[Chris A]

Any one see this.


When there book comes out does anyone kid themselves in to thinking 60 minutes will give them a platform... Perhaps they will interview General Tommy Franks about his book.

For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.

[Chris A]

They also released a letter to Kerry back in May, which I never saw or heard about, although it may have been posted on here before.

May 04, 2004, 4:15 p.m.
“We Know the Truth”
Some of Kerrey’s Vietnam colleagues challenge the Democratic candidate.

An NRO Primary Document

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth released the following letter to John Kerry, signed by 189 fellow veterans of the Navy vessels featured so prominently in the senator's campaign ads. The group's organizers explain that the veterans who have signed to date represent the large majority of those who served with Lt. Kerry in Vietnam. Scores of others are expected to join up in the days ahead.

May 4, 2004

Senator Kerry,


We write from our common heritage as veterans of duty aboard Swift Boats in the Vietnam War. Indeed, you should note that a substantial number of those men who served directly with you during your four month tour in Vietnam have signed this letter.

It is our collective judgment that, upon your return from Vietnam, you grossly and knowingly distorted the conduct of the American soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen of that war (including a betrayal of many of us, without regard for the danger your actions caused us). Further, we believe that you have withheld and/or distorted material facts as to your own conduct in this war.

We believe you continue this conduct today, albeit by changing from an anti-war to a "war hero" status. You now seek to clad yourself in the very medals that you disdainfully threw away in the early years of your political career. In the process, we believe you continue a deception as to your own conduct through such tactics as the disclosure of only carefully screened portions of your military records. Both then and now, we have concluded that you have deceived the public, and in the process have betrayed honorable men, to further your personal political goals.

Your conduct is such as to raise substantive concerns as to your honesty and your ability to serve, as you currently seek, as Commander-in-Chief of the military services.

It is vital that the American public have as much information as possible about candidates for President of the United States. In various ways, you have rightly called upon President Bush to be fully accountable and to provide full disclosure. In the same spirit, now that you are the presumptive nominee of your Party, we believe it is incumbent upon you to make your total military record open to the American people.

Specifically, we the undersigned formally request that you authorize the Department of the Navy to independently release your military records (through your execution of Standard Form 180), complete and unaltered, including your military medical records. Further, we call upon you to correct the misconceptions your campaign seeks to create as to your conduct while in Vietnam. Permit the American public the opportunity to assess your military performance upon the record, and not upon campaign rhetoric.

Senator Kerry, we were there. We know the truth. We have been silent long enough. The stakes are too great, not only for America in general but, most importantly, for those who have followed us into service in Iraq and Afghanistan. We call upon you to provide a full, accurate accounting of your conduct in Vietnam.

Respectfully,

Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann, USN
Captain Charley Plumly, USN (ret)

