Criticism of the Winter Soldier Investigation
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[edit] Guenter Lewy
Seven years after the hearings, political scientist Guenter Lewy wrote in his book, America in Vietnam, that a Naval Criminal Investigative Service report discredited several of the veterans that testified at the Winter Soldier Investigation. Lewy states that:
- Many of the veterans, though assured that they would not be questioned about atrocities they might have committed personally, refused to be interviewed. One of the active members of the VVAW told investigators that the leadership had directed the entire membership not to cooperate with military authorities. A black Marine who agreed to be interviewed was unable to provide details of the outrages he had described at the hearing, but he called the Vietnam War "one huge atrocity" and "a racist plot." He admitted that the question of atrocities had not occurred to him while he was in Vietnam, and that he had been assisted in the preparation of his testimony by a member of the Nation of Islam. But the most damaging finding consisted of the sworn statements of several veterans, corroborated by witnesses, that they had in fact not attended the hearing in Detroit. One of them had never been to Detroit in all his life. He did not know, he stated, who might have used his name.
- Incidents similar to some of those described at the VVAW hearing undoubtedly did occur. We know that hamlets were destroyed, prisoners tortured, and corpses mutilated. Yet these incidents either (as in the destruction of hamlets) did not violate the law of war or took place in breach of existing regulations. In either case, they were not, as alleged, part of a "criminal policy." The VVAW's use of fake witnesses and the failure to cooperate with military authorities and to provide crucial details of the incidents further cast serious doubt on the professed desire to serve the causes of justice and humanity. It is more likely that this inquiry, like others earlier and later, had primarily political motives and goals. [1]
As reported in the Chicago Tribune, Government officials today cannot verify the NIS report's existence, and no other historian has seen it. Lewy later said that he could not recall if he had actually seen the alleged report or simply been told of its contents although he believes the information to be authentic. [4][5]
In addition, the Army found the allegations made by 46 veterans at the hearings to merit further inquiry, and were able to identify 43 of the complainants. The Army's CID investigators attempted to contact 41 of the people who testified; of the 36 they were able to locate, 31 submitted to interviews. [6]
[edit] Steve Pitkin
Veteran Steve Pitkin, who was 20 years old at the time, has claimed that he was not originally planning to testify at the WSI, but came to Detroit to support his fellow veterans and listen to live music [7]. Pitkin says he was asked by event leaders to speak on the second day of the event. On the panel Pitkin criticized the press for its coverage of the war, and detailed what he considered poor training for combat in Vietnam, and low morale he claimed to have witnessed while there [8]. Pitkin is quoted as saying he was later contacted by a reporter for Life Magazine who asked about war crimes and atrocities. "I didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear," Pitkin is quoted as saying, and nothing he claims to have said was included in the final story [9]. In August, 2004, 33 years after the Winter Soldier Investigation and during the 2004 presidential campaign season, Pitkin signed an affidavit stating "John Kerry and other leaders of that event pressured me to testify about American war crimes, despite my repeated statements that I could not honestly do so." [10] Upon hearing of these statements by Pitkin, another participant named Scott Camil filed his own affidavit refuting Pitkins statements [11]. Pitkin has subsequently admitted his recollections were flawed, and has re-issued an affidavit now reflecting a different date of discharge from the Army, different people traveling with him to the Winter Soldier event, and different circumstances under which he joined the VVAW [12]. On September 15, 2004, Pitkin signed a second affidavit stating that he had been instructed by organizers to "publicly state that I had witnessed incidents of rape, brutality, atrocities and racism, knowing that such statements would necessarily be untrue" [13]. However, although he introduced himself by saying, "I'll testify about the beating of civilians and enemy personnel, destruction of villages, indiscriminate use of artillery, the general racism and the attitude of the American GI toward the Vietnamese," his actual testimony contained no such statements [14].
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Jackson, David (February 22, 2004). "Foes lash Kerry for Vietnam War words". Chicago Tribune: (Page 3). "Government officials today cannot verify that Naval Investigative Service report's existence. "We have not been able to confirm the existence of this report, but it's also possible that such records could have been destroyed or misplaced," said Naval Criminal Investigative Service public affairs specialist Paul O'Donnell. "I don't think Lewy is interested in presenting any of [the Winter Soldier testimony] as truthful," said University of Richmond history professor Ernest Bolt. "He has an angle on the war as a whole." Bolt said it is impossible to tell whether Lewy fairly characterized the naval investigative report because no other historian had seen it. "He's using the points of their investigation that fit his purposes," Bolt said.";
- ↑ Bowman, Tom (Feb 14, 2004). "Kerry went from soldier to anti-war protester". Baltimore Sun: 1A. "Lewy said he does not recall if he saw a copy of the naval investigative report or was briefed on its contents. "I'm quite confident the information is authentic," he said."
[edit] External links
- Wintersoldierfilm.com Re-released documentary of the event
- Pitkin's latest 2004 statement Second affidavit by Steve Pitkin
- Wintersoldier.com - critical examination
[edit] Further reading
- Kerry, John & Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1971). The New Soldier. CA: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-02-073610-X
- Nicosia, Gerald (2002). Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement. CA: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80906-7
- Lewy, Guenter (1978). America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-502391-9. ISBN 0-19-502732-9 pbk.
