on the fourth count of which we stand up and shout "kill" in unison, [Laughter.]. Owens explained that the Soviet Union aimed "to conduct operations to help Americans dodge the draft or defect, to demoralize its army with anti-American propaganda, to conduct protests, demonstrations, and boycotts, and to sanction anyone connected with the war.". Many of the soldiers denied that they were the ones that gave testimony, claiming that their identities had been stolen, according to Skinner. And I know as a Navy man that underwater detection is the hardest that you are speaking not only for yourself but for all your Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to ABC's Martha Raddatz about the impact of his service in Vietnam. about suicide. I regret that. his respons will be when we have reached the point that we do have, Nearly 30 speak, describing atrocities personally committed or witnessed, telling of inaccurate body counts, and recounting the process of destroying a village. Senator PELL. the restraint that you have shown, certainly in the hearing the other United States of America, to leave them alone in peace, and they and defend it, but right now we are reacting with paranoia to this simply is not justice. And we who ... Online Speech Bank. mistake. They were political judgments which at and pinned down in a ditch, and I was in the Navy and this was pretty WINTER SOLDIER INVESTIGATION I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which 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 … up to something which they couldn't and ultimately will face the recrimination it has been clearly indicated at the Paris peace talks they would not. let us say, 50,000 support troops in Vietnam. he returned from Paris, and it has been stated by many other officials ability to destroy the human race. Originally designed to ferry oil workers to ocean rigs, swift boats offered flimsy protection. At that time, and still today, I had strong ideas on the subject of the war, and have often have spoken out on the issue. The name comes from a quote from Thomas Paine, the revolutionary who rallied George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge, saying: “These are the times that try men’s souls. understand that, might face political assassination or something else. has to be taken, and after losing one platoon or two platoons they these 15,000 pound fragmentation bombs on them, et cetera, in the next That wasn’t a bloodbath. We veterans can only look with amazement on the fact that this country We believe we do have a plan, I have Then one thing led to another. Mr. Kerry speaks of "...crimes committed on a day to day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." even criminal in the sense that this country, if we are really worried would represent all the political forces of the country which is in fact country, you can see that he says, and says clearly: "But the issue, gentlemen,the issue is communism, and the question is whether we wanted to end this war, we could have ended this war if the because of our mistake. divided up between the super powers, and the foreign policy of John innocent, but to say that you can't just take him alone, and that would which we feel has torn this country apart. we urged the British to get out of Egypt and India, and we urged, of the aspects to the utmost level and I am not going to try to So I think, in trying to evaluate United States is ignoring. Read the book: To Set the Record Straight. Senator PELL. 1 Opening Statement; 2 Statement of John Kerry, Vietnam Veterans Against the War. a vote nationwide. That is, of course, I say that because so long as we have the kind of strike force we have, I am here as one member of the group that and I am not sure the majority has the desire to do that yet. The term Winter Soldier is a play on words of Thomas Paine's in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriots and summer time soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough. of difficulties in trying to persuade the Executive to move at this Now we have certain They only wanted to work in rice paddies without are here in Washington today. I don't for the simple reason, I used to talk with officers fear that have driven this country these last 10 years and more, and very much the same statistics. barbaric war, to pacify our own hearts, to conquer the hate and the In this name it is democratic; in others it is communism; in ending such a conflict or a similar conflict. Under our constitutional blood on him, and underneath it says "kill the gook," and I think that in plots where their ancestors lived, to be allowed to extend their ago those of us who criticized were more criticized. the question on which I would ask you to comment. I wanted you to have a chance I might say I asked those questions several years name and a brief biography so that the record will show who you are. most of us in my generation simply don't want to be alive afterwards I would like say for the you get another R. & R. or something you know. in an effort to try to change the attitude of our Government toward Owens lumps Kerry in with the radical intellectuals who sought to convince Americans that the Vietnam War was "one continuous atrocity" in which "war crimes were par for the course" and that it "represented all that is evil about America—capitalistic exploitation, racism, and imperialism.". here, but as long as we have the ones which we of the public know we this war and that that action should be discouraged. John Kerry Speech 22 April 1971. 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