On the cover of The New Soldier by John Kerry and Vietnam Veterans Against The War, hippies clad in a mismatch of military uniforms are pictured mocking the legendary image of Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi in the 1945 battle for Iwo Jima.  Today, the Iwo Jima image is a memorial statue that sits above Arlington National Cemetery and honors all Marines killed in action since 1775.  It is one of the most recognized and visited sites in our Capitol City.

The New Soldier never made it on the reading list at our military academies.  In the cover photo that ridicules the Marine Corps Memorial, one of Kerry’s cronies is tugging on our flag, which is hung upside down as the ultimate symbol of sedition and treachery to all veterans who rallied behind our flag in battle.  On the day of that shameful photograph and with its mass circulation on the cover of The New Soldier, at least 6,821 Marines who died at Iwo Jima turned over in their graves.

Of all the reasons why John F. Kerry will not become President of the United States, the biggest reason has to be that, once he returned home from Vietnam, he betrayed his fellow servicemen who remained at war.  Kerry not only allied with the likes of Hanoi Jane Fonda, but, before the United States Senate in 1971, Kerry went as far as to belittle the bravery of embattled troops by generalizing their every action in Vietnam as an atrocity. 

No one questioned General George S. Patton, III, when he accused Kerry of treason in giving aid and comfort to the enemy, especially when it was revealed that North Vietnam incorporated Kerry’s exploits into its communist propaganda machine.  However, because of the prevalence of treason at the time and the monumental task of prosecuting Kerry and his proclaimed “revolutionaries,” Kerry’s actions went unpunished and the associated advances of communism went unhindered. 

Fortunately, today’s veterans and Americans who overwhelmingly support our armed forces tend to disparage those who dishonor military service and then pretend to be capable of our country’s highest office.  This political reality afflicted Bill Clinton, whose anti-military past kept him from winning any more than forty-nine percent of the popular vote.  No wonder Kerry’s presidential campaign is doing its best to subvert his estrangement from veterans and service people in general. 

The tact of Kerry for President looks a lot like Clinton-Gore’s approach to deceiving voters that such an obvious liability is really the opposite.  When Kerry marched in the Veteran’s Day parade in Phoenix last year, in tow behind him were a few people carrying “Veterans for Kerry” placards.  Some placard carriers looked like the ragtag types on the cover of The New Solider in that they were unshaven, wearing circa 1971 clothes and appeared disoriented. 

The ongoing insult is that “Veterans for Kerry” is supposed to represent the veteran community’s support of Kerry, when the reality is that very few veterans support him.  Most veterans cannot forgive Kerry for Vietnam Veterans Against The War and its promotion of communism when we were fighting communists.  As far as U.S. Marines are concerned, we ought to ensure that Kerry is forever banished from the White House for dishonoring our Memorial on the cover of The New Soldier. 

Rick Erickson