John Kerry Anti War Activist

You know, education, if you make
the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an
effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in
Iraq.

JOHN KERRY:

In the summer of 1970, Mr. Kerry joined a group called Vietnam
Veterans Against the War (VVAW), which he would later essentially lead,
and early the next year participated in what came to be known as the
winter soldier investigation, the group’s inquiry into accusations of
war atrocities by American soldiers.

Mr. Kerry then testified before Congress, recounting the stories he heard from soldiers during the VVAW's investigation.

"They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off
ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human
genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies,
randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of
Ghengis Khan …" Mr. Kerry told the assembled senators.

Kerry's medal chasing jeopardized his mission and his men. His lies during the Senate hearing were treasonous. He is no hero.

At the height of the antiwar movement, Mr. Kerry was referring to
America's leadership as "deserters" and "war criminals," portraying
U.S. soldiers in Vietnam as inhumane killers and inflaming protesters
by tearfully tossing away war medals — medals he would admit 13 years
later weren't his.

In the afternoon after his testimony, Mr. Kerry led a group of
Vietnam veterans to the front steps of the Capitol, where they tossed
away their war medals in disgust.

"Tour of Duty," the glowing 2004 biography of Mr. Kerry by Douglas
Brinkley, includes a photograph taken that day of his wife Julia Thorne
consoling Mr. Kerry, who is curled up on the front lawn of the Capitol,
weeping over the emotion of having just tossed away combat medals.

But it wasn’t until 13 years later that Mr. Kerry admitted he had
actually thrown someone else’s medals away, keeping his own safely at
home.

Later that night, several of Mr. Kerry's VVAW followers took a large
American flag, flipped it upside down — a military signal of distress —
and marched around the White House. It was a photo of those protesters
carrying that flag Mr. Kerry chose as the cover of his book, "The New
Soldier."

An organizer for this and many other protests was actress and VVAW
supporter Jane Fonda, who later became the symbol of treasonous protest
when she went to Hanoi and sat astride an antiaircraft gun that had
surely been used to shoot down American planes. Though Mr. Kerry was
caught in a photograph with Miss Fonda, the senator has since said they
were not close associates.