Museum Photo Documented

Kerry Museum Photo Documented

Communist Vietnamese Honor John Kerry, the War Protester, as a Hero in the Communist Victory over the United States in the Vietnam War – Part II.

On Memorial Day, May 31, 2004, Vietnam Vets for the Truth (www.kerrylied.com) broke an extraordinary story about a photograph hanging in the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the “War Crimes Museum”) in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The photograph, displayed in a room dedicated to foreign activists who contributed to the Communist victory in the Vietnam War, shows Senator John Kerry being greeted by Comrade Do Muoi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Jeffery M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth acquired the photograph during the Memorial Day weekend in response to a general request for photographs and records detailing Kerry’s activities on behalf of the enemy.

Viet Nam Vets for the Truth has now further documented the photograph. Photographer Bill Lupetti returned to the War Remnants Museum in Saigon on June 2 at the request of Dr. Jerome Corsi, co-author of the original article, and photographed a current edition of the “Viet Nam News” next to the display honoring John Kerry.

Photograph of John Kerry meeting with Comrade Do Muoi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in Vietnam. Photo displayed in the War Remnants Museum (formerly the “War Crimes Museum”) in Saigon. The June 2, 2003 edition of the “Viet Nam News” is held beside the Kerry photograph to confirm the date the photo was taken. English-language placard below the photograph reads: “Mr. Do Muoi, Secretary General of the Vietnam Communist Party met with Congressmen and Veterans Delegation in Vietnam (July 15-18, 1993).

Dr. Corsi asked Mr. Lupetti to more thoroughly document the layout and scope of the museum, particularly the section featuring those foreign anti-war activists whom the Vietnamese communists wished to honor. He took a number of additional photos at the War Remnants and elsewhere, several of which are presented below.

Dr. Corsi also contacted Dan Tran of the Vietnam Human Rights Project, who asked associates in Saigon to go into the museum to make sure the photograph of John Kerry was actually there. Mr. Tran contacts confirmed that the photograph is still in the museum.

Photograph of John Kerry meeting with Comrade Do Muoi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Photo is displayed in the War Remnants Museum (formerly the “War Crimes Museum”) in Saigon.

Dan Tran also asked his Vietnamese associates to get a more precise wording of the placards under the photo. Below are the exact English, and French wordings.

Mr. Do Muoi, Secretary General of the Vietnam Communist Party met with Congressmen and Veterans Delegation in Vietnam (July 15-18, 1993)

Camarade Do Muoi – Secrétaire General du Parti Communiste du Vietnam – recevait une délégation de Sénateurs et Anciens Vétérans du Vietnam le 18 Juillet 1993

Bill Lupetti, who had served as a Navy corpsman working with Swift Boat sailors in An Thoi, was in Vietnam and happened upon the Kerry photo display while visiting the War Remnants Museum. Mr. Lupetti posted the photo to an album maintained on MyFamily.com by Swift Boat Veteran Jim Deal that contains hundreds of Vietnam War era photos posted by participating Swift Boat veterans. One of those veterans, Bob Shirley, forwarded the Kerry photo to Jeff Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth in response to an Internet request for photographs documenting John Kerry’s activities as a Naval officer and as an antiwar protestor.

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Several members of the mainstream media have questioned the authenticity of the photograph on the grounds that they have no proof that Senator Kerry was in Vietnam during July 15-18, 1993.

According to a AP newswire report carried in The Chronicle-Telegram of Elyria, Ohio, on July 17, 1993, a US delegation headed by US Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Hershel Gober, was in Vietnam on a mission sent by President Clinton, to deliver to the Vietnamese microfilm of some 3 million captured Vietnam War documents that pertained to finding American POWs and MIAs. The newspaper states that the mission was scheduled to meet with Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi.

The reports do not contain confirmation that Senator Kerry was part of the US delegation; however, in his press release of July 2, 1993 announcing the formation of the delegation, President Clinton mentioned John Kerry and noted that “Members of Congress and representatives of veterans groups have traveled to Vietnam to press for the goal” of resolving the fate of American service personnel who did not return from Vietnam. There is ample documentation that John Kerry has met with General Secretary Do Muoi. The Far Eastern Economical Review of February 11, 1999, documents that John Kerry met with Do Muoi when he visited Hanoi in December 1998. In a speech given on the Senate Floor on April 29, 1992, John Kerry discussed in detail a meeting he had recently had with Do Muoi in Vietnam to discuss the fate of American POWs and MIAs. A photo widely circulated on the Internet shows John Kerry in a formal photo with Do Muoi, the two men seated with a statue of Ho Chi Minh in the background.

The existence of photographs showing Senator Kerry meeting with General Secretary Do Muoi is not in question. In the course of pursuing the POW and MIA issue, it is reasonable that Senator Kerry would seek to meet with the leaders of Communist Vietnam. The critical issue here is that the Vietnamese Communists have chosen to honor Senator Kerry in their War Remnants Museum for his assistance in helping them achieve victory over the United States. The sign outside the entrance to the room reads: “The World Supports Vietnam in its Resistance.” Also exhibited inside the room are protest banners and emblems from various nations and photographs of international leaders who supported North Vietnam’s cause, including communist hero Mao Tse-Tung.

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Mr. Lupetti also photographed a picture honoring Jane Fonda, who stands next to Madame Binh, the chief negotiator for the communist Provisional Revolutionary Government, the shadow government waiting to take over South Vietnam after the anticipated Viet Cong victory.

Photograph of Madame Binh and Jane Fonda Displayed in the Women’s Museum, Saigon, May 28, 2004.

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The photographs shown below accurately reflect the appearance and content of the War Remnants Museum in Saigon as of June 2, 2004, and document the context of the photo placed to honor the service John Kerry rendered to the Vietnamese communists with his anti-war protest activities. Bill Lupetti reported that as he photographed in the Museum he began to attract police attention. He and the Vietnamese who were with him were reluctant to return to the Museum to take additional photographs after June 2, 2004.