Still Fighting Vietnam

I was asked by Swift boat veteran Tom Mortenson to pass along the following letter.

Dear Friend,

Last year, when my fellow Swift Boat veterans and I spoke out about John Kerry, you rallied to our side. We will never forget your faith in our cause and your belief in our honesty. It made all the difference. Together we made history.

Like most of you, I believed our mission was over. We could all move on with our lives, return to our families and homes secure in the knowledge we had done the right thing for America, and for our children's future.

Regrettably, that has not been the case for a distinguished group of Vietnam combat veterans who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us during last year's campaign. Their situation has become so critical that I felt compelled to break our long silence to inform you of this urgent matter.

The Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, an organization founded by some of the same POWs and their wives who joined with us to form Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, has become the target of vicious legal assaults – multiple lawsuits designed to silence the voices of the POWs.

The VVLF is being sued to punish the organization for the content of the POW documentary Stolen Honor, which contrasts their own accounts of their service in Vietnam and suffering in North Vietnamese prison camps with the claims of the antiwar movement.

They desperately need our help and I am asking, once more, for your support. I urge you to give what you can to assist these truly noble men and women.

It is no accident that this campaign to coerce and silence some of America's most heroic figures from the Vietnam War has intensified just as the shrill voices of the extreme Left's anti-military, blame-America-first propagandists are once again on the rise. Even Jane Fonda has resurfaced.

You might ask why the VVLF has been targeted in this legal assault – why attack men who endured years of unspeakable torture and suffering in defense of America? The answer lies in the question. These are among the most credible, living eyewitnesses to the trail of deceit and betrayal. All are highly decorated and each bears the scars and permanent physical disabilities of his long years in captivity. One is the recipient of our nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor. They paid for the right to voice their opinions with years of indescribable pain, hardship and torment. Their individual histories of perseverance under the direst of circumstances, and their fidelity to the principles of honor instilled in each American serving in uniform belie the despicable slanders laid at the feet of our military.

The POWs' very existence and their willingness to go public threaten the foundation of the Left's propaganda, a lifetime of lies that accuse the U.S. military of being no better than the “armies of Genghis Khan.” It remains the Left's most potent weapon as they continue to undermine the efforts of our Armed Forces and provide aid and comfort to America's enemies.

The war for America's conscience and soul rages on in the media, on the streets and quietly behind courtroom doors. In the vanguard of that battle, as they were some 40 years ago, are the POWs; some of America's greatest heroes; men and their wives, fathers and mothers, many of them grandparents, who have already paid a heavy price for their loyalty and devotion to America and, sadly, find they must do so again today.

They deserve our respect, admiration and gratitude, but most of all our support, even as they try to protect and preserve the honor and reputations of an entire generation of American troops vilified by the extreme Left.

Won't you stand up once more to defend our troops and veterans? Please give what you can to help the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation continue the still-unfinished task of setting the record straight about the Vietnam War and Vietnam vets.

Thank you again and God bless you and America.

Sincerely,

John O'Neill

The Lefties are still trying to silence those who would dare try to defend their service to this nation.

I don't think we should stand for it.