Mr. Alvin A. Horne

Mr. Bill Lannom

Mr. John O'Neill

Mr. Wey Symmes

Mr. William W. Franke

Excerpt from Unfit For Command

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
The truth is that at the time of this incident Kerry was an officer in
command (OinC) under training, aboard the skimmer using the call
sign “Robin” on the operation, with now-Rear Admiral William
Schachte using the call sign “Batman,” who was also on the skimmer.
After Kerry’s M-16 jammed, Kerry picked up an M-79 grenade
launcher and fired a grenade too close, causing a tiny piece of shrap-nel
(one to two centimeters) to barely stick in his arm. Schachte
berated Kerry for almost putting someone’s eye out. There was no
hostile fire of any kind, nor did Kerry on the way back mention to
PCF OinC Mike Voss, who commanded the PCF that had towed the
skimmer, that he was wounded. There was no report of any hostile
fire that day (as would be required), nor do the records at Cam Ranh
Bay reveal any such hostile fire. No other records reflect any hostile
fire. There is also no casualty report, as would have been required had
there actually been a casualty.
Following “the most frightening night” of his life, to the surprise of
both Schachte and the treating doctor, Louis Letson, Kerry managed
to keep the tiny hanging fragment barely embedded in his arm until
he arrived at sickbay a number of miles away and a considerable time
later, where he was examined by Dr. Letson. Dr. Letson, who has
UNFIT FOR COMMAND.never forgotten the experience, reported it to his Democratic county
chairman early in the 2004 primary campaign. When Kerry appeared
at sickbay, Dr. Letson asked, “Why are you here?” in surprise, observ-ing
Kerry’s unimpressive scratch. Kerry answered, “I’ve been wounded
by hostile fire.” Accompanying crewmen then told Dr. Letson that
Kerry had wounded himself. Dr. Letson used tweezers to remove the
tiny fragment, which he identified as shrapnel like that from an M-79
(not from a rifle bullet, etc.), and put a small bandage on Kerry’s arm.
The following morning Kerry appeared at the office of Coastal
Division 14 Commander Grant Hibbard and applied for the Purple
Heart. Hibbard, who had learned from Schachte of the absence of hos-tile
fire and self-infliction of the “wound” by Kerry himself, looked
down at the tiny scratch (which he said was smaller than a rose thorn
prick) and turned down the award since there was no hostile fire.13
When we interviewed Grant Hibbard for this book, he was equally
emphatic that Kerry’s slight injury, in his opinion, could not possibly
merit the Purple Heart:
Q: When did you first meet John Kerry?
GH: Kerry reported to my division in November 1968. I didn’t
know him from Adam.
Q: Can you describe the mission in which Kerry got his first
Purple Heart?
GH: Kerry requested permission to go on a skimmer operation
with Lieutenant Schachte, my most senior and trusted lieu-tenant,
using a Boston Whaler to try to interdict a Viet Cong
movement of arms and munitions. The next morning at the
briefing, I was informed that no enemy fire had been received on
that mission. Our units had fired on some VC units running on
the beach. We were all in my office, some of the crew members,
The Purple Heart Hunter.I remember Schachte being there. This was thirty-six years ago;
it really didn’t seem all that important at the time. Here was
this lieutenant, junior grade, who was saying “I got wounded,”
and everybody else, the crew that were present were saying, “We
didn’t get any fire. We don’t know how he got the scratch.”
Kerry showed me the scratch on his arm. I hadn’t been informed
that he had any medical treatment. The scratch didn’t look like
much to me; I’ve seen worse injuries from a rose thorn.
Q: Did Kerry want you to recommend him for a Purple Heart?
GH: Yes, that was his whole point. He had this little piece of
shrapnel in his hand. It was tiny. I was told later that Kerry had
fired an M-79 grenade and that he had misjudged it. He fired it
too close to the shore, and it exploded on a rock or something.
He got hit by a piece of shrapnel from a grenade that he had fired
himself. The injury was self-inflicted, that’s what made sense to
me. I told Kerry to “forget it.” There was no hostile fire, the
injury was self-inflicted for all I knew, besides it was nothing
