VETS ON KERRY

MSNBC - Altercation


Note from Eric: I borrowed the letter below from H-Diplo:

From: Ellen Rafshoon

Re: Presidential candidates and the Vietnam War

Regarding the controversy over John Kerry's post-Vietnam protest activities, I recommend that readers of this list read The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr. (1991)  Puller, Jr. was the the son of Korean War hero Lewis "Chesty" Puller, Sr. and wanted to emulate his father's military career.  But Puller's own experiences as a young platoon leader in Vietnam had tragic consequences.  He returned home after three months legless and missing most of his fingers.  (He also became an alcoholic and 3 years after winning the Pullitzer for his book, committed suicide.)  His autobiography traces his grueling rehabilitation and gradual realization that "I had given myself to a cause that, in addition to having robbed me of my of my youth and left me crippled and deformed, allowed me no pride for having been a participant."

Puller's book is worthwhile on many levels, but is particularly relevant now for his observations on fellow veterans who joined the anti-war movement.  Puller himself was ambivalent, but eventually found himself swayed by the protesting veterans.  He is unambiguous in his praise for John Kerry (1971).  "One articulate young combat veteran named John Kerry delivered a moving address before a special session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that, for me, summed up the sense of betrayal and the disillusionment I felt toward the administration and the leadership that had directed the course of the war from the safety of its Washington power base."

As for Kerry's participation in protests where veterans symbollically discarded their medals, Puller says such acts helped strip him "of my remaining self-delusions" about what he concluded was a "wasted cause."