Stolen Honor
Encyclopedia
Stolen Honor is a 45-minute video documentary
that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoners of war
in North Vietnam
, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry
's Fulbright Hearing
testimony in April 1971. The subtitle of the film is Wounds That Never Heal; on the production company's website the complete title is given instead as Stolen Honor: John Kerry's Record of Betrayal. Its name was based on the book Stolen Valor
: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley
The production company's website states that "Stolen Honor investigates how John Kerry's actions during the Vietnam era impacted the treatment of American soldiers and POWs. Using John Kerry's own words, the documentary juxtaposes John Kerry's actions with the words of veterans who were still in Vietnam when John Kerry was leading the anti-war movement." http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/index.asp
According to conservative commentator Deroy Murdock
,
, whose public affairs are managed by Quantum Communications http://stolenhonor.com/contact.asp, a company owned by lobbyist Charlie Gerow
http://www.rnla.org/bio/BioDetail.asp?MemberID=733, who also acted as publicist for the film. http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-09-09/news.html In 2000, Gerow ran on the Republican ticket for Congress http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/charlie_gerow.asp. In 2003, he was nominated by President Bush to be a member of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031024-7.html.
Carlton Sherwood
, the producer of Stolen Honor is a Vietnam War
veteran who won a Pulitzer Prize
in 1980 for his work for the Gannett News Service. His appointments to several positions by Republican politicians has been cited as evidence of partisan biasand his journalism has been criticized. In 1983 he was responsible for a four-part series on a Washington DC television station which charged the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund with misspending—if not stealing—donated money. The following year, after a GAO auditand threats of a lawsuit, the station broadcast a retraction. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/22/sinclair/ Inquisition, his investigation of the 1982 tax fraud prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon
(leader of the Unification Church
) was published in 1991. The following year the PBS documentary series Frontline reported that James Gavin, an aide to Moon, had reviewed the "overall tone and factual contents" of the manuscript and that Sherwood had agreed to his revisions. Sherwood denied that the Unification Church exerted editorial control over the book.http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript2.shtml
In October 2004, one of the Marine veterans shown in the film, University of Delaware
professor Kenneth J. Campbell, sued Sherwood over his depiction in the film.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/politics/campaign/19vet.html
, which owns television station
s in nearly one-quarter of the United States
, had ordered all of its stations to air Stolen Honor in the days leading up to the November 2 presidential election. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041009-060025-2603r.htm.
These news reports touched off a media firestorm. According to Alessandra Stanley
of the New York Times:
The news of the possible Sinclair broadcast was followed by various complaints that such a broadcast would violate the "equal time" provision of the Communications Act
that governs airtime for political candidates.
When questioned about this contention, then current FCC
chairman Michael Powell
announced the FCC position that a broadcast of this documentary would not be a violation of the equal time provision. However, former FCC chairman, Reed Hundt
, contended that Powell was offering "tacit and plain encouragement of the use of the Sinclair airwaves to pursue a smear campaign." http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_10.php#003689
A spokesperson for Sinclair said that the airing would be followed by a panel discussion, which Kerry would be asked to join. The Kerry campaign declined the invitation. Sinclair did not accept an offer from Michael Moore
for free a broadcast of his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11
.
Sinclair's then Washington bureau chief, Jon Lieberman
, publicly condemned the expected broadcast in an interview in the Baltimore Sun:
Shortly after making this statement to the newspaper, Lieberman was fired. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43681-2004Oct18.html Sinclair Vice President Mark Hyman
said:
, stated: "This group is the poor, distant cousin of the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush. It's people with questionable backgrounds whose sole mission in life is to smear John Kerry." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=12894483&PAG=461&rfi=9 (Nevins was making a derisive reference to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization.)
Reacting to reports that Sinclair was to air Stolen Honor shortly before the election, members of the United States Congress
asked the FCC to consider the legality of the planned broadcast http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/12/news/newsmakers/sinclair_letter/index.htm. The Democratic National Committee
filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission
. As this controversy made the news, with a number of Sinclair advertisers pulling their ads and Sinclair stock dropping 17% in eleven days http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_02/b3915645.htm?campaign_id=yahoo_bestmgrs05, Sinclair announced that it had never intended to air Stolen Honor in an hour slot in the first place, indicating that it might instead show clips of the video in a discussion panel format. Ultimately, Sinclair did not broadcast any such show.
In October 2005, Sherwood sued John Kerry and Kerry's Pennsylvania
campaign manager, Anthony T. Podesta. The suit alleged that the defendants defamed Sherwood by stating in a "widely circulated e-mail" that Sherwood [is] "a disgraced former journalist" who "crawled out of the gutter". It also alleged "conspiracy and interference with contractual relations". Podesta responded that Sherwood "had his 15-minute
Andy Warhol
moment last year. Maybe he wants another." http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:VOdiOCaFdVsJ:www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/12820237.htm+sherwood+sues+kerry&hl=en On August 3, 2006, Sherwood's suit was dismissed. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060804/ap_on_go_co/kerry_film_lawsuit_2
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's Fulbright Hearing
Fulbright Hearing
The Fulbright Hearings refers to any of the set of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam conducted between 1966 and 1971. This article concerns those held by the U.S. Senate in 1971 relating to the Vietnam War. By April 1971, with at least seven pending legislative proposals...
testimony in April 1971. The subtitle of the film is Wounds That Never Heal; on the production company's website the complete title is given instead as Stolen Honor: John Kerry's Record of Betrayal. Its name was based on the book Stolen Valor
Stolen Valor
Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History is a self-published book by B.G. Burkett & Glenna Whitley which asserts both that there is a popular view of Vietnam War veterans as broken men and psychopaths and that this view is false...
