American Valor Quarterly Issue 1 - Winter 2007 | Page 29

Within the next year I received approximately 3000 letters,
perhaps 60% from veterans, many asking if I was describing
a particular operation of the writer’s unit—a very broad
swath of Marine and Army units covering almost the entire
duration of the American conventional force ground
commitment. There was a repeat refrain, “We operated like
that,” or, “Yeah, we were good like that.”

“Bailiff, read the charges…”
“Sir,” Kevin Rifkin acknowledged Wapinski… “The media is
hereby charged with: collusion with the enemy resulting in
Communist victories in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia; with
willful misrepresentation leading to the polarization of American
society; with conspiracy to undermine the U.S. government and
military; with the malicious skewing of information which has
damaged the democratic aspirations of peoples around the world;
and with incompetence.”

“Huh?!” My thoughts at the time… “But the media said…”
Over and over again, “This is what we did, how we did it,
what we accomplished.” A long string of successful
operations—some relatively easy, some against immense “How does the defendant plea?” Wapinski asked.
odds. Over and over again descriptions of progress,
pacification, protection of populated areas. That letter-base, “Not guilty on all counts,” Sherrick answered.
along with hundreds of follow-up interviews and deep
involvement with veterans’ causes and issue ́