winter soldier investigation transcript
Don't Mourn, Don't Mourn, Organize, Organize, SDS Guide to Community Organizing pamphlet. And he stopped. In their blindness and fear they have tried to deny that we are veterans or that we served in Nam. I entered the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school. Winter Soldier Investigation ; Nam Vets Testify (All Ready on the Left, vol. But I would like to say, in answering that, that I do not believe it is necessary to stall any longer. We fought using weapons against those people which I do not believe this country would dream of using were we fighting in the European theater or let us say a non-third-world people theater, and so we watched while men charged up hills because a general said that hill has to be taken, and after losing one platoon or two platoons they marched away to leave the high for the reoccupation by the North Vietnamese because we watched pride allow the most unimportant of battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn't lose, and we couldn't retreat, and because it didn't matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point. Detroit, Michigan – Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, 1971. We fought using weapons against "oriental human beings," with quotation marks around that. The term "Winter Soldier" is a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough. SDS Bulletin. I'd like to welcome you all. My testimony will consist of eyewitnessing and participating in the calling in of artillery on undefended villages, mutilation of bodies, killing of civilians, mistreatment of civilians, mistreatment of prisoners and indiscriminate use of artillery, harassment and interdiction fire. Senator Symington: So you have been wounded three times. We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, no reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out. The final day of Winter Soldier Investigation, March 16, marked the 40th anniversary of the infamous My Lai massacre, when U.S. troops entered a Vietnamese village and murdered hundreds of men, women and children, young and old, raping some of the women and bayoneting elderly men. You have been very eloquent about the reasons why we should proceed as quickly as possible. I am going to serve my country." I was attached to Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Air Wing. My name is Scott Camile. And we can not consider ourselves America's best men when we are ashamed of and hated what we were called on to do in Southeast Asia. Michael Kenny. These are commanders who have deserted their troops, and there is no more serious crime in the law of war. We understand that. MODERATOR. We found that not only was it a civil war, an effort by a people who had for years been seeking their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever, but also we found that the Vietnamese whom we had enthusiastically molded after our own image were hard put to take up the fight against the threat we were supposedly saving them from. SACHS. Now, I think if you are going to try Lieutenant Calley then you must at the same time, if this country is going to demand respect for the law, you must at the same time try all those other people who have responsibility, and any aversion that we may have to the verdict as veterans is not to say that Calley should be freed, not to say that he is innocent, but to say that you can't just take him alone. Where is the leadership? I went straight into the Marine Corps from high school and I am now a student at Temple University in Philadelphia. Over three days in January and February 1971, just a couple months before Lieutenant William Calley would be … You have said that the question before this committee and the Congress is really how to end the war. The resolutions about which we have been hearing testimony during the past several days, the sponsors of which are some members of this committee, are seeking the most practical way that we can find and, I believe, to do it at the earliest opportunity that we can. I went to Vietnam in 1968. If we had not taken action or cognizance of it, it would have been even worse. And they were either disposed of, or wounded, or something to this effect just to make sure they were taken away. Mr. Kerry: I would like to talk, representing 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, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. I served in Vietnam with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines from October 1969 to March 1970. And to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, which those misfits supposedly abuse, is to use the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart. Americans seems to have accepted the idea that the war is winding down, at least for Americans, and they have also allowed the bodies which were once used by a President for statistics to prove that we were winning that war, to be used as evidence against a man who followed orders and who interpreted those orders no differently than hundreds of other men in Vietnam. If you’re just passing through, try the quick tour: a list of key points, some memorable quotes, and a look at the Winter Soldier Investigation’s claims and their debunking. I understand 57 percent of all those entering the VA hospitals talk about suicide. I went in right after high school and I'm a student now. Where are they now that we, the men whom they sent off to war, have returned? You have a Silver Star; have you not? Senator Aiken: I don't see why North Vietnam should object. I can see that you spent that time very well indeed. And so there were Hamburger Hills and Khe Sanhs and Hill 881's and Fire Base 6's and so many others. We have come here, not to the President, because we believe that this body can be responsive to the will of the people, and we believe that the will of the people says that we should be out of Vietnam now. I have heard a lot of false claims that the people at winter soldier were not veterans. My name is Joe Bangert. But the problem of veterans goes beyond this personal problem, because you think about a poster in this country with a picture of Uncle Sam and the picture says "I want you." I was a Corporal in the Marine Corps. Like this video? And I think you will find they will respond to whatever government evolves which answer their needs, and those needs quite simply are to be fed, to bury their dead in plots where their ancestors lived, to be allowed to extend their culture, to try and exist as human beings. How do ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? Perhaps that was the better part, better that you should be awake than otherwise. We are here in Washington also to say that the problem of this war is not just a question of war and diplomacy. I was a Sgt. When I got out of the service I