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[Roar of Helicopter Blades] Kerry Voiceover: How do you ask
a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man
to be the last man to die for a mistake? |
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Morley Safer: Whether you believe in the Vietnam War or not,
there are few people in the country who were not moved by a demonstration
in Washington four weeks ago by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
One young man caught the attention of the nation. His name is John
Kerry. He came to national attention in his appearance before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. |
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Young Kerry Testifying: We are here to ask [fade in music, which
continues throughout], and we're here to ask vehemently, where are the
leaders of our country? Where is the leadership? Where are
they now that we, the men whom they sent off to war, have returned? These
are commanders who have deserted their troops, and there is no more serious
crime in the law of war. The Army says they never leave their wounded... |
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Kerry campaign appearance: ...and the Marines say they never
leave even their dead. What we need are citizen soldiers in every
walk of life who are prepared to say we're not going to leave any American
behind. |
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Male Narrator: The 27-year old lieutenant who came home and
spoke to a nation. The Senator fighting to make a difference for
people. For John Kerry, it's always been the courage to stand up
for what's right. |
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Kerry: I'm for jobs. I want, I want every American to
have the best job possible... Will there be Social Security for the
next generation? Will we finally have health care accessible and
affordable for every American? My vision of America is a place where
every kid has the opportunity to have the best education possible.
That's the only way you'll, you'll live out the American Dream. We
have to do it. |
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Male Narrator: Fighting for what matters. That's what
John Kerry does every day in the Senate. The courage to take on Republican
leaders when they tried to cut Social Security and Medicare; the courage
to tackle budget deficits; fighting to pass the nation's first balanced
budget law. |
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Sen. Fritz Hollings (South Carolina): He knows the value of
a dollar. He works right there to balance the budget. |
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Male Narrator: The courage to reach across party lines to improve
education and put children first. The co-author of a bipartisan education
bill to recruit and keep good teachers and demand accountability in our
schools. |
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Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund: Senator
Kerry is somebody who is deeply concerned about the future. If you're
deeply concerned about the future you have to be thinking ahead, you have
to talk about investing in children. |
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Sen. Max Cleland (Georgia): When he stands up and speaks in
the Senate, he speaks with great credibility. When John Kerry speaks,
people listen. |
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Male Narrator: They listened when he led the Senate fight to
put 100,000 more police on America's streets, when he pushed fo a higher
minimum wage, job training and expanded unemployment benefits, when as
chairman he wrote a new tax law for small businesses that create jobs and
help open the promise of the new economy. |
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Don Dubendorf, chair, Berkshire Connect: All business, he so-called
new and the old economy, are going to have to change. The Senator's
understood that; the Senator's been ahead of those trends, and has been
thoughtful about them. |
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Male Narrator: Staying ahead of the trends, demanding accountability,
thinking outside the box. Before most in government had heard of
acid rain, John Kerry was leading the battle for clean air and water.
He's using that same vision today. His 2020 energy plan demands better
gas mileage for our cars and supplies 20 percent of America's energy needs
through renewables by the year 2020. That's a vision that makes sense
for America, and a plan that makes us energy independent without drilling
in pristine places. |
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Deb Callahan, president, League of Conservation Voters: He's
informed. He comes to the table, he knows what he's talking about,
he thinks about what's right, and then he engages to make sure that what
happens is what needs to happen. |
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Kerry: The Arctic Wildlife Refuge is not going to make one drop
of oil's difference in the price of oil globally nor is it going to change
our dependency on foreign oil, because there isn't enough there to do that. |
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Theresa Heinz: Environment I think was the thing that got us
together, and there's a kind of a commonality of purpose. I think
that's what drew us, you know, together. |
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Kerry: Theresa does this extraordinary work with environment,
with schools, with education. I think we're both motivated by that
sense of making life better. |
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Theresa: It's about people; it's about people's well-being,
whether it is dealing with children and development and education, whether
it is dealing with crime, whether it is dealing with prescription drugs
or environment. All of this is about people's lives and their security
and their well-being. |
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Male Narrator: For John Kerry it's about making life better
and making a difference for people Like YouthBuild. |
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Dorothy Stoneman, president, YouthBuild: Without Senator Kerry,
there wouldn't be a YouthBuild program. YouthBuild engages young
people in rebuilding their communities while going back to school to get
their GED or high school diploma. |
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Jackie DeJesus, YouthBuild Member: Before YouthBuild there was
nothing for me. I didn't have any goals; I didn't have any dreams;
I didn't think I had a future. |
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Jordan McClain, YouthBuild Member: YouthBuild gave me a structure.
