# Kerry Vietnam 8-MM Films: Do They Exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133 "2004-09-04T19:34:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/1 "2004-09-04T19:34:26Z")
It has been claimed by right-wing opponents of John Kerry, that he went into combat with an 8 mm movie camera. It is said that his crew made several short films of Kerry in action. My question is: -do these shorts actually exist? =and if so, where are they? Finally, if they exist, do they belong to him, or are they in the public domain? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/2 "2004-09-04T20:27:12Z")
Why would they be public domain Ralph? Are the Abu Ghraib snapshots public domain? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/3 "2004-09-04T21:14:15Z")
[Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22052-2004Jul28.html) article on the Kerry bio film shown at the Democratic National Convention: > [@](#): > > The Rassman[n] rescue [for which Kerry won the Bronze Star] is re-created through a mixture of 8mm footage shot by Lt. Kerry at other times and some stock Vietnam footage, [documentary filmmaker James] Moll said. Critics have said Kerry made the movies of himself — Moll said he had a couple of hours to work with — in an attempt to promote a future political career. ---
**Author:** ![Rillian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rillian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rillian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/4 "2004-09-04T21:20:08Z")
Comments from someone who has actually seen the films: > **[Opinion | Watching Movies With Senator Kerry (Published 2002)](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/07/opinion/watching-movies-with-senator-kerry.html)** > > Bill Keller Op-Ed column on Sen John Kerry's service in Vietnam, and question of whether Kerry's Vietnam experience would enhance his credentials as presidential contender in 2004 (M) > [@](#): > > The first thing to be said is that the senator’s movies are **not self-aggrandizing. Mr. Kerry is hardly in the film** , and never strikes so much as a heroic pose. These are the souvenirs of a 25-year-old guy sent to an exotic place on an otherworldly mission, who bought an 8-millimeter camera in the PX and shot a few hours of travelogue, most of it pretty boring if you didn’t live through it. Emphasis added. More at [http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/kerryother.htm#KERRYOTHER1](http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/kerryother.htm#KERRYOTHER1) ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/5 "2004-09-04T21:41:05Z")
This is from the American lefty political critique site Counterpunch: “He may not have wanted to talk [about Vietnam experiences] but he certainly liked to screen. The first time Kerry took Hollywood star Dana Delany to his home in the Eighties she says his big move was showing her video clips taken of him in the Navy when he was in Vietnam. She never went out with him again.” [Link](http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn07292004.html) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-vietnam-8-mm-films-do-they-exist/263133/6 "2004-09-04T21:51:11Z")
From _Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War_ by Douglas Brinkley, after a skirmish with the enemy on the Swift boats in Vietnam: > [@](#): > > “For a moment I was angry at not having brought my camera with me, because the width of the river we had been on and the sight of six Swifts negotiating the turns should have been recorded for posterity,” [Kerry] recalled. “However, I had given in to an earlier mood that determined it would make more sense to worry about my boat and shooting back than standing admist whizzing bullets and rockets taking pictures.”