Anti-war protesters amassed at the Kennedy School of Government on Friday, when 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass) spoke with former Senator Max Cleland and a group of veterans to a packed John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. While Kerry came to Harvard for the premiere of “Hidden Wounds,” a documentary on veterans of the war in Iraq suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the event took a political turn as several dozen protesters gathered together at 79 JFK Street.
“Bush Lied. Kerry Complied. Bring the troops home now,” they chanted outside the Kennedy School.
The protest was sponsored by the organizations Not One More (NOM) and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) as part of their continued effort to provoke a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
One man, who was sitting inside the forum, called out to Kerry after the documentary. “Stop this war, John, grow some balls” the man said. “You can do something, John.”
The man was taken out of the forum, but his message did not fall on deaf ears. “I wish that young man who stood up was still here because those of you who know me, know that I don’t shy away from any conversation on any subject,” Kerry said. “I understand the anxiety and the frustration people feel here in this country.”
But Kerry emphasized that the purpose of the forum was for the discussion of the documentary and PTSD.
| Which afflicts half of the Democratic Party. |
At the event, Kerry introduced a new funding push he is making in Congress to allocate $100 million to Veteran Centers for the screening and treatment of PTSD.
Cleland, who lost both legs and half an arm in 1968 when he was serving in the Vietnam War, took the stage with Kerry before the screening.