really more than a scratch. Kerry wasn’t getting any Purple
Heart recommendation from me.
Q: How did Kerry get a Purple Heart from the incident then?
GH: I don’t know. It beats me. I know I didn’t recommend him for
a Purple Heart. Kerry probably wrote up the paperwork and rec-ommended
himself, that’s all I can figure out. If it ever came across
my desk, I don’t have any recollection of it. Kerry didn’t get my
signature. I said “no way” and told him to get out of my office.14
Amazingly, Kerry somehow “gamed the system” nearly three
months later to obtain the Purple Heart that Hibbard had denied.
How he obtained the award is unknown, since his refusal to execute
UNFIT FOR COMMAND.Standard Form 180 means that whatever documents exist are known
only to Kerry, the Department of Defense, and God. It is clear that
there should be numerous other documents, but only a treatment
record reflecting a scratch and a certificate signed three months later
have been produced. There is, of course, no “after-action” hostile fire
or casualty report, as occurred in the case of every other instance of
hostile fire or casualty. This is because there was no hostile fire, casu-alty,
or action on this “most frightening night” of Kerry’s Vietnam
experience. Dr. Louis Letson agreed with Grant Hibbard. Kerry’s
injury was minor and probably self-inflicted:
The incident that occasioned my meeting with Lieutenant Kerry
began while he was patrolling the coast at night just north of
Cam Ranh Bay where I was the only medical officer for a small
support base. Kerry returned from that night on patrol with an
injury.
Kerry reported that he had observed suspicious activity on
shore and fired a flare to illuminate the area. According to Kerry,
they had been engaged in a firefight, receiving small arms fire
from on shore. He said that his injury resulted from this enemy
action.
The story he told was different from what his crewmen had
to say about that night. Some of his crew confided that they did
not receive any fire from shore, but that Kerry had fired a
grenade round at close range to the shore. The crewman who
related this story thought that the injury was from a fragment of
the grenade shell that had ricocheted back from the rocks.
That seemed to fit the injury I treated.
What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superfi-cially
in the skin of Kerry’s arm. The metal fragment measured
about one centimeter in length and was about two or three mil-
The Purple Heart Hunter.limeters in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from
a rifle. I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the
skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than three or
four millimeters. It did not require probing to find it, nor did it
require any anesthesia to remove it. It did not require any
sutures to close the wound. The wound was covered with a
band-aid. No other injuries were reported and I do not recall that
there was any injury to the boat.
Lieutenant Kerry’s crew related that he had told them that he
would be president one day. He liked to think of himself as the
next JFK from Massachusetts. I remember that Jess Carreon was
present at the time and he, in fact, made the entry into Lieu-tenant
Kerry’s medical record.15
Both Hibbard and Letson wondered why Kerry had even bothered
to go to the dispensary. Kerry’s report of the injury as a combat injury
seemed at best to be exaggerated. The crewmen present maintained
that there was no evidence of enemy fire, and their conclusion was
that Kerry had been hit by a fragment of his own grenade.
Kerry’s proponents have also pointed to a fitness report for Kerry
that was filed by Hibbard rating Kerry “excellent” as proof that
Kerry’s service in Cam Ranh was unusually good. In reality, the Kerry
fitness report (which leaves fourteen of the eighteen categories,
including “integrity,” marked “unobserved”) is a marginal report.
Hibbard has stated that he wished to provide in the report a mediocre
evaluation without permanently destroying Kerry, given his short
four-week period of evaluation. At the time the report was made, Hib-bard
did not know of Kerry’s later-finagled first Purple Heart.
Most Swiftees who were with Kerry at Cam Ranh Bay never knew
until Kerry decided to run for president that he had somehow
successfully maneuvered his way to this undeserved Purple Heart.

