John Kerry: “If you care about the families, let us keep the process open. General Vessey got a battlefield commission in World War…”

“If you care about the families, let us keep the process open. General Vessey got a battlefield commission in World War II at age 17, served in three wars, became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired with honor and dignity, and was called back by President Reagan and asked to be his special envoy to Vietnam on this issue. The man clearly had deserved his retirement. He clearly was not eager for this assignment. I think the Senator from Massachusetts knows how many years he has spent traveling back and forth to Vietnam on this issue, examining it in depth to the point of being totally knowledgeable on every single MIA case and rendering his best judgment and advice and counsel to the President and the American people and those of us in Congress. Is it not clear, I ask the Senator from Massachusetts, that General Vessey has said that it is in the interest of the United States of America, it is in the interest of addressing the MIA/POW issue for us to move forward in our relations with the Vietnamese Government?”