Salon: Not Fit to Air (Stolen Honor)

[kskiska]

A look at excerpts of "Stolen Honor" -- a film that rehashes old charges about the Vietnam War -- reveals the extreme partisanship involved in its production.

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If one browses Sherwood's Web site and views excerpts of his 42-minute film, it becomes clear that he has produced nothing more than an attack ad that suffers from elephantiasis. The film's charges are not new -- they've been floating around for more than three decades.

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Dig a little deeper into "Stolen Honor" and its partisan roots pop right out.

Sherwood's film pieces together interviews with 17 POWs. One of them, George Day, a retired Air Force colonel, says: "This man committed an act of treason. He lied, he besmirched our name and he did it for self-interest. And now he wants us to forget." Though the "Stolen Honor" Web site lists the colonel's medals, it fails to mention his long participation in Republican politics. On a Web site associated with a class action suit filed on behalf of veterans, Day cites his political credentials: "Past Florida State Republican Committeeman. ... He was a delegate to Republican Conventions, Chairman of the Reagan Committee in Okaloosa County, Florida. In 1984, he was National Chairman of Veterans for Reagan and campaigned extensively for and with the President. He campaigned nationally for President Bush in 1992, and Jeb Bush for Governor of Florida 1998, John McCain for President and Bill McCollum for Senate in 2000."

Leo Thorsness also appears in the documentary. Again, the "Stolen Honor" Web site lists his military awards but makes no mention of his two campaigns as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in South Dakota. He lost to George McGovern in 1974 and Tom Daschle in 1978. He subsequently moved to Washington state and ran as a Republican candidate for the state Senate, winning a seat in 1988.

Three other men who appear in Sherwood's documentary were appointed by the Bush administration to the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War under the Department of Veterans Affairs: the chairman of the panel, Thomas McNish, as well as Kenneth Cordier and Paul Galanti.

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http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/10/19/stolen_honor/index.html