[Davey7549]

Sad isn't it that information like this gets buried from the American people. Does anyone actually think the media will investigate and report any of this?

If Kerry wished the Presidency he should of let sleeping dogs alone and campaigned on other qualifications!

Thanks for the info Guys!

Dave

[AcaCandy]

Originally Posted by Davey7549

If Kerry wished the Presidency he should of let sleeping dogs alone and campaigned on other qualifications!

And those would be

[Chris A]

Here are the names of the speakers in the ad:

Larry Thurlow, Lieutenant J.G., Bronze Star

George Elliot, Lieutenant Commander, Silver Star

Roy Hoffmann, Rear Admiral, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star

Bob Elder, Lieutenant, Bronze Star

Al French, Ensign, 2 Bronze Stars

Jack Chenoweth, Lieutenant J.G., Bronze Star

Vin Odell, Gunner Mate 2nd Class

Lewis Letson, Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander

Grant Hibbard, Lieutenant Commander, 2 Bronze Stars

Joe Ponder, Gunner Mate 3rd Class, Purple Heart

Shleton White, Lieutenant, 2 Bronze Stars

Bob Hildreth, Lieutenant, Purple Heart, Bronze Star

Adrian Lonsdale, Commander, Legion of Merit Bronze Star

[Pacalis]

While it is true that Kerry campaigned very hard for his "Purple Hearts" in his "four month" T.O.D. Knowing very well that the third Purple Heart would send him State Side. He should be satisfied with "hey at least I served", and be done with it. Upon returning home and being an anti-war activist, that was not unusual in the least but it certainly would not endear him to those Vets that believed in "the cause". It seems pretty apparent what Kerry had planned for his future upon his request for Skimmer duty. It should be known that the Skimmers , while playing a important part as far as extraction and supporting fire, were not meant for combat but for drawing enemy fire and reporting location for Air Strikes. The V.C & N.V.A. knowing this, mostly let them go by , so as not to attract attention. Skimmer's were good duty. If there was such a thing.

[Davey7549]

Upon returning home and being an anti-war activist, that was not unusual in the least but it certainly would not endear him to those Vets that believed in "the cause". It seems pretty apparent what Kerry had planned for his future upon his request for Skimmer duty.

I must disagree with the above statement.... Yes there were some returning vets who turned activist but most just attempted too blend or blended in the best they could without activism! If the personnel of the skimmers were in the mode of destroying Kerry's political career for his activism this would have come out long ago. IMHO What these men are saying is Kerry lied\deceived and in their opinion is not fit for commander and chief!

Dave

[Pacalis]

Originally Posted by Davey7549

I must disagree with the above statement.... Yes there were some returning vets who turned activist but most just attempted too blend or blended in the best they could without activism! If the personnel of the skimmers were in the mode of destroying Kerry's political career for his activism this would have come out long ago. IMHO What these men are saying is Kerry lied\deceived and in their opinion is not fit for commander and chief!

Dave

The reason we seemed to have blended in is because of the way we were discharged. It wasn't an en mass type deal. And many may not have been active in their anti-war support due to the fact that they did want to get back to normal "if possible" . My meaning was that Kerry knew very well what kind of duty the Skimmer's was. He also knew that third Heart got him HOME. Dave , I completely agree with your last sentence.

[Chris A]

VETS CHARGE: KERRY KILLED FLEEING TEEN; LIED FOR MEDAL

Slaughters Animals, Burns Down Tiny Village

**Exclusive**

A veterans group seeking to deeply discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service will charge in the new bombshell book UNFIT FOR COMMAND:

"Kerry earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth."

"And if Kerry's superiors had known the truth at the time, they would never have recommended him for the medal."

The book also claims to detail how Kerry personally ordered the slaughter of small animals at a small hamlet along the Song Bo De River.

MORE

The book, set for release next week, hit #1 on the AMAZON hitparade after the DRUDGE REPORT revealed details of the book -- a book the Kerry camapign believes is the"the dirtiest of all dirty tricks ever played on a candidate for the presidency."

The Kerry campaign is planning to vigorously counter the charges and will accuse the veteran's groups of being well-financed by a top Bush donor from Texas.

The vets have launched a blistering new TV commercial questioning Kerry's honor and calling him a liar.

MORE

George Bates, an officer in Coastal Division 11, participated in numerous operations with Kerry. In UNFIT FOR COMMAND, Bates recalls a particular patrol with Kerry on the Song Bo De River. He is still "haunted" by the incident:

With Kerry in the lead, the boats approached a small hamlet with three or four grass huts. Pigs and chickens were milling around peacefully. As the boats drew closer, the villagers fled. There were no political symbols or flags in evidence in the tiny village. It was obvious to Bates that existing policies, decency, and good sense required the boats to simply move on.

Instead, Kerry beached his boat directly in the small settlement. Upon his command, the numerous small animals were slaughtered by heavy-caliber machine guns. Acting more like a pirate than a naval officer, Kerry disembarked and ran around with a Zippo lighter, burning up the entire hamlet.

Bates has never forgotten Kerry's actions.

MORE

UNFIT FOR COMMAND, DRUDGE has learned, claims Kerry "earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth."

ARE THE VETS TELLING THE TRUTH?

