posts: 44 | From: Forest Lake, MN | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
You guys will have to debate the whole ribbons/metals thing - I know nothing about the difference.....
I was disturbed by Kerry's accusations when he returned from Vietnam, that soldiers cut off heads, killed babies, systematically killed civilians etc. And now he is trying to back off and say he wouldn't have used the same terms but still stands by what he said..... What other terms could he used to describe what he said?
Posts: 5484 | From: St. Paul, Mn | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Left-Coast: The big deal is it is basically a slap in the face of every Veteran that has served, died and fought for this country! Him throwing away his medals/ribbons is like say F-U to all the Military, and as far as I'm concerned when he threw away those medals he therw away his military history. It also has to do with the prestige of the medals. Yeah they hand out National Defense medals in boot camp, but he threw away 3 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, Combat Action Ribbon etc. those aren't medals/ribbons that everyone gets. THATS why it is such a big deal.
Having served four years in the Corps I know the correlation of medals/ribbons and Kerry is trying to weasel his way out of this with semantics.
Well, that and the fact that it shows yet another instance where he has "flipped" his story about his past actions.
I hear you, but I don't think this is as big of a deal as some of his other flip-flops.
Every Vet, and any sane person who is serving or has served knows what kind of guy Kerry is strictly based on his actions AFTER the war.
This medal throwing incident is getting blown up into more than it needs to be, and Kerry is just going to use it as an excuse to make himself look like the victim of the horrible Republican machine.
Don't get me wrong, I think he's a punk motherfucker for doing this, but he's already hated by (most) the people that will really be bothered by this. I ask, why all the new hype? You know he's just going to spin it to his advantage, and then change the subject to something that is more beneficial to him.
posted
I have to say, I listened to The Patriot last night and this is all they were talking about.
They were calling it "The Kerry Meltdown" because if you listen to the audio from Good Morning America, it's pretty damn funny to listen to how Kerry acts when he's backed into a corner.
The host said, "I was there, Senator Kerry, I saw you throw medals over the fence" and Kerry says, "No you weren't, you are wrong."
I couldn't believe it!
Anyway, I now see WHY this is such a big deal, and I truly didn't put 2 & 2 together on this one:
Kerry's entire campaign has been based around his service in Vietnam. Every time he talks, regardless of subject, he brings up his service in Vietnam. I think it was Medved who said, "He's talking about the environment, and he'll bring up Vietnam."
Anyway, yes I see why this is an important issue (now) but how much of a difference did it make?
Another interesting point: during commercial breaks I flipped over to Air America...they were talking about W's speech in MN yesterday. There were protesters from the U of M that called in and this is how the show went:
Radio Host: "So what were you doing? Was there chanting and singing? What songs were you singing?" Caller: "Well we were doing a call and response, like 'What will we get with Bush?' 'No Peace' and stuff, like, y'know, that." RH: "Oh, and what were you dressed like? What were people dressed like down there?" C: "Well there were, like, y'know, old hippies and stuff, and then us with our colored hair and piercings."
(LAUGHTER)
RH: "Oh, so hippies? What were they wearing" C: "Y'know, like, buttons and long hair and stuff" RH: "And what were the Conservatives wearing?" C: "Oh, like, y'know, normal clothes and stuff."
(LAUGHTER)
----------
So let me get this straight, Air America: your Presidential candidate is caught in a lie, and rather than talk about it on the air and get some opinions and possibly repair this to your listeners, you talk about how the hippies and conservatives were DRESSED at a Bush speech?
I give that Air America another month here in MN...
posted
Try listening to Frankin during the day... All he talks about is how Rush lies.... Get's old even in the 5 minutes I listen a day.
You have to hear the audio of Kerry when he thought the mic was off yesterday after the GMA interview.
Posts: 5484 | From: St. Paul, Mn | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Even his fellow soldiers think he is unfit to be President. the interetsing part of the story is that both Democrats & Reublicans have signed this letter...
Kerry 'Unfit to be Commander-in-Chief,' Say Former Military Colleagues[/URL] By Marc Morano CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer May 03, 2004
(2nd Add: Includes additional details about Sen. John Kerry's ad campaign.)
(CNSNews.com) - Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is "unfit to be commander-in-chief." They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
"What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension," John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com. The event, which is expected to draw about 25 of the letter-signers, is being organized by a newly formed group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief," O'Neill said.
O'Neill, currently a Houston, Texas, based attorney, is no stranger to Kerry. O'Neill served in the same naval unit as Kerry and commanded Kerry's swift boat after Kerry returned to the United States. Kerry's command of the PCF boat lasted four months and ended shortly after he received his third Purple Heart. According to naval regulations at the time, any sailor who received three Purple Hearts could request a transfer out of the combat zone.
