"Anti-War Veteran Accused of Exploiting P.O.W. Issue"

An Associated Press article in the New York Times, July 23, 1971.

At To the Point, Aug. 13:

A number of wives of American prisoners of war lashed out today at John F. Kerry, the peace-group leader, accusing him of using the prisoner issue as a spring-board to political office.

When Mr. Kerry, a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, attempted to introduces relatives of war prisoners at a news conference, four women shouted, "That's a lie," and "What office are you going to run for next?"

"This is a humane issue and should remain so," cried Mrs. Patricia Hardy of Los Angeles.

One of the women accused Mr. Kerry of "constantly using our own suffering and grief" for his political ambitions....

Thanks to The Big Trunk, who relates his own Kerry experience from 1971:

.... The take of the POW wives on Kerry in 1971 aligned perfectly with that of a fellow Dartmouth student when I saw Kerry giving his standard antiwar speech at Dartmouth that fall on his first tour as a celebrity. At Dartmouth Kerry spoke in a relatively small, informal venue (the student lounge on the second floor of Hopkins Center) before a large audience of wide-eyed students.

Kerry gave his then-standard stump speech, reprising his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. One of the students in the audience stood up to walk out on Kerry's speech and shouted to Kerry as he approached the steps to go down to the first floor: "You phony. You're just in this for yourself." Kerry was only momentarily flustered, bending down to the microphone and asking the guy to stay and talk after he'd already gone down the steps.

At the time I couldn't believe the obtuseness of the student. Like everyone else in attendance, I bought Kerry's act completely. In retrospect, however, that student strikes me as a person of uncommon discernment.

See also John Kerry and Vietnam-Era POWs and John Kerry Is In Really Big Trouble.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 08/17/04 05:41:24 PM
Categorized as Historical & John Kerry.