"They hired a goddamn private investigator to dig up trash!" charged a top Kerry adviser traveling with the senator late Tuesday. "This is pay for play... How low can they go?"

Kerry supporters are comparing the effort by the veterans to the Arkansas State troopers tell-all against Bill Clinton.

MORE

John O'Neill, co-author of UNFIT FOR COMMAND, believes that "Kerry's Star would never have been awarded had his actions been reviewed through normal channels. In his case, he was awarded the medal two days after the incident with no review. The medal was arranged to boost the morale of Coastal Division 11, but it was based on false and incomplete information provided by Kerry himself."

According to Kerry's Silver Star citation, Kerry was in command of a three-boat mission on the Dong Cung River. As the boats approached the target area, they came under intense enemy fire. Kerry ordered his boat to attack and all boats opened fire. He then beached directly in front of the enemy ambushers. In the battle that followed, the crews captured enemy weapons. His boat then moved further up the river to suppress more enemy fire. A rocket exploded near Kerry's boat, and he ordered to charge the enemy. Kerry beached his boat 10 feet from the rocket position and led a landing party ashore to pursue the enemy.

Kerry' citation reads: "The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission."

Here's what O'Neill and the Swiftees say: "According to Kerry's crewman Michael Madeiros, Kerry had an agreement with him to turn the boat in and onto the beach if fired upon. Each of the three boats involved in the operation was involved in the agreement." O'Neill writes that one crewman even recalls a discussion of probable medals.

Doug Reese, a pro Kerry Army veteran, recounted what happened that day to O'Neill, "Far from being alone, the boats were loaded with many soldiers commanded by Reese and two other advisors. When fired at, Reese's boat--not Kerry's--was the first to beach in the ambush zone. Then Reese and other troops and advisors (not Kerry) disembarked, killing a number of Viet Cong and capturing a number of weapons. None of the participants from Reese's boat received Silver Stars.

O'Neill continues: "Kerry's boat moved slightly downstream and was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. . . .A young Viet Cong in a loincloth popped out of a hole, clutching a grenade launcher, which may or may not have been loaded. . . Tom Belodeau, a forward gunner, shot the Viet Cong with an M-60 machine gun in the leg as he fled. . . . Kerry and Medeiros (who had many troops in their boat) took off, perhaps with others, and followed the young Viet Cong and shot him in the back, behind a lean to."

O'Neill concludes "Whether Kerry's dispatching of a fleeing, wounded, armed or unarmed teenage enemy was in accordance with the customs of war, it is very clear that many Vietnam veterans and most Swiftees do not consider this action to be the stuff of which medals of any kind are awarded; nor would it even be a good story if told in the cold details of reality. There is no indication that Kerry ever reported that the Viet Cong was wounded and fleeing when dispatched. Likewise, the citation simply ignores the presence of the soldiers and advisors who actually 'captured the enemy weapons' and routed the Viet Cong. . . . [and] that Kerry attacked a 'numerically superior force in the face of intense fire' is simply false. There was little or no fire after Kerry followed the plan. . . . The lone, wounded, fleeing young Viet Cong in a loincloth was hardly a force superior to the heavily armed Swift Boat and its crew and the soldiers carried aboard."

DRUDGE learns from UNFIT FOR COMMAND that if Kerry's superior officers knew the truth, they would never have recommended the award:

"Admiral Roy Hoffmann, who sent a Bravo Zulu (meaning "good work"), to Kerry upon learning of the incident, was very surprised to discover in 2004 what had actually occurred. Hoffmann had been told that Kerry had spontaneously beached next to the bunker and almost single-handedly routed a bunkered force in Viet Cong. He was shocked to find out that Kerry had beached his boat second in a preplanned operation, and that he had killed a single, wounded teenage foe as he fled."

