What public statements has John Kerry made about the Vietnam war?

[Clark4VotingRights]

Since this is a hot topic here as it pertains to General Clark,
it strikes me as a timely question.

Two of our seven Dem candidates were injured in Vietnam.

[SadEagle]

1. He was an early opponent, after returning from there.

He was active in Veterans against the War after his return from duty. I don't think one can question his credentials in that age, very admirable.
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/VVAW_Kerry_Senate.html
has a transcript of his testimony before the U.S. senate. Here are some extracts from the beginning, to encourage people to read it:

I would like to talk on behalf of all those veterans and say that several months ago in Detroit we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.
<snip end of paragraph>

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, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

edit: add a quote.

[Clark4VotingRights]

2. I'm not questioning Kerry's credentials for a second. Quite the opposite.

I admire him for enlisting in the Navy in February of 1966, months before he graduated from Yale. I think a rich guy in the Yale
loop, in college, could have gotten out of serving if he'd chosen to.
Kerry doesn't seem to always take the safe or easy path.
I admire that about him.

Likewise, since Clark graduated at the top of his class at West
Point he had his pick of assignments, and chose to exercise leadership by selecting one of the most dangerous.

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. Here's a speech he gave

at the Vietnam Memorial.

<snip>We celebrate the nobility of young Americans willing to go thousands of miles from home to fight for the notion that in the final measurement someone else's freedom was connected to our own.

It doesn't matter that politics got in the way. It doesn't matter that leaders remained wedded to their own confusion. Nothing -- not politics, not time, not outcome -- nothing will ever diminish one iota the contributions of these brothers and sisters, nothing can ever lessen the courage with which they waged war. Nothing reduces the magnitude of their sacrifice, nothing can take away the quality of their gift to their nation.

We mark 20 years of this memorial with the determination to set the record straight. Politicians may have lost the larger objectives, our allies may have lost the ability to hold on by themselves, we may have suffered losses in ambush, but in 10 years American soldiers never lost a battle.

The Vietnam soldiers, airmen and sailors fought with as much conviction, as much commitment, as much courage and as much selfless sacrifice as soldiers in any war. And we did so with love of country and love of fellow soldiers as great as any despite our nations political divisions at home and the difficult circumstances we were required to confront. This memorial will forever remind the generations to come of that special spirit the special bond of soldier to country and soldier to soldier.

And we remember today also with pride at the outcome -- that for our generation of Veterans the war did not end when we came home. For us the fight continued -- the recognition honoring our deeds came when Veterans pushed for it -- Agent Orange, outreach centers, extension of the GI Bill -- increased funding for Veterans Affairs , these all happened because Veterans remembered their brothers and sisters and never stopped fighting to keep faith with the promise to veterans.<snip>

58,226 brave men and women who didn't return from Vietnam :cry: It breaks my heart every time I see those names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.


http://www.vietnamwar.com/JohnKerryNov112002.htm

[Clark4VotingRights]

4. Thanks in_cog_ni_to. That's a fine speech from Sen Kerry, from 2002.

I appreciate him, and Clark, speaking out on behalf of veterans.

[sandnsea]

5. Not sure what you mean

Is there something about Kerry's position on the Vietnam War that you don't understand?

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. I think the point is

Clark is getting bashed for defending his Vietnam service on another thread. I think this was just to see what Kerry has said about it, since he also served.

[WiseMen]

6. Hey Guys, there are history books and Congressional Records

on this topic. It is rather vast matter. Remember, Kerry was one of the main leaders of the anti-war movement and gave numerous speaches all accross the nation.