A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, Red White and Blue Productions, Dir. Carlton Sherwood - Starring Carlton Sherwood, Ken Cordier, George Day, Jack Fellowes, Ralph Gaither, Paul Galanti, Carlyle Harris, Gordon Larson, Kevin McManus, Thomas McNish, Thomas Pyle
With a long string of attacks against the public airing of his documentary on the Sinclair stations, Stolen Honor does not deserve half of the criticism it is receiving, especially since most of those attackers have not seen the movie yet. Instead of being the movie that spends its entire time attacking Kerry's testimony and his unit on the political spectrum, 'Stolen Honor' spends its time interviewing former POWs (not Swift Boat Veterans? Gasp!) and their experiences with their captures, and the incorrect legacy left on their military status by activists who would rather generalize a group of hard-working men of honor than pick out a few bad apples.
The veterans interviewed are aged around 40 to 60 years old, and spend the majority of their time talking about their experiences in the south Vietnamese prisoner camps, and how their captors tortured them in various brutal ways. Now this may seem a bit offhand and used to gain a couple of pity points, but what follows up their argument was the visitation of many prominent anti-war activists (such as Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden) who illegally visited the Vietnamese camps and spoken publicly to the soldiers and people there and claimed how any war criminals who are locked up by the Vietnamese 'deserve it'. The veteran's explanation of their captors playing audio tape of Fonda for all the prisoners is simply mindblowing when put into perspective. In the end, it speaks of how Kerry is responsible for bringing shame upon the Vietnam veterans, but does not make this its prime focus.
It would be wrong to say that this film wasn't meant as anti-Kerry propaganda, due its obvious airing and material it seems prominent that it would be. But for critics of this film to accuse it solely on that matter would be just as wrong. The film feels more like of a memoir of the veterans betrayed by their own colleagues and by the American people for fighting in Vietnam. As director Carlton Sherwood narrates precisely, the typical Vietnam vet has been stereotyped as the mentally unstable and trigger-happy war criminal that John Kerry generalized them as in 1974. 'Stolen Honor's prime goal is to clear up that myth and get their pride back from the American people.
The film has its flaws, and the most obvious of them all is the voiceover from director Carlton Sherwood. Sherwood, a veteran himself, narrates the film from a TelePrompTer with a deadly serious but monotonous voice. He sounds too angry sometimes, and other times he sounds too fake. Although he is headstrong in his beliefs, Sherwood doesn't put enough effort into sounding like he means it. Also, the film is very short at a slim 42 minutes. It goes mostly into depth with the prisoner-of-war stories, and spends only the remainder talking about Kerry. It is surprising, though, how such little time could still prove to be a very meaningful movie.
'Stolen Honor' is an honest film from a few veterans who want not money or attention, but their respects paid back by John Kerry and the other anti-war activists who promoted the man of military as a mindless 'war pig'. The combination of crude war footage and other various material with the detailed briefings from former veterans make this documentary a powerful one at that. Although it has its pros and cons, it wants to make its point clear: "Don't pick a few bad apples and say it spoils the whole tree."
3/4 stars
