Just look no further than the Vietnam war phonied up “Winter Soldier” Hearings where John Kerry said he represented ‘over 150’ soldiers who had committed maimings, mass murders and other atrocities as a matter of course, under orders, with full knowledge of the entire command.

That’s why the phony soldiers think they can get away with it. They KNOW they’ll get their 15 minutes of fame, the MSM will never check the stories (like in the Vietnam era) and they’ll be a hero–despite their uniform.

The American Thinker has a piece you’ll need to read on this subject. Herewith are a few excerpts referring to our own [anti war] Senator Mark Hatfield calling for an investigation which never came to fruition:

On April 5, 1971, Republican Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, an outspoken opponent of the War in Vietnam, issued a statement calling for Congressional investigation of the claims made at the Winter Soldiers Investigation (WSI). The WSI was an event arranged by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Over three days, from January 31 through February 2, 1971, depending upon sources, between 106 and 200 men who claimed to be Vietnam Veterans delivered testimony about widespread and horrific atrocities committed by themselves and other American troops in Vietnam. Hatfield had been given a complete text of those testimonies and requested that it be placed in the Congressional Record, which it was. Hatfield said:

“…I believe that the allegations made by these Americans, who served their country in Vietnam, are so serious and so grave that they demand the full study by the appropriate committees of Congress as well as by the executive branch…I will transmit this testimony to the Department of Defense and the Department of State and urge, in accord with its stated policy, that the evidence and allegations it contains be fully investigated.”

Kerry infamously spoke of “over 150” Vietnam Vets who:

“…told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war…”

…[John] Kerry testified that these were “not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.”

That brings us to today. We can easily understand the individual or politician who embellishes or fabricates military service to enhance a career. What explains a Jesse MacBeth, who doesn’t claim sacrifice or heroics but claims to have committed brutal crimes he never actually committed? What makes a Scott Thomas Beauchamp claim to have engaged in despicable behavior, like sexually mocking a woman disfigured by an IED, when it appears that never happened?

In various ways, what they claimed garnered them approval without penalty. The approval and acceptance they receive, that comes to them because they validate the bigotry and prejudice of those who want to believe the worst about our military personnel. They received individual reward and no condemnation or criticism from those who mattered to them. They did not even consider that in claiming crimes had been committed in war by soldiers there was a burden on them to make those charges official, by deposition, affidavit or otherwise.

The failure to pursue the Winter Soldier Charges three and a half decades ago enabled the phony soldiers of today to believe they could slander away without consequence.

To be sure, there were some atrocities (My Lai), but Winter Soldier didn’t expose them; those had been under investigation and were being prosecuted already. John Kerry’s phony soldier atrocities he claimed before a US Senator were not wide spread: they were phonied up to fan the anti war flames and allow this callow Swift Boat skipper his 15 minutes.