They showed me how to be a leader, how to lead by example, not by words. |
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Stoneman: Senator Kerry saw something that he believed in and
he said I'm gong to make this happen for more people. |
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McClain: Without him there probably wouldn't be a YouthBuild
right now. I wouldn't be sitting here speaking right now. Who
knows where I'd be at right now. I could be in jail or a black felon,
but now with Senator Kerry fighting for YouthBuild, gave me the opportunity
to change my life around. |
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Male Narrator: Changing lives. A commitment to service.
Values John Kerry learned at an early age. |
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Kerry: Both my parents had an enormous influence on me.
My dad signed up for the Army Air Corps in its earliest days. He
wanted to serve; he thought it was a responsibility and an obligation.
They just both gave back. They taught me that you have to be part
of the community around you. I just think I picked it up from them. |
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Male Narrator: And family has stayed an important part of his
life. |
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Kerry: Kids are without doubt, I think both of us would say
this, the best thing either of us have ever done. I mean your kids
are you. They're what you leave. They're your blood, your guts,
your late nights, your hopes. |
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Vanessa Kerry: My sister and I did play sports and my father
was remarkably dedicated. He was at a lot of our games. It
was really funny 'cause we would look up in the middle of our game and
we'd see this man in you know a huge jacket, it'd be sort of the end of
fall and he was in a huge jacket and a bright orange hunting cap and we
would realize you know that 6'4 guy was our dad and we you know at the
game, the game would end, and he'd sort of come running out with his arms
out for a huge hug and we sort of bypass until he took the orange hat off. |
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Theresa: And now of course to my great chagrin [laughs] he learned
the guitar. [Kerry strums some chords]. And it's hard to hear
it. You could [can?] forgive your child for learning the violin and
getting flat notes and you know a mother has to cope with that, but have
your husband pick a tune [Kerry continues strumming, quietly says "Oops."]
it's really tough. John loves challenges period. And if they're
fast ones even better. If it flies and moves fast and has a little
bit of an edge he'll do it. |
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Kerry: Well I love sports. And well I mean I play hockey
because it's fun. You just have good camaraderie. It's a challenge.
There's a little bit of gladiator in all of us I think. Wayne Gretsky
was asked why he was such a good hockey player and he said you know most
guys go to where the puck is and I go to where the puck is going to be.
And that's really itself a statement about the issues you pick to fight
on. |
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Male Narrator: John Kerry's fights. The prosecutor who
created on of the first rape counseling and victim's assistance units in
Massachusetts and who eliminated a backlog of 11,000 cases and delivered
justice on time. The lieutenant governor who won national action
on air and water pollution and who has always fought to hold government
accountable. |
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Sen. Hollings: He's balanced, he's moderate, and he's got the
courage. |
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Male Narrator: The Senator who had the courage to help expose
Iran Contra and Oliver North's illegal war, who helped develop a plan for
peace and democracy in Nicaragua, and put a spotlight on General Noriega's
ties to drug trafficking, who warned about the dangers of terrorism long
before September 11th, and helped investigate money laundering schemes
that fund terrorist groups. Quite simply as our nation faces unprecedented
threats to our national security, few American leaders have the knowledge
and foreign affairs experience of John Kerry, a depth of experience that
led to a full-scale investigation into soldiers missing in action.
