Kerry Anti-War Ally Recants 1971 Claims of War Crimes
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
September 8, 2004

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A former soldier who accused American troops of committing war crimes in Vietnam has recently come forward to recant those charges. Steven J. Pitkin appeared at the "Winter Soldier Investigation" conducted in Detroit in 1971 by former Navy Lieutenant John Kerry and his group, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but now says that his statements were coerced.

In a sworn affidavit on August 31, 2004, Pitkin said that he rode in a van with John Kerry, a national leader of the VVAW, Scott Camil, and others from Washington, DC to attend the conference. The event was intended to publicize alleged American war crimes in Vietnam, but Pitkin maintains that he did not intend to speak at the inquiry since he had no knowledge of such war crimes.

Pitkin now claims that Kerry and other anti-war leaders pressured him to testify about American war crimes, despite his protestations that he could not honestly do so. He says that one of the event leaders threatened to leave him stranded in Detroit if he refused to participate.

Pitkin's affidavit says, "Kerry and other leaders of the event instructed me to publicly state that I had witnessed incidents of rape, brutality, atrocities and racism, knowing that such statements would necessarily be untrue."

In a recent interview with Scott Swett, the author of the web site www.wintersoldier.com, Pitkin says that he was motivated to travel to Detroit in 1971 to "support his fellow veterans, but also to see David Crosby and Graham Nash perform and hopefully meet a few girls."

Pitkin was a valuable asset to the VVAW, since he had seen combat in Vietnam, unlike most members of the anti-war group. He suffered minor injuries to his legs in a mortar attack shortly after arriving in Vietnam, but his wounds became infected and after months of treatment he was discharged. He left the Army with a Purple Heart, an honorable discharge, and a lifetime case of hepatitis C from the transfusions.

The veteran described his return to the United States as something less than a hero's welcome. Pitkin said that at Travis Air Force Base in California he was showered with feces thrown by anti-war protestors. At San Francisco International Airport, people stopped to snarl obscenities and occasionally spit on him as he waited for a plane in his Class A uniform.

Pitkin recalled his disillusionment upon his return to Baltimore, saying, "I was in bad shape."

He said, "My family was against the war, and so were all my old friends. I had things I wanted to say, but there was nobody to listen. I was angry at our government which should have known better than to let us die in a conflict it had no intention of winning, and I was furious at the American media for making us out to be baby-killers and telling lies about what they saw."

The 19 year old signed up for classes at Catonsville Community College outside of Baltimore where he met Scott Camil, who was talking up a new organization he described as a "brotherhood" of Vietnam veterans. Pitkin attended VVAW meetings on campus in order to share his frustrations with others who had served. He says that he "had no inkling" that VVAW leaders were meeting with North Vietnamese and Vietcong representatives, or that the VVAW consistently supported their positions.

Pitkin recalls his trip to Detroit in 1971, riding in the same van with Kerry and Camil. He says that he nicknamed the tall, aloof Kerry, "Lurch" after the Addams Family TV character. Upon arriving in Detroit the group spent time at somebody's house.

The conference itself was held at a Howard Johnson's motel, in a room Pitkin remembers as having large concrete posts and no windows with press lights glaring down on the participants. During the first day VVAW members told stories about horrible things they claimed to have done or witnessed in Vietnam. He says that civilians were making the rounds to the members trying to convince them to make amends for their crimes by testifying against the war.

Pitkin says that on the second day of the conference, he was surrounded by a group of the event's leaders who wanted him to speak. He reiterated that he had no personal knowledge of any of the alleged misconduct.

He claims that Kerry said to him, "Surely you had to have seen some of the atrocities."

It was at this point that Pitkin says the group's leaders threatened him. Under pressure from the group that he describes as "menacing." He finally agreed to testify. Pitkin says that group coached him to tell stories about rape, brutality, shooting prisoners, and racism.

About his testimony in Detroit, he now says, "Everything I said about atrocities and racism was a lie. My unit never went out with the intention of doing anything but its job. And I never saw black soldiers treated differently, get picked out for the worst or most dangerous jobs, or anything like that. There were some guys, shirkers, who would intentionally injure themselves to get sent home, so I talked about that for a while. But the fact is I lied my ass off, and I'm not proud of it. I didn't think it would ever amount to anything."

Pitkin was disenchanted with the VVAW and returned to the military in 1974, joining the 5/20th Special Forces Group of the Maryland National Guard and graduating from paratrooper "jump school" with honors in 1976. Unable to get back on full time active duty in the Army, Pitkin joined the Coast Guard in 1978 and served there until his retirement in May 1997.

He says that he wants to apologize to Vietnam veterans for what he did and said at the Winter Soldier Investigation.

"The VVAW found me during a difficult time in my life, and I let them use me to advance their political agenda," Pitkin said. "They pressured me to tell their lies, but that's no excuse for what I did. I just want people to know the truth and to make amends as best I can. I'd hate to see the troops serving today have to go through what Vietnam veterans did."

Pitkin's recent statement may have a far-reaching effect on this year's Democratic presidential candidate. Kerry has made his service in Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign. Ads being broadcast by a group called Swift Boats Veterans for Truth have cast doubt on Kerry's heroics and have had a negative effect on his poll numbers.

Much of the attention so far has been on Kerry's conduct during his brief tour in Vietnam. Some suggest that the Massachusetts Democrat will face an even tougher time when his anti-war activities are dissected. Another group, Vietnam Veterans for the Truth, will hold a rally in Washington, DC on September 12.

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