"Commander Geoge Elliott, who wrote up the initial draft of Kerry's Silver Star citation, confirms that neither he, nor anyone else in the Silver Star process that he knows, realized before 1996 that Kerry was facing a single, wounded young Viet Cong fleeing in a loincloth. While Commander Elliott and many other Swiftees believe that Kerry committed no crime in killing the fleeing, wounded enemy (with a loaded or empty launcher), others feel differently. Commander Elliott indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by him had he been aware of the actual facts."

Developing....
http://www.drudgereport.com/ufd1.htm

[Fidelista]

This is a little bit silly, but lets talk about Mr.Bushs war injurys, medals , conduct.
Was the enemy he killed "legal". Was his wounds overstated?.
Really, this is not what should be discussed. From what I have heard, Kerry may have been better off going to Canada, or joining the Airguard!. I have never seen such criticism of canidates war records, or lack of them.
It it were such a factor in politics, where do the rest of the Bush team fit in?.
Make no mistake, I think this is all silly as most white, rich, children, who often lead this country would not have spent their time in combat. Just human nature. As Cheney said, he had other things to do.
Kerry and Bush served, each in their own capicity---enough said.
The record of what they have done in office is what should condemn them , or show their wisdom.

[sligo]

I told you people---these right wing fanatics will stop at nothing to destroy the reputation of the man who threatens their power--Why is anyone surprised?

[Pacalis]

Kerry earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth."

Sorry Chris ; I agree that Kerry's war experience is much exaggerated but on this point I have some experience. I do not care what the V.C. were wearing, they where a dangerous opponent. Just because he was fleeing means absolutely nothing at all , neither does his age. Should he be awarded for it, no. Should he even mention it absolutely not. Again the V.C. were dangerous adversaries, that needed to be eradicated at EVERY opportunity. I mean this not to be argumentative at all, I am simply recalling my experience. Don't think for a moment that this was some helpless child.

[plschwartz]

The John Kerry smear campaign is stepping up a gear with the planned launch of a hatchet job on his military record by right-wing publishing house Regnery -- home of moderate voices of reason such as Ann Coulter, NRA boss Wayne LaPierre and redneck rocker Ted Nugent, author of the best-sellers God, Guns and Rock'n'Roll and Kill It and Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish.


http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=John_E._O'Neill
John E. O'Neill

John Ellis O'Neill, now a Houston lawyer, is "the guy George W. Bush trotted out to attack John Forbes Kerry's military service, [and who] also did Richard M. Nixon's dirty anti-Kerry work (in addition to clerking for Supreme Court

Justice William H. Rehnquist). A partisan hack spanning multiple administrations," according to The Daily Kos blog site. [1]

The Kos states the obvious that two Republican presidents have used O'Neill "to try and discredit Kerry's post-service anti-war efforts." [2]

In the April 22, 2004, CNN article "Fellow vet blasts Kerry's antiwar comments. Democrat's campaign to release military records" O'Neill claimed that not only had he "served in the same Navy unit as Sen. John Kerry" but also denounced "charges the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee made as an antiwar protester that he and other U.S. troops committed atrocities in Vietnam."

Said O'Neill, "'I saw some war heroes ... John Kerry is not a war hero ... He couldn't tie the shoes of some of the people in Coastal Division 11." O'Neill "joined the Navy's Coastal Division 11 two months after the future senator left Vietnam," according to CNN. [3]

"In an interview Tuesday on CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, O'Neill said allegations about atrocities made by Kerry after his return render him 'unfit' to be president. ... 'His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies,' said O'Neill, adding that other former sailors from the same unit also plan to come forward to take on Kerry, whose Vietnam service has figured prominently in his campaign for the White House." [4]

The Kos expended great effort to discover who O'Neill is and writes on April 22, 2004, that "We also found out that he's a partner at the Houston firm of Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson and Fulkerson. One of his co-partners is Margaret A. Wilson, who was George Bush's general counsel 1998-2000.

"Well, there's more about good ol' Margaret," the Kos continues. "She was a lawyer at Vinson & Elkins before she worked for Bush. Vinson & Elkins was Enron's main law firm -- the very firm that facilitated Enron's frauds. Vinson & Elkins was also the firm that spawned Alberto R. Gonzales -- Bush's current general counsel.

