B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley in their Book “Stolen Valor – How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its History” exposed the media for their coverage of Vietnam veterans, PTSD, etc.
One notable figure which some may remember is Dan Rather of CBS news fame. He was the same Dan Rather, who used forged documents to try to defeat George Bush in the 2004 election.
Rather hosted the CBS special “The Wall Within” which aired on June 2nd 1988. Burkett and Whitley tells us that “For weeks, CBS aired ads promoting the hour-long special, hailing it as the ‘rebirth of the TV documentary.’” (Stolen Valor page 87)
Come to find out “The Wall Within” was a grossly, disgustingly exaggeration and dishonest perpetuation of the truth by the so-called “CBS News Special.” Honest and reasonable people can assume that CBS, Rather and producers Paul and Holly Fine knew it was dishonest.
“The Wall Within” was a program which supposedly “…profiled six veterans, ‘outcast, broken sprits,’ who had come out of hiding to appear.” The first was an individual who “‘At age sixteen, Steve was a Navy SEAL, trained to assassinate,’ Rather gravely intoned. ‘For almost two years, he operated behind enemy lines, then he broke. He came home in a straightjacket addicted to alcohol and drugs.’”
In spite of the fact that Dan Rather had covered the Vietnam War in 1965 and 1966 and according to Burkett and Whitley “He had to know there were no sixteen-year-old Navy SEALs in Vietnam or anywhere else.” Come to find out the so-called Steve “…had also been featured in an earlier BBC film called ‘Haunted Heroes.’”
Another CBS pick was an individual named Terry Bradley, who was “Clearly disturbed…” and known as the “fighting sergeant” who “…was driven to madness by the atrocities he had been forced to commit in Vietnam….”
We are told that “In a shocking scene, Bradley claimed to have skinned alive up to fifty Vietnamese, men, women, even babies, in an hour, stacking their mangled bodies in heaps, holding butchered hearts in his hands.”
Dan Rather is quoted as telling the “Chicago Tribune” that “I won’t kid anyone. This is not happy-time viewing. This hour is not a movie. This is real. But if you want to know how it was and how it is, watch this program."
When Burkett run down the records of the individuals profiled by the CBS program “The Wall Within” he found an entirely different story.
The so-called Steve’s real name was “Steven Ernest Southards” who was “…assigned to the U.S. Naval Support Activity Detachment in Qui Nhon from August 1966 until August 1967.” We find out “…Southards was an ‘internal communications repairman,’ assigned to rear area bases, and had no combat decorations.” It is also pointed out that “After his transfer to the Philippines, Southards spent several months in the brig for going AWOL six times.”
As for the “fighting sergeant” who “… claimed to have slaughtered fifty Vietnamese civilians in an hour, flaying and stacking them in heaps as part of his combat role.” Again Burkett finds a different story. It was discovered that Bradley was not a “fighting sergeant”, he was an “ammo handler in the 25th Infantry Division.” He also “…was not a ‘success’ in Vietnam, as Rather Claimed. In three-and-a-half years of service Bradley spent three hundred days either AWOL or in the stockade.” But “Rather praised Bradley as a ‘truthteller.’”
The other four individuals had similar records. All of this can be found in the book “Stolen Valor” chapter 5 “CBS Hits ‘Wall Within’”, pages 87 – 108.
Thomas K. Turnage who was at the time VA administrator protested to “Howard Stringer, president of CBS”. He wrote, “However, by your unfounded exaggeration and by presenting several of the most unfortunate individuals you could find, CBS left no doubt you intended to have the public believe, ‘These are your veterans of Vietnam.’ There is absolutely no justification for CBS to leave such an impression on the American public.”
(Stolen Valor – Page 98)
We also find that CBS was confronted by no less, than “Reader ‘s Digest.” It is pointed out that, “When confronted by Malcolm McConnell for “Reader’s Digest” and Glenna Whitley for “Texas Monthly” with the evidence that ‘The Wall Within’ was a fraud, Rather and producers Holly and Paul Fine refused to comment. ‘The producers stand behind their story,’ said Kim Akhtar, a spokeswoman for CBS. ‘They had enough proof of who they were’” (Stolen Valor – Page 106)
It should be noted this fraudulent work went on to be: “The documentary [that] was so acclaimed it became part of the CBS video history series on the Vietnam War. Dignified with a formal introduction by Walter Cronkite, one the nation’s premier war correspondent, the series sold for $150. Designated as official ‘history,’ marketed to schools and other institutions, the video now forever perpetuates the image of the Vietnam vet as a walking time bomb.”
We all know the story of Dan Rather. Wikipedia tells us that “Following an investigation commissioned by CBS, CBS fired story producer Mary Mapes and asked three other producers connected with the story to resign. Many believe Rather's retirement was hastened by this incident.”
There are no words, which properly express our feelings for conduct like this. It does illustrate the depth to which bigoted, biased and dishonest people will sink to in the name of journalism.
What does this all mean? It means the so-called main stream media can be disgustingly dishonest.
We see similar conduct in The Telegraph, not to this degree, but enough to demonstrate what we feel is their bigotry.
You can contact us in the comment section or by e-mail at wetrack@windstream.net
Have a nice day.
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