War Vets' Lawsuit Against Sen. Kerry Heats Up Taxpayers to Pay Kerry's Legal Fees
by Jim Kouri, CPP
"Vietnam veterans will not be intimidated by John Kerry," retired Air Force Colonel George "Bud" Day said in response to the Massachusetts Senator's newly created legal
expense trust fund to finance his court battles against a group of highly-decorated Vietnam War veterans.
Col. Day added, "Why one of the wealthiest men in the Senate would expect others to pay his lawyers and use questionable Senate privileges against veterans is shameful."
Col. Day is chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), a group of Vietnam combat veterans who sued Sen. Kerry for "conspiracy and defamation." Day is the most decorated Air Force veteran alive, a Medal of Honor recipient, a veteran of three wars and a former Vietnam POW held captive for over five years.
Sen. Kerry recently filed papers with the US Senate creating a "legal expense trust fund" to handle costs associated with his defense in the VVLF lawsuit. This action appears to be questionable since he's defending actions he undertook before he became a member of the US Senate and while he was running a presidential campaign which has nothing whatsoever to due with Senate business. Ironically, the account is named "Fund for Truth and Honor."
"That's his way of mocking us and all Vietnam veterans," Col. Day remarked. "The concepts of truth and honor are utterly foreign to him. He's forced to plagiarize our words."
The veterans' lawsuit stems from Kerry's failed 2004 presidential bid when his campaign tried to prevent a documentary about Kerry's 1971 anti-war activities from being broadcast on television and cable stations, or shown in theaters.
That film, "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal," included interviews with Col. Day and several other Vietnam POWs. The film documented Naval Reserve Lt. Kerry's portrayal of Vietnam veterans as "war criminals" before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Those accusations, the POWs said, were false, threatened their survival, and lengthened their captivity.
They also resented his use of the name "Genghis Khan" to describe the actions of the military. Senator Kerry is no different today. Recently, he said on national television that US soldiers "broke into Iraqi homes and terrorized women and children."
Shortly after the documentary's release in September 2004, Kerry campaign aides sued "Stolen Honor" producer Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning journalist and decorated Marine Vietnam veteran. The lawsuits were followed by an assault on Sinclair Broadcast Group, which had announced plans to air the documentary. Kerry
campaign-inspired ad boycotts, stockholders' rebellions, and calls for FCC and FEC investigations eventually forced Sinclair to drop its planned airing of "Stolen Honor."
In August 2005 Kerry supporters filed two additional lawsuits against Sherwood and VVLF POWs, claiming they "libeled" Kerry and other Vietnam veterans by questioning whether they witnessed or participated in "war crimes and atrocities" in Vietnam. However, Sen. Kerry admitted to committing "atrocities" during the Vietnam War, but was never prosecuted by the military for his admissions.
In response to Kerry's attacks on these honorable men, the VVLF POWs and Sherwood filed a "conspiracy defamation" lawsuit against Sen. Kerry and one of his top campaign aides, Anthony Podesta. That suit charges Kerry and his campaign with scheming to censor "Stolen Honor," attempting to prevent the American public from hearing Kerry's true anti-war history and the consequences his actions had on the POWs languishing in prisoner camps, as well as other Vietnam veterans.
"We could not stand by while John Kerry used his underlings to sue us into silence," Col. Day explained. "We could not allow this man to keep his hands clean while his surrogates did the dirty work, suing me and my fellow POWs because we spoke the truth about him.
What truly irks Col. Day and his fellow vets is the fact that Kerry is having US taxpayers foot his legal bills stemming from his anti-war comments and actions.
"It's time he is held accountable. He must face those whom he falsely accused. It's time America sees this man for [what] he really is, and the great harm he has done to many brave soldiers."
(Special thanks to Colonel Bud Day, USAF (Ret.) for providing information for this article.)
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for a number of organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration and he's a board certified protection professional.
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