Kerry and O'Neill engaged in a nationally televised debate in 1971 on The Dick Cavett Show over Kerry's allegations that many Vietnam soldiers had routinely engaged in atrocities such as raping and cutting off ears and heads of Vietnamese soldiers and citizens. Kerry was the then spokesman for the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"We are going to be presenting a letter that deals with Kerry's unfitness to be commander and chief that has been signed by hundreds of swift boat sailors, including most of those who served with Kerry," O'Neill explained.
"The ranks of the people signing [the letter] range from admiral down to seaman, and they run across the entire spectrum of politics, specialties, and political feelings about the Vietnam War," he added.
Among those scheduled to attend the event at the National Press Club and declare Kerry unfit for the role of commander-in-chief are retired Naval Rear Admiral Roy Hoffman, who was the commander of the Navy Coastal Surveillance Force, which included the swift boats on which Kerry served.
Also scheduled to be present at the event is Kerry's former commanding officer, Lt. Commander Grant Hibbard. Hibbard recently questioned whether Kerry deserved the first of his three Purple Hearts that he received in Vietnam. Hibbard doubted both the severity of the wound and whether it resulted from enemy fire.
"I've had thorns from a rose that were worse" than Kerry's wound for which he received a Purple Heart, Hibbard told the Boston Globe in April.
Organizers are confident that Tuesday's event and the letter with hundreds of signatures will educate people about Kerry.
"It is one of the largest outpourings of concern about him being commander-in-chief that anybody could have in a presidential campaign and it is by the people who know him best," O'Neill said.
'Unfit Commander-in-Chief'
Swift Boat Veterans For Truth maintains that Kerry's fellow Vietnam veterans are almost uniform in their disdain for his military service and anti-war protests.
"Not only a majority of the people who served with him feel that way, but a vast and overwhelming majority," O'Neill said. He added that more than "ninety percent of the people contacted by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth responded to the request to sign their name, with only 12 declining to sign.
"Comrades who actually served with him, almost all of them, are opposed to him, and believe he would be an unfit commander in chief and intend to bring the truth of his actual record to the attention of the American people," O'Neill said.
O'Neill hopes the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth can reveal to the American people what he sees as Kerry's flawed character.
"In the military, loyalty between commanders and the troops serving them is a two-way street. We have here a guy (Kerry) that with all of us in the field [in Vietnam] -- actually fighting the North Vietnamese -- came home and then falsely accused all of us of war crimes at a time when the people in uniform couldn't even respond," O'Neill said.
"And he did that knowing that was a lie," he added.
'Real John Kerry'
B. G. Burkett, author of the book Stolen Valor and a military researcher, believes that Tuesday's event will not be dismissed easily by Kerry's campaign as a "partisan" attack.
"There are probably just as many Democrats amongst sailors who sailed swift boats as there are Republicans. What Kerry fails to realize is this has nothing to do with politics -- this has to with Vietnam Veterans who served, who have a beef with John Kerry's service, both during and after the war," Burkett told CNSNews.com.
"The American people do not know John Kerry and hopefully the swift boat crews and other Vietnam veterans will make sure that the American public knows the real John Kerry," he added.
Jim Loftus of Kerry's press office referred questions about Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's event on Tuesday to spokesman David Wade. Wade did not return CNSNews.com's requests for comment.
Kerry has launched an ad campaign touting his service in Vietnam in an effort to counter the criticism ahead of Tuesday's press conference.
The $25 million ads show photographs of a young Kerry as a Navy lieutenant on the Swift boat he commanded in Vietnam's Mekong Delta as well as photos of him in fatigues holding a rifle.
Beginning Tuesday, the ads will run in 17 battleground states, as well as Colorado and Louisiana, which President Bush won in 2000.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), speaking on Fox News Monday, defended Kerry and blasted the president for using "$60 million worth of negative advertising" to try to tear down Kerry. Levin called Kerry's latest ad, "a very strong, a very positive ad."
"This is a positive statement about strength of service of Senator Kerry, and I think the public is going to welcome it," said Levin.
The Michigan Democrat called Kerry "very likeable," adding that "he'll come through as who he is, which is a very thoughtful, very sincere and a…person with a great deal of integrity and a great deal of sincerity."
See Related Articles: Kerry in 1971: 'Our Democracy is a Farce' Kerry Still Backpedaling on Presence at 1971 Anti-War Meetings (03/24/2004) Kerry Lying About Anti-War Past, Supporter Alleges (03/18/2004)
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