Veteran Sues for Libel Over Kerry Film

I don't normally agree with censorship or prior restraint, but Sinclair is blatantly trying to destroy the democratic process so they can get favorable regulation rulings from GWB II, so I have no problem with almost any tactic that threatens them with the ruination they so richly deserve. As for Carlton Sherwood, the less said about that Moonie freak, the better.

Veteran Sues for Libel Over Kerry Film

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA - A Vietnam veteran shown in a documentary criticizing Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)'s anti-war activities filed a libel lawsuit against the movie's producer Monday, saying the film falsely calls him a fraud and a liar.

Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."

The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service. "It paints me as having been a fabricator, a fraud and a liar," Campbell said. Campbell attached copies of his military records to the lawsuit, showing he received a Purple Heart and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service in Vietnam.

Carlton Sherwood, the film's producer, called the lawsuit "baseless." "We will not be deterred or silenced by such an unfounded, groundless legal ploy done as a last-ditch effort to prevent Americans from hearing the story of America's Vietnam POWs and John Kerry's role in their prolonged captivity," Sherwood said in a statement distributed by a firm representing his company, Red White and Blue Productions.

Whether theaters might prove more skittish remained to be seen. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on its Web site late Monday that a movie house in Jenkintown, Pa., had canceled plans to show the film Tuesday night. Campbell's lawyer, James Beasley, told The Associated Press that he had threatened to sue the theater if it aired "Stolen Honor."

The segment in the film involving Campbell shows him speaking with another Marine at a 1971 gathering in Detroit, during which Kerry and other servicemen shared stories about horrific acts they had committed or witnessed during the war. Campbell asks whether the Marine recalls an assault on a Vietnamese village; the Marine offers to provide more detail. Neither man is identified. Sherwood introduces the conversation by saying, "Many of the horror stories seem made up on the spot," but does not elaborate as to why he believes that to be the case.

Campbell also threatened legal action against the Sinclair Broadcast Group, an owner of 62 television stations that has announced that it intends to pre-empt regular programming to broadcast "Stolen Honor."

and keep it from being played...or in the least i hope that an air of legal uncertaintly keeps more businesses from airing it.

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