: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley
The production company's website states that "Stolen Honor investigates how John Kerry's actions during the Vietnam era impacted the treatment of American soldiers and POWs. Using John Kerry's own words, the documentary juxtaposes John Kerry's actions with the words of veterans who were still in Vietnam when John Kerry was leading the anti-war movement." http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/index.asp
According to conservative commentator Deroy Murdock
Deroy Murdock
Deroy Murdock is an American syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service and a contributing editor with National Review Online....
,
- "It presents POWs who argue that John Kerry's fallacious spring 1971 claims that U.S. atrocities occurred 'on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command' amplified their agony under America's North Vietnamese enemies." http://www.modbee.com/24hour/opinions/story/1679939p-9444706c.html
Red White and Blue Productions
Stolen Honor was a project of Red, White and Blue Productions, based in Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, whose public affairs are managed by Quantum Communications http://stolenhonor.com/contact.asp, a company owned by lobbyist Charlie Gerow
Charlie Gerow
Charles R. Gerow is a prominent political consultant, commentator, and lawyer in Pennsylvania.Gerow holds a law degree from Villanova University School of Law and has been an attorney for over 25 years. He worked as a member of the field staff for the 1980 Reagan campaign. He has performed advance...
http://www.rnla.org/bio/BioDetail.asp?MemberID=733, who also acted as publicist for the film. http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-09-09/news.html In 2000, Gerow ran on the Republican ticket for Congress http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/charlie_gerow.asp. In 2003, he was nominated by President Bush to be a member of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031024-7.html.
Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood is an American journalist who produced the anti-John Kerry film Stolen Honor. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the Pulitzer Prize and the Peabody Award to their organizations....
, the producer of Stolen Honor is a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran who won a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1980 for his work for the Gannett News Service. His appointments to several positions by Republican politicians has been cited as evidence of partisan biasand his journalism has been criticized. In 1983 he was responsible for a four-part series on a Washington DC television station which charged the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund with misspending—if not stealing—donated money. The following year, after a GAO auditand threats of a lawsuit, the station broadcast a retraction. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/22/sinclair/ Inquisition, his investigation of the 1982 tax fraud prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
(leader of the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
) was published in 1991. The following year the PBS documentary series Frontline reported that James Gavin, an aide to Moon, had reviewed the "overall tone and factual contents" of the manuscript and that Sherwood had agreed to his revisions. Sherwood denied that the Unification Church exerted editorial control over the book.http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript2.shtml
Interviewees
One of the ex-POWs interviewed in Stolen Honor is USAF Col.(ret.) Kenneth Cordier, who was dismissed from his role as volunteer member of the 2004 Bush campaign veterans steering committee after it was noticed that he had appeared in the second Swift Boat Veterans for Truth(SBVT) ad. The Bush campaign had denied Democratic charges that it was coordinating with the tax-exempt 527 group.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31867-2004Aug25.htmlIn October 2004, one of the Marine veterans shown in the film, University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
professor Kenneth J. Campbell, sued Sherwood over his depiction in the film.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/politics/campaign/19vet.html
October 2004 media controversy
In early October 2004, it was reported that Sinclair Broadcast GroupSinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
, which owns television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s in nearly one-quarter of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, had ordered all of its stations to air Stolen Honor in the days leading up to the November 2 presidential election. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041009-060025-2603r.htm.
These news reports touched off a media firestorm. According to Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley is an American journalist. In 2003 she became the television critic for The New York Times. Stanley was previously co-chief of the paper's Moscow bureau, Rome bureau chief, and as a correspondent for Time. She is the daughter of defense expert Timothy W...
of the New York Times:
- Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, the highly contested anti-Kerry documentary, should not be shown by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It should be shown in its entirety on all the networks, cable stations and on public television. This histrionic, often specious and deeply sad film does not do much more damage to Senator John Kerry's reputation than have the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's negative ads, which have flooded television markets in almost every swing state. But it does help viewers better understand the rage fueling the unhappy band of brothers who oppose Mr. Kerry's candidacy and his claim to heroism. ... [T]his film is payback time, a chance to punish one of the most famous antiwar activists, Mr. Kerry, the one who got credit for serving with distinction in combat, then, through the eyes of the veterans in this film, went home to discredit the men left behind." She also said that Stolen Honor's imagery "is crude, but powerful". She also made clear however, her view that Stolen Honor had various "distortions... intended to hurt Mr. Kerry at the polls". http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/arts/television/21stan.html?ex=1256097600&en=446b3dd516440a52&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
The news of the possible Sinclair broadcast was followed by various complaints that such a broadcast would violate the "equal time" provision of the Communications Act
Communications Act
The Communications Act can refer to:*The Communications Act of 1934 in the United States*The Communications Act 2003 in the United Kingdom...
that governs airtime for political candidates.
