Former navy lieutenant John Kerry, center, wearing his combat jacket, turns from the podium after addressing thousands of people gathered in front of the Capitol for an antiwar rally in Washington, D.C., April 24, 1971. Earlier in the week of protests, Kerry addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on behalf of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). (AP Photo)

Letter of the Day: Orwellian account

Orwellian account

EDITOR: The March 28 article "After 40 years reflecting on Vietnam experience" reminds me of George Orwell's "1984." It's a prediction of "doublethink." For example "support the troops" has come to mean "support the war."

We've obviously forgotten "The Winter Soldier Investigation," a 1971 inquiry into American war crimes by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Some 100 veterans gave firsthand testimony about war crimes they committed or witnessed. A noted speaker was Lt. John F. Kerry, a swift boat commander, presidential candidate and recently appointed secretary of state. Then there was Philip Berrigan, a priest and World War II combat veteran who went to prison for throwing blood on draft files. These veterans were once our revered heroes. Not anymore.

A World War II veteran, I went to Vietnam in 1966 with the express purpose of writing a documentary of the war. As a USAID refugee adviser in the Mekong Delta, I witnessed atrocities - napalm and white phosphorus drops, Agent Orange, of which I am a victim, saturation bombings, random interdicted artillery fire, but the most insidious were the grisly photos GIs proudly passed about posing with mutilated corpses.

As Orwell stated: "Past events are whatever the Party chooses to make of them."

SHERIDAN PETERSON

Santa Rosa

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