Part 1: John Kerry in Vietnam Summary

The bad blood between Kerry and O'Neill, which fully blossomed during the 2004 Presidential race, actually began more than 30 years previously. In the spring of 1971 Kerry testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In his testimony, he claimed that the U.S. Army in Vietnam resembled that of Genghis Khan, and that war crimes such as rape and baby killing occurred on a day-to-day basis with the full knowledge at all levels of command. Seeing excerpts such as this on the TV news angered O'Neill, who claimed the charges were totally false. He wrote to the Committee as someone who had served at the same time and place as Kerry, asking for an opportunity to enter his observations into the record. The Committee replied that they did not "…have room for another speaker."

Continued pressure...