http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685522/posts
John Kerry and Ned Lamont’s Common Ancestry
Corliss Lamont and the VVAW
By Fedora
Excerpt
When John Kerry threw his political machine’s fundraising support to Ned Lamont this week, he was in a sense returning a favor the Lamont family had once done for Kerry’s old organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Prior to Kerry’s affiliation with that group, Ned Lamont’s great-uncle Corliss Lamont and his great-aunt Helen had actually helped finance the creation of the VVAW in 1967.
In August 1972, as US government prosecutors were preparing a case against VVAW members indicted in the “Gainesville Eight” case, FBI headquarters collected its field offices’ reports on the VVAW into an Information Digest Special Report. In the process of documenting the VVAW’s links to the Communist Party (CP) and Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the report mentioned the role Corliss and Helen Lamont played in funding the creation of the VVAW.
The text of the report, taken from Section 32 of FBI File HQ 100-448092, is available online at Winter Soldier.com, along with a guide to key individuals and groups mentioned in the report (Scroll down the “What’s New” section to the link for August 20, 2005). The first passage in the report mentioning the Lamonts begins as follows [bracketed text in italics indicates the FBI’s notes handwritten on the typed original document]:
On May 8, 1967, Corliss Lamont [C.P. Member], identified as a member of CPUSA in sworn testimony before a Senate Committee in August, 1951, wrote to a Bernard Koten stating that he would contribute $1,000 [the first of several large payments to be made during the next year] toward the cost of the New York Times advertisement calling for the Memorial Day action.
The Lamont letter concluded, "We [Helen and Corliss] agree with you and Wolins that the Vets can be very important in stopping Johnson's war of aggression in Vietnam.”
SNIP
From the seed of the Lamont family’s contributions, the VVAW eventually grew into the organization that helped propel John Kerry to a Senate seat and Presidential candidacy. In this way, John Kerry also can be said to represent the lineage of Corliss Lamont, and his support of Ned Lamont can be seen as returning an old family favor to a distant political cousin.
Kerry Repays Old Debt for Communist Support
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by carpro, Aug 21, 2006.