When questioned about this contention, then current FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
chairman Michael Powell
Michael Powell (politician)
Michael Kevin Powell is an American Republican politician and lobbyist. He is the incoming president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association . He was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President Bill Clinton on 3 November 1997. President George W. Bush designated...
announced the FCC position that a broadcast of this documentary would not be a violation of the equal time provision. However, former FCC chairman, Reed Hundt
Reed Hundt
Reed E. Hundt was chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, he served for most of Clinton's first term. He was succeeded by William Kennard.- Biography :Hundt attended high school in Washington D.C at the prestigious St....
, contended that Powell was offering "tacit and plain encouragement of the use of the Sinclair airwaves to pursue a smear campaign." http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_10.php#003689
A spokesperson for Sinclair said that the airing would be followed by a panel discussion, which Kerry would be asked to join. The Kerry campaign declined the invitation. Sinclair did not accept an offer from Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
for free a broadcast of his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker and political commentator Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and its coverage in the news media...
.
Sinclair's then Washington bureau chief, Jon Lieberman
Jon Lieberman
Jon Leiberman has been a correspondent and producer of America's Most Wanted. He has been a reporter for WBFF in Baltimore and the newsman at WIYY 98 Rock radio in Baltimore. He has also worked as a reporter in New Mexico and Kansas...
, publicly condemned the expected broadcast in an interview in the Baltimore Sun:
- "It's biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway this election ... For me, it's not about right or left—it's about what's right or wrong in news coverage this close to an election."
Shortly after making this statement to the newspaper, Lieberman was fired. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43681-2004Oct18.html Sinclair Vice President Mark Hyman
Mark Hyman
Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...
said:
- "Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion, including Jon Leiberman. We are disappointed that Jon's political views caused him to speak to the press about company business."
Political complaints
Mark Nevins, a spokesman for the Kerry presidential campaignJohn Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
, stated: "This group is the poor, distant cousin of the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush. It's people with questionable backgrounds whose sole mission in life is to smear John Kerry." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=12894483&PAG=461&rfi=9 (Nevins was making a derisive reference to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization.)
Reacting to reports that Sinclair was to air Stolen Honor shortly before the election, members of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
asked the FCC to consider the legality of the planned broadcast http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/12/news/newsmakers/sinclair_letter/index.htm. The Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
. As this controversy made the news, with a number of Sinclair advertisers pulling their ads and Sinclair stock dropping 17% in eleven days http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_02/b3915645.htm?campaign_id=yahoo_bestmgrs05, Sinclair announced that it had never intended to air Stolen Honor in an hour slot in the first place, indicating that it might instead show clips of the video in a discussion panel format. Ultimately, Sinclair did not broadcast any such show.
In October 2005, Sherwood sued John Kerry and Kerry's Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
campaign manager, Anthony T. Podesta. The suit alleged that the defendants defamed Sherwood by stating in a "widely circulated e-mail" that Sherwood [is] "a disgraced former journalist" who "crawled out of the gutter". It also alleged "conspiracy and interference with contractual relations". Podesta responded that Sherwood "had his 15-minute
15 minutes of fame
15 minutes of fame is short-lived, often ephemeral, media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. The expression was coined by Andy Warhol, who said in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." The phenomenon is often used in reference to...
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
moment last year. Maybe he wants another." http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:VOdiOCaFdVsJ:www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/12820237.htm+sherwood+sues+kerry&hl=en On August 3, 2006, Sherwood's suit was dismissed. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060804/ap_on_go_co/kerry_film_lawsuit_2
External links
- Official site
- Approved Web release of video
- "POWs Speak Out on Kerry's Testimony" -(Partial transcript from Hannity & Colmes) - FoxNews.com, Sept. 9, 2004
- "First Amendment on Sinclair's Side" - Cato Institute, October 20, 2004
- "Honor Reclaimed: POWs have their say" National ReviewNational ReviewNational Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
Online, Sept. 10, 2004 - "Stolen Honor Shows Kerry's Effect on POWs" - Human EventsHuman EventsHuman Events is a weekly American conservative magazine. It takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence...
Online, Sept. 10, 2004
Opposition to Stolen Honor
- "Stolen Honor producer Sherwood falsely claimed Winter Soldier investigation 'utterly discredited' " - Media Matters for AmericaMedia Matters for AmericaMedia Matters for America is a politically progressive media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501 non-profit organization, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and...
, Sept. 13, 2004 - "Stolen Honor: A Media Matters for America review of the anti-Kerry film from Swift Vets and POWs for Truth" - Media Matters for America, October 13, 2004
- "Sleaze and smear at Sinclair" - Salon.comSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Eric BoehlertEric BoehlertEric Boehlert is an American writer at Media Matters for America. Prior to this he was a senior writer for Salon for five years, and before that a contributing editor to Rolling Stone. At Salon Boehlert won the 2002 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' Deems Taylor Award for music...
, October 22, 2004