"In other words, Vinson & Elkins and COPWF are the very embodiment of the Houston good ol' boy Republican network. That this network spawn Kerry's harshest critic should be of no surprise (his career was probably made thanks to the Nixon dirty work). Thus, there should be no illusions that O'Neill is in any way an independent and impartial critic of John Kerry."

The Kos also located the March 31, 2004, Houston Chronicle article "An old Kerry foe, Houston lawyer back in spotlight" by Bennett Roth:

"In 1971, O'Neill squared off against Kerry on the Dick Cavett Show in a 90-minute, televised forum in which the two Vietnam War veterans sparred over the U.S. role in Southeast Asia.

"President Nixon and top aide Charles W. Colson had taken a keen interest in O'Neill as part of their effort to discredit Kerry and the anti-war movement, according to memos and tapes in the National Archives. A clean-cut Naval Academy graduate, O'Neill was viewed by Nixon's team as an effective messenger against Kerry, who was causing the administration headaches as the leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

"O'Neill, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist later in the 1970s, has largely steered clear of national politics since the Vietnam War era. He has focused on his law practice at the firm of Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson & Fulkerson.

"But now, O'Neill's past role as a Kerry adversary is in the public spotlight as the news media and others look to the Massachusetts senator's past to gain insight into how he might perform as president. And O'Neill, recovering from an operation in which he donated a kidney to his wife, is preparing for an onslaught of interviews with newspapers and TV networks eager for his impressions of Kerry."

From the same article, the Kos highlights the following:

"In a series of memos, Nixon aide Colson, who later went to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal, referred to the administration's efforts to promote O'Neill and to challenge Kerry to debate him.

"On June 15, 1971, Colson noted that Kerry first turned down a debate offer with O'Neill and that he was 'beginning to take a tremendous beating in the press.'

"'Let's destroy this young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader,' Colson wrote about Kerry."

John Ellis O'Neill, LTJG, of Houston, TX; OinC of PCF 53 based at Cat Lo, 3/69-9/69. [5]

John E. O'Neill Biographical Data from the COPWF web site:

Born San Diego, California, February 19, 1946; admitted to bar, 1974, Texas. Education: United States Naval Academy (B.S., cum laude, 1967); University of Texas (J.D., summa cum laude, 1973). Order of the Coif. Member, Chancellors (Grand Chancellor, 1972-1973). Member, Texas Law Review, 1972-1973. Member, President's National Advisory Counsel on Supplemental Services and Centers, 1973-1974. Member, Federal Regulation of Securities Committee, Section of Corporation, Banking and Business Law, American Bar Associat

[plschwartz]

http://archive.salon.com/opinion/con...ill/print.html
http://www.salon.com



To print this page, select "Print" from the File menu of your browser



Opinion
The GOP's not-so-impartial hit man
Desperate to denigrate John Kerry's war record, Republicans have trotted out a "nonpartisan" Navy Vietnam vet -- who was a protege of Nixon dirty trickster Charles Colson and whose law firm is closely tied to the Bush White House.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Joe Conason

printe-mail

April 23, 2004 | Houston attorney John E. O'Neill, the Navy veteran who has emerged recently as a harsh and ubiquitous critic of John Kerry's military service, tells reporters that he has never really been interested in politics and isn't motivated by partisan interests. In the media, O'Neill is often described simply as a Vietnam vet still enraged by the antiwar speeches Kerry delivered more than 30 years ago. That was when O'Neill first came to public attention as a clean-cut, pro-war protégé of the Nixon White House's highest-ranking dirty trickster (aside from the late president himself), Charles Colson.

