Vietnam Vet Sues Over Footage in Anti-Kerry Film

(CNSNews.com) - A Vietnam veteran who appears in a documentary that criticizes Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's anti-war past following the Vietnam War has filed a libel suit against the movie's director, the Associated Press reports.

Kenneth Campbell, a professor at the University of Delaware said the film "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" features footage of him at a 1971 war protest combined with narration that claims 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," according to the AP.

"The defendants' malicious, reckless and scandalous misrepresentations and falselight presentations of Dr. Campbell were done with the specific intent to defame Dr. Campbell and place him in a false light, and with a reckless and outrageous disregard for the truth," Campbell's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

Campbell's attorney also threatened to sue the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 62 televisions that plan to pre-empt regular programming in order to air the documentary two weeks before the election.

Carlton Sherwood, the film's producer, is named in the lawsuit, as well as Sherwood's company, Red White and Blue Productions as defendants.

The lawsuit claims viewers of the program will get the impression that Campbell had lied about his military service. Campbell attached copies of his military records to the suit, which show he received the Purple Heart and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service as an artillery forward observer in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.

See Earlier Story:
Kerry Campaign Seeks Equal Time From Sinclair TV Stations (Oct. 15, 2004)
Sinclair Group Can Air Anti-Kerry Film, FCC Chairman Says (Oct. 14, 2004)

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