Village Voice: Swift Boat Swill (Kerry was right about atrocities)

[kskiska]

From the National Archives: New proof of Vietnam War atrocities

John Kerry is being pilloried for his shocking Senate testimony 34 years ago that many U.S. soldiers—not just a few "rogues"—were committing atrocities against the Vietnamese. U.S. military records that were classified for decades but are now available in the National Archives back Kerry up and put the lie to his critics. Contrary to what those critics, including the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, have implied, Kerry was speaking on behalf of many soldiers when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971, and said this:

They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads…

The archives have hundreds of files of official U.S. military investigations of such atrocities committed by American soldiers. I've pored over those records—which were classified for decades—for my Columbia University dissertation and, now, this Voice article. The exact number of investigated allegations of atrocities is unknown, as is the number of such barbaric incidents that occurred but weren't investigated. Some war crimes, like the Tiger Force atrocities exposed last year by The Toledo Blade, have only come to light decades later. Others never will. But there are plentiful records to back up Kerry's 1971 testimony point by point. Following (with the names removed or abbreviated) are examples, directly from the archives:

"They had personally raped"

On August 12, 1967, Specialist S., a military intelligence interrogator, "raped . . . a 13-year-old . . . female" in an interrogation hut in a P.O.W. compound. He was convicted of assault and indecent acts with a child. He served seven months and 16 days for his crimes.

"Cut off ears"

On August 9, 1968, a seven-man patrol led by First Lieutenant S. entered Dien Tien hamlet. "Shortly thereafter, Private First Class W. was heard to shout to an unidentified person to halt. W. fired his M-16 several times, and the victim was killed. W. then dragged the body to location. . . . Staff Sergeant B. told W. to bring back an ear or finger if he wanted to prove himself a man. W. later went back to the body and removed both ears and a finger." W. was charged with assault and conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline; he was court-martialed and convicted, but he served no prison time. B. was found guilty of assault and was fined $50 a month for three months. S. was discharged from the army before action could be taken against him.

more…
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0438/turse.php

[MaryH]

1. US and Viet Cong Did Horrible Things

I had a friend who came back tell me that they would throw Viet Cong out of the hellicopters for fun.

[EST]

2. Yep

Even friendly forces were not immune to the grotesque "humor" that was common, such as kicking them out at altitude because they were too scared to get off on their own and go fight the VC.

[sweetladybug]

3. Mary my husband said he saw Viet Cong thrown out of helicopters too

Also he knew a soldier who had a necklace made of Vietnamees ears.

[TahitiNut]

5. I personally saw a guy or two with ears hanging from their belts.

Grotesque. We were very aware it was illegal, but absolutely nobody wanted to fuck with the guys who did this. The guys I saw were apparently just "passing through" and, as a mere REMF, I sure knew better than to say anything.

[knowbody0]

4. atrocities

in 75 a pentagon investigation was presented to congress validating all of kerry's statements. it was decided the country would not benefit from the findings since nixon was gone and the war had ended.

[MaryH]

6. It was 30 year's ago

It really is time to just let it go - if only we could.

The real crime is putting kids into that kind of situation. We all are capable of terrible things.

But those kids came back and had to live with those memories for the rest of their lives. No wonder so many came back crazy.

[GrapplerHK]

7. swift beat

what a bunch of liars