Colson, who went to prison for Watergate crimes, saw O'Neill as a perfect foil to Kerry, whom Nixon and his aides feared as a decorated, articulate and reasonable opponent of the war and their regime. Indeed, O'Neill was perfect -- a crewcut officer who had served on the same Navy swift boat that Kerry had commanded, although their stints in the Mekong Delta didn't overlap. In June 1971, Colson brought O'Neill up to Washington for an Oval Office audience with Nixon. His impressions live on in a memo filed later:

"O'Neill went out charging like a tiger, has agreed that he will appear anytime, anywhere that we program him and was last seen walking up West Executive Avenue mumbling to himself that he had just been with the most magnificent man he had ever met in his life."

Now O'Neill has emerged from those decades of silence, roaring denunciations of the man who will become the Democratic nominee for president this summer. "I saw some war heroes," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. "John Kerry is not a war hero."

To establish his nonpartisan credentials, O'Neill assured the CNN anchor that he was "never contacted" by the Bush-Cheney campaign. What he didn't mention, however, is that his law firm boasts long-standing and powerful connections with the Bush White House.

With an oil and litigation practice focused on the defense of major energy and industrial firms, the dozen partners in Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson & Fulkerson have clout that exceeds their firm's small size. Their corporate clients include Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Reliant Energy, Koch Industries and Eastman Kodak. More important, among the name partners is Margaret Wilson, the former general counsel to George W. Bush during his second term as Texas governor. (She succeeded Alberto Gonzales, who currently serves as White House counsel.)

In 2001, Wilson went to Washington with the new president, who appointed her deputy general counsel in the Department of Commerce. During her tenure as Bush's counsel in Austin, she was implicated in the Service Corporation International funeral home scandal. State government whistle-blower Eliza May accused Wilson of participating in an effort to "intimidate" her from pursuing an investigation of SCI, a major Bush campaign donor.

Among the firm's partners with close ties to Bush was "Tex" Lezar, who ran for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket with him in 1994, when Bush won and Lezar lost. An indefatigable conservative activist and lawyer sympathetic to the most extreme elements in Southern GOP circles, Lezar died last January at the age of 55. Before joining the Clements firm, Lezar served in the Reagan Justice Department, where he befriended Kenneth Starr, whom he often defended to the press when Starr was pursuing the Clintons as Whitewater independent counsel. In later years, Lezar held important positions in the Federalist Society, Empower America, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and various other right-wing organizations.

As for O'Neill, his Republican loyalties may well have been cemented in 1974. Three years after Colson first brought him to the White House to meet with Nixon, who encouraged the young O'Neill to "get" Kerry and the protesters in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, he launched his legal career with a coveted clerkship in the United States Supreme Court. No doubt it was mere coincidence that O'Neill clerked with William Rehnquist, the controversial conservative who was Nixon's favorite justice and who went on to be appointed chief justice by President Reagan.

Nixon is gone, but his political heirs possess the White House -- and no doubt the disgraced politician would be pleased and proud that they are harassing Kerry with the same zeal that first brought Karl Rove to the attention of Watergate investigators. The young veteran he once showcased is now 58 years old, but O'Neill seems just as eager to battle Nixon's old enemies as he was back then.

The credibility of Vietnam veterans like O'Neill is crucial to Republican efforts to denigrate Kerry's war record. Those efforts suffered a setback yesterday when, after angry demands for disclosure from GOP chairman Ed Gillespie, the Democrat posted hundreds of pages documenting his service and decorations on his campaign Web site. Those pages from his Navy records show that Kerry's superiors consistently rated him as an outstanding and unusually talented officer. Those pages show that he volunteered for service in Vietnam and earned a Bronze and a Silver Star for valorous conduct under fire.

So far, at least, the attempts to smear Kerry have backfired. Looking over the citations and reports, and particularly those incidents when Kerry risked his life to protect his comrades, it is natural to contrast his experience with the National Guard career of George W. Bush -- and to wonder why veterans like O'Neill are not troubled by the difference.

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About the writer
Joe Conason writes a twice weekly column for Salon. He also writes a weekly column for the New York Observer. His new book, "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth," is now available. Join Joe Conason along with Ann Richards, David Talbot and others on the Salon Cruise
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