worked as a laborer. I FO'd for Bravo Company, First Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. I think it lies with the men who encourage body counts. BISHOP. But the point is they are not a free people now under us. During the Winter Soldier Investigation, more than 100 veterans recounted in detail atrocities committed in Vietnam by themselves or observed first-hand. The Chairman: Do you support or do you have any particular views about any one of them you wish to give the committee? I entered the service after high school in 1965. My name is Paul Olimpieri. Jim Weber of the Americal Division, states that upon being drafted, he was posted to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, for his "murder training." I was attached to Echo Company, Second Battalion, 5th Marines. (Laughter). I think it lies with the men who designed free fire zones. We are probably much more angry than that and I don't want to go into the foreign policy aspects because I am outclassed here. Winter Soldier 1972 ‧ Anti-war film/War ‧ 1h 36m This landmark documentary chronicles a 1971 meeting during which more than 100 American veterans spoke publicly at a Detroit motel about the inhumanity and brutality of the Vietnam War. BANGERT. Winter Soldier Investigation: Testimony given in Detroit, Michigan, on January 31, 1971, February 1 and 2, 1971: Sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. Table of Contents. On September 23, 2004, another veteran recalls: I testified at the Winter Soldier investigation in 1971. I was a helicopter pilot. My testimony is going to consist of my skipper, or my captain, killing prisoners, throwing heat tablets or trioxylene gas to children, four NVA nurses that were captured--were POWs--were raped, tortured and then were completely destroyed--their bodies were destroyed--and free fire zones and health problems in Vietnam. "The Winter Soldier Investigation" was just one of my dozens of sources. From Wikipedia: The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) from January 31, 1971, to February 2, 1971. Mary McMahon Date: February 03, 2021 Woman holding a book . Winter Soldier (excerpt) - Losing faith in society ... Transcript; Add translations. I'll be talking about maltreating of prisoners, destruction of villages, crops and animals. 1, no. We saw that many people in this country had a one-sided idea of who was kept free by our flag, as blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties. We veterans can only look with amazement on the fact that this country has been unable to see there is absolutely no difference between ground troops and a helicopter crew, and yet people have accepted a differentiation fed them by the administration. Vietnam Veterans Against the War newsletters. We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service as easily as this administration has wiped their memories of us. Age 21; of New York. This is the First Marine Division. Now we are told that the men who fought there must watch quietly while American lives are lost so that we can exercise the incredible arrogance of Vietnamizing the Vietnamese. An American Indian friend of mine who lives in the Indian Nation al Alcataz put it to me very succinctly. Institute of Advanced Technology in the Humanities. A friend of mine was lying in a bed two beds away and tried to help him, but he couldn't. Need for Investigation. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War organized this event called the Winter Soldier Investigation. (Laughter) (Applause), Senator Aiken: I think your answer is ahead of my question. It is a distortion because we in no way consider ourselves the best men of this country, because those he calls misfits were standing up for us in a way that nobody else in this country dared to, because so many who have died would have returned to this country to join the misfits in their efforts to ask for an immediate withdrawal from South Vietnam, because so many of those best men have returned as quadriplegics and amputees, and they lie forgotten in Veterans' Administration hospitals in this country which fly the flag which so many have chosen as their own personal symbol. I think we have a very definite obligation to make extensive reparations to the people of Indochina. That is the purpose of these hearing and that is why you were brought here. He is making a very significant statement. We know you have considered the seriousness of the aspects to the utmost level and I am not going to try to deal on that, but I want to relate to you the feeling that many of the men who have returned to this country express because we are probably angriest about all that we were told about Vietnam and about the mystical war against communism. I was a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps from '66 to '70. 1) Vietnam Vets Sponsor War Crimes Investigation (Camp News, vol. Senator Aiken: Do you think we are under obligation to furnish them with extensive economic assistance? ECKERT. They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape 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 Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side 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. But the largest corps of unemployed in this country are veterans of this war, and of those veterans 33 percent of the unemployed are black. The « Winter Soldier Investigation » was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) from January 31, 1971 – February 2, 1971. The only other important point is that we allow the South Vietnamese people to determine their own figure and that ostensibly is what we have been fighting for anyway. Mr. Kerry: My feeling, Senator, is undoubtedly this Congress, and I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I do not believe that this Congress will, in fact, end the war as we would like to, which is immediately and unilaterally and, therefore, if I were to speak I would say we would set a date and the date obviously would be the earliest possible date. I came out as a Captain. (She's mine. The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) from January 31, 1971 – February 2, 1971. Winter Soldier Investigation - Testimony by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (B-Side) ... Transcript; Add translations. I entered the Marine Corps in 1964 after working as a news broadcaster for a network radio station. My testimony includes killing of non-combatants, destruction of Vietnamese property and livestock, use of chemical agents and the use of torture in interpreting prisoners. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do. The Marines say they never leave even their dead. You've probably all heard the quotation "Ask a Marine." I'm a Philadelphia resident. Sign in to make your opinion count. THE WINTER SOLDIER INVESTIGATION. (Laughter), Mr. Kerry: I would say they would be more prone to do that then the Army of the South Vietnamese. Mr. Kerry: Yes, sir. My name is Kenneth J. Campbell. Served in Vietnam '69-'70, Second Battalion, 26th Marines. And a young man comes out of high school and says, "That is fine. Senator Aiken: I am not telling you what I think. A man recently died after he had a tracheotomy in California, not because of the operation but because there weren't enough personnel to clean the mucous out of his tube and he suffocated to death. 1) Winter Soldier Hearings (Final Flight, April 1971) Winter Soldier Hearings (Transcripts of Panel Testimnony) War Crimes Investigations Senator Symington: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think this negates very clearly the argument of the President that we have to maintain a presence in Vietnam, to use as a negotiating block for the return of those prisoners. I am telling what the Department says. Mr. Kerry, please move your microphone. I can't imagine anyone communicating more eloquently than you did. The three-day gathering of 109 veterans and 16 civilians took place in Detroit, Michigan. The Long Binh Jail Rebellion . Do you believe that the North Vietnamese would undertake to prevent our withdrawal from the country and attack the troops that remain there? Winter Soldier 1972 ‧ Anti-war film/War ‧ 1h 36m This landmark documentary chronicles a 1971 meeting during which more than 100 American veterans spoke publicly at a Detroit motel about the inhumanity and brutality of the Vietnam War. Commentary: Listening Again to Lt. John Kerry on Vietnam. We call this investigation the "Winter Soldier Investigation." ([subtitled as:] I'll take care of her.) I'm a Philadelphia resident. We call this investigation the "Winter Soldier Investigation." attached to Charley 1/1. DELAY. He rang a bell and there was nobody there to service that man and so he died of convulsions. A transcript of John Kerry's statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971, in which he criticized the Vietnam War. The hospitals across the country won't, or can't meet their demands. The Army says they never leave their wounded. Fort Hood Three Court Martial Transcripts. My testimony deals with harassment fire from the air, burning of villages from the air, and black marketeering in Da Nang itself. More than 125 veterans spoke of atrocities they had witnessed and committed. Testimony was given unit by unit starting with the First and Third Marine Divisions. We are also here to ask, and we are here to ask vehemently, where are the leaders of our country? It was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War. They only wanted to work in rice paddies without helicopters strafing them and bombs with napalm burning their villages and tearing their country apart. I have been to Paris. My name is Fred Nienke. We listened while month after month we were told the back of the enemy was about to break. The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) from January 31, 1971, to February 2, 1971. I served with Echo Battery 213 attached to 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines. My name is Rusty Sachs. My name is Kevin Delay. The Presidio 27 "Mutiny" The Winter Soldier Investigation; Related Documents Transcripts of the Hearings held in Detroit January 31 - February 2 1971 WBAI Broadcasts 624 views. My name is Stephen Craig. My testimony concerns the falsification of body count reports. So after these gentlemen have finished their testimony, you'll be allowed to ask a Marine and find out what really went on over there. Hence the anger of some of the men who are here in Washington today. They wanted everything to do with the war, particularly with this foreign presence of the United States of America, to leave them alone in peace, and they practiced the art of survival by siding with which ever military force was present at a particular time, be it Vietcong, North Vietnamese, or American. We saw America lose her sense of morality as she accepted very coolly a My Lai and refused to give up the image of American soldiers who hand out chocolate bars and chewing gum. It was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War. Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I was a Pfc. My testimony mainly concerns the maltreatment and murder of Vietnamese non-combatants and the general maltreatment of the civilian population. CAMPBELL. My testimony involves burning of villages with civilians in them, the cutting off of ears, cutting off of heads, torturing of prisoners, calling in of artillery on villages for games, corpsmen killing wounded prisoners, napalm dropped on villages, women being raped, women and children being massacred, CS gas used on people, animals slaughtered, Chieu Hoi passes rejected and the people holding them shot, bodies shoved out of helicopters, tear-gassing people for fun and running civilian vehicles off the road. No ground troops are in Laos, so it is all right to kill Laotians by remote control. While it has been reasonably argued that some of the men quoted here were lying, it is important to emphasize that MOST participants were not. Mr. Kerry: Each day to facilitate the process by which the United States washes her hands of Vietnam someone has to give up his life so that the United States doesn't have to admit something that the entire world already knows, so that we can't say that we have made a mistake. Captain America: We do this together. I was an FO, Forward Artillery Scout Observer. One professor, Guenter Lewy, wrote a 1978 book that attacked the credibility of the Winter Soldier hearings, saying a Navy investigation found some coached or bogus testimony. I was 18 years of age at the time. I'm still a lab technician. 2, no. And I think that that really is the governing principle by which those people are now living and have been allowed to live because of our mistake. Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes realize that their futures are anything but normal. My name is Ted Eckert. SIMPSON. I'd like to welcome you all. Read the transcript of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" S01E01 - New World Order. But we are trying to do that, and we are doing it with thousands of rationalizations, and if you read carefully the President's last speech to the people of this country, you can see that he says, and says clearly: But the issue, gentlemen, the issue is communism, and the question is whether or not we will leave that country to the communists or whether or not we will try to give it hope to be a free people. The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned with a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped. [Captain America and Winter Soldier jump out of jet and head inside Sleeper's head] Captain America: Just like old times.