The veteran who worked side by side with John McCain to help bring closure
to a difficult war. It was vets fighting for vets in this country
who really made a difference in those early years in recognizing post-Vietnam
stress syndrome, in recognizing Agent Orange ultimately, in recognizing
the need to upgrade VA hospitals. And it was John Kerry who took
the voice of veterans to the floor of the United States Senate. |
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Ralph Cooper, Veteran's Advocate: He knows what it is when we
say we need help, but not a hand-out. |
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Kerry: And what really struck me was, if we're treating people
who ore the uniform that way and it's hard to get it done, think how hard
it is to get it done for people who don't even have that kind of connection. |
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Sen. Cleland: He's a fighter; he doesn't give up. I attribute
this to his military training and having to fight for his life. |
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Del Sandusky, Vietnam Veteran: I was close to the end of my
second tour. John Kerry came on board after the first or second patrol.
We knew that you know this was somebody special. |
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Male Narrator: After graduating from Yale, John Kerry could
have gone anywhere. He chose the Mekong Delta, commanded a swift
boat on the rivers of Vietnam. Lieutenant Kerry earned the Bronze
Star, three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star for heroism in combat. |
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One patrol we had to go up a river and take some corpsmen and some
medical supplies. Anytime you could come under attack in an ambush
or whatever. And when you were out, you had to be on your toes, you
had to be awake, alert, and scared to stay alive. While we were up
the river, the Viet Cong had planted a mine. It nailed the first boat.
Lieutenant Kerry immediately took charge. We conducted a firefight.
And you've got four boats running around you know duht-duht-duht-duht-duht
you know and mortars and everything else and it was really a hell of a
suppressive fire. Lieutenant Kerry held on and we finished the operation
enough to get the boat out. We all loved him. We all followed
him you know no matter what his orders or directions because we knew that
he had unfailing instinct and unchallengable leadership. |
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Kerry: There's a sense after Vietnam that every other day is
extra. Every day is extra. And so you live it to the fullest;
you feel a sense of empowerment and a permission to say the things that
are important and not and just let the chips fall where they may. |
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Male Narrator: Every once in a while someone comes along with
the courage and the character to make a difference. |
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Callahan: He's somebody who understands the big picture. |
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Chris Gregory, Vietnam Veteran: He has character. He's
true to what he believes. |
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Linda McMahon, Registered Nurse: When he said he was going off
to do something, he went off and he did it. |
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McClain: To me Senator Kerry's a strong man. |
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Frank Raffa, Worcester Firefighter: There's no question about
it. He cares. |
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Edelman: He's articulate and smart and he stays with things. |
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Sen. Cleland: When I think John Kerry, two words: Too tall. |
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Vanessa Kerry: Goofy, and you know kind of a prankster. |
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Sandusky: He's really a hard-charger. He sticks that jaw
out you know, look out. |
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Cooper: He is the real leader. |
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Kerry: I would like to see our country challenge itself the
way President Kennedy challenged us in the 1960s when he said we're going
to go to the moon. We need to go to the moon here on earth.
We need to challenge ourselves to use our ingenuity.
The future is really a question of choices. Choices about education,
fixing Social Security, having adequate Medicare, providing prescription
drugs for seniors. We can do these things. That's what it's
all about, that's the fight that we're involved in.
So I'm asking you as you go out of here--I don't care what area it's
in, I don't care what party it is, if it's no party, but help us make this
country and this world stronger and safer. That's our challenge,
that's your challenge. Together we have to do this. [Music
up]. |
This
approximately 13-minute long video, produced for Sen. Kerry's 2002 re-election
campaign, hints at a presidential campaign to come. Brief testimonials
about Kerry from selected national leaders, Massachusetts activists, and
family members are interspersed between clips of Kerry speaking to an audience
at a campaign-type event, Kerry speaking to the camera in his office, and
narrated montages of Kerry in action.