Tuesday
Oct122004
Greg Fuller -Media Missing the Point: The Anti Kerry FIlm is Based on Lies
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at 04:54PM
Message to the LA Times:
Your column " Conservative TV Group to Air Anti-Kerry Film " is an insightful read of the efforts of conservatives to mislead and disinform the public , that said , you omitted in your article an important element of their storyline : Its lack of even a tangential relationship to the truth .
Counter to their assertions attacking Kerry , there were numerous atrocities committed by our troops during Vietnam . Moreover , that was the general public perception resulting from the daily drum beat by the very powerful news networks of the exploits of Charlie Company and its Lt. William Calley at My Lai As with most draft age people of the era , I paid rapt attention to all things Vietnam and can state with certainty and clarity , it was the Calley Court Martial which served as the vehicle that spread the truth and perception of atrocities , thanks to Ronald Ridenhour
(Freelance journalist Ronald Ridenhour was an army veteran who had trained with the soldiers of Charlie Company, Lt. William Calley's unit, when they were stationed in Hawaii. Months after the My Lai massacre, Ridenhour first learned about the incident during a conversation he had with a friend of his who was a member of Charlie Company. Outraged, he conducted his own year-long investigation where he found that many soldiers supported the allegations that over 100 innocent civilians were murdered by Charlie Company. Ridenhour's subsequent letter about his findings, which was sent to President Richard Nixon, several Congressmen, and the Army, sparked the investigation into Lt. Calley that ultimately led to his court martial. ) **
Obviously , the Lt. Kerry's of the era though heroic , played a much lesser role in the spread of truth and perception about war atrocities ; rightly , it is NBC, CBS and ABC of that era which deserve that recognition .
Finally, those who seek to deny or minimize the atrocities committed in our name are either mistaken , liars , delusional or political operatives and should be accorded the concomitant respect
Sincerely,
Gregory M Fuller
Your column " Conservative TV Group to Air Anti-Kerry Film " is an insightful read of the efforts of conservatives to mislead and disinform the public , that said , you omitted in your article an important element of their storyline : Its lack of even a tangential relationship to the truth .
Counter to their assertions attacking Kerry , there were numerous atrocities committed by our troops during Vietnam . Moreover , that was the general public perception resulting from the daily drum beat by the very powerful news networks of the exploits of Charlie Company and its Lt. William Calley at My Lai As with most draft age people of the era , I paid rapt attention to all things Vietnam and can state with certainty and clarity , it was the Calley Court Martial which served as the vehicle that spread the truth and perception of atrocities , thanks to Ronald Ridenhour
(Freelance journalist Ronald Ridenhour was an army veteran who had trained with the soldiers of Charlie Company, Lt. William Calley's unit, when they were stationed in Hawaii. Months after the My Lai massacre, Ridenhour first learned about the incident during a conversation he had with a friend of his who was a member of Charlie Company. Outraged, he conducted his own year-long investigation where he found that many soldiers supported the allegations that over 100 innocent civilians were murdered by Charlie Company. Ridenhour's subsequent letter about his findings, which was sent to President Richard Nixon, several Congressmen, and the Army, sparked the investigation into Lt. Calley that ultimately led to his court martial. ) **
Obviously , the Lt. Kerry's of the era though heroic , played a much lesser role in the spread of truth and perception about war atrocities ; rightly , it is NBC, CBS and ABC of that era which deserve that recognition .
Finally, those who seek to deny or minimize the atrocities committed in our name are either mistaken , liars , delusional or political operatives and should be accorded the concomitant respect
Sincerely,
Gregory M Fuller