This has nothing to do with medals, so read on Kerry supporters. Even though it is a long copy and paste, people need to know who John Kerry and friends really are. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40304 Kerry vet aide's extremist history Joe Bangert lived in Hanoi, revered Ho Chi Minh WASHINGTON – A John Kerry veterans' organizer lived in Hanoi for five years in the 1990s, testified that American troops skinned and crucified Vietnamese in the 1960s and joined the presidential candidate at an infamous 1971 meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War executive committee in which the assassination of U.S. senators was debated, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reports. Joe Bangert, a Massachusetts English teacher and longtime friend of the junior senator, has campaigned with Kerry in several states and serves the campaign as a veterans' organizer. At the Winter Soldier Investigation, sponsored by Jane Fonda and the VVAW in 1971, Bangert told some of the most hair-raising stories, reveals a report in the latest issue of the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by WorldNetDaily. The former Marine who claims to have served with the Marine Observation Squadron with the First Marine Air Wing in 1968 said the atrocities he witnessed began on his first day in country. "I was picked up by a truckload of grunt Marines with two company grade officers – first lieutenants," he told the Winter Soldier hearing in Detroit. "We were about five miles down the road, where there were some Vietnamese children at the gateway of the village and they gave the old finger gesture at us. It was understandable that they picked this up from GIs there. They stopped the trucks – they didn't stop the truck, they slowed down a little bit, and it was just like response, the guys got up, including the lieutenants, and just blew all the kids away. There were about five or six kids blown away, and then the truck just continued down the hill." He also testified about observing South Vietnamese troops under U.S. command torture a woman prisoner by shooting her repeatedly, then disemboweling her and skinning her. He also claimed Vietnamese suspects and civilians were crucified under U.S. command. Bangert, who lived in Hanoi for about five years in the 1990s and still travels to the Communist totalitarian capital, in 2001 called Jane Fonda a "heroine" for her controversial visits to North Vietnam during the war, according to G2 Bulletin. In fact, Bangert, like Kerry, traveled to Paris to meet with the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegations. Bangert recalled the highlight for him was getting to sing "The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh" for the assembled guests. He boasts of having performed the ballad more than a thousand times in public. Bangert wore a shirt for the occasion emblazoned with the Viet Cong flag. "She was a heroine to visit Vietnam under B-52 bombardment in July 1972, and this needs to be said aloud," he wrote about Fonda in the VVAW publication. In 1997, Bangert was one of three former VVAW members to pay tribute in Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh on his birthday. Bangert joined Chuck Searcy and Eric Herter May 19 – which was also the 30th anniversary of the founding of the VVAW. Bangert worked for Kerry throughout the primary season in New Hampshire, Missouri and South Carolina. When Kerry gave his victory speech in New Hampshire on the night of the primary, Bangert stood on stage between the presidential candidate and former New Hampshire Governor Jean Shaheen. And that should be no surprise given Bangert has worked for Kerry in most if not all of his campaigns, including his first run for the Senate going back to 1984. Kerry first adamantly denied attending a November 1971 VVAW executive committee meeting in Kansas City at which the assassination of several U.S. senators was debated. Later, when the Kansas City Star tracked down 32-year-old FBI records affirming Kerry's attendance, his campaign explained that he "had no personal recollection" of the meeting. Bangert was there, too. "We were rebelling," he explained. "We were decompressing from our time in Vietnam. We were incapable of doing violence." And http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1092856/posts It's not the first time that Bangert has sung these songs for an audience. He sang them for the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese representatives when he visited them (probably with John Kerry) in France in 1971. From the Peggy Seeger (sister of Pete) website: Dear Sister Peggy, Greetings from Cape Cod! My name is Joe Bangert, and I eyed your name on the email list from an email I received today from a mutual friend- Barbara Dane- and was motivated to introduce myself to you and tell you- apart from my love of both you and your brother's musical and artistic contributions to at least three generations of my family- how gratified I am to share with you my deep admiration of Ewan's 'Ballad of Ho Chi Minh'. Sure I learned it by heart- after returning home from my stint as a door gunner on a Marine helicopter in Quang Tri, Viet Nam circa 1969. Six months later I upped and joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and later met Barbara in Paris at the World Assembly for the Peace and Independence of the Indochinese Peoples at Versailles. We had a great banquet with the diplomatic delegations of both the DRVN and the PRGSVN and later some music began- Barbara sang the 'Song of the Coats' and the only song the young boisterous delegation from the USA could all agree on singing together by heart when asked to sing 'an American worker's song' was "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin. Barbara then asked me to join her on the stage- for I had boldly decided to wear a close fitting shirt which had emblazened on the front of it- the flag of the National Liberation Front of south Viet Nam. It was then that I belted out both "We Will Liberate the South" (Giai Phong Mien Nam) the national anthem of the NLF in Vietnamese- for I am a linguist- and ended that portion of the show with the Ballad of Uncle Ho. It was a show stopper to say these least Since then I have sang Ewan's delightful song over one thousand times indeed- and when I was working back in Viet Nam, in Ha Noi from 1992-1997 I had the occasion to sing it and teach it to virtually thousands upon thousands of younger Vietnamese boys and girls-I always give Ewan the credit for penning it. I just wanted you to know that this song rocks even in 2002~! Best Regards, Joe Bangert Source For those of you who might not be familiar with the National Anthem of the Viet Cong, here are a few lyrics from "Giai Phong Mien Nam": A good chance for the country has come Dawn is lighting up everywhere And our task is to build a more beautiful country --by Huynh Minh Sieng. And here is the start of the song, "The Ballad Of Ho Chin Minh": Now Ho Chi Minh went to the mountains And he trained a determined band Heroes all, sworn to liberate the Indo-Chinese people Drive invaders from the land. --by Ewan MacColl Again, I wonder how many veterans know that Joe Bangert gave aid and comfort to the enemy during a shooting war. And that he is so proud of it.
