Go To Hell, Val Kilmer

by lewwaters

val-kilmer-fat1Yes, Val Kilmer, veteran actor apparently with a size 54-hat size, over impressed with himself after being in the movies “Tombstone,” “Top Gun” and “Batman Forever,” can kiss this Viet Nam Veteran’s rosy red ass!

I apologize for my profanity to you readers, but not to Kilmer. Sometimes profanity is appropriate and in this regard to Val Kilmer, it is one. He is a punk-assed, pampered, spoiled rotten slime ball.

I am sure many may be dismayed by my expressions against this asshat, after so many have enjoyed his performances in the make believe movies he appears in, but read on and I’ll explain why I say this and why I’ll never pay to go see another movie with this jerk in it.

The New Mexico Independent ran a story late last month on the likelihood of Kilmer running for the office of governor of New Mexico in 2010.

Although Kilmer was born and raised in California the Independent refers to him as “One of New Mexico’s most famous residents.” Fair enough as I assume he has taken up residence in the state of his paternal grandfather.

Kilmer has dropped strong hints that Governor Bill Richardson endorses him in the run, should he make it.

The Independent links to an interview of Kilmer by Chuck Klosterman for Esquire, published in July 2005.

This exchange ought to rile any honest hearted American, especially my fellow Viet Nam Veterans. You just have to read it for yourself.

(Klosterman) “You mean you think you literally had the same experience as Doc Holliday?”

(Kilmer) “Oh, sure. It’s not like I believed that I shot somebody, but I absolutely know what it feels like to pull the trigger and take someone’s life.

(Klosterman) “You understand how it feels to shoot someone as much as a person who has actually committed a murder?”

(Kilmer) “I understand it more. It’s an actor’s job. A guy who’s lived through the horror of Vietnam has not spent his life preparing his mind for it. He’s some punk. Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship. They didn’t have the emotional equipment to handle that experience. But this is what an actor trains to do. I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.”

Val Kilmer, this 60 year old gray haired Viet Nam Vet, who came from a middle class background, graduated High School, never been arrested or come close to committing a crime, enlisted in the United States Army. I also voluntarily extended my tour and have never regretted serving my country, unlike you punk ass pansy liberal millionaires who think a role in fantasy land makes you more aware of the sacrifices Veterans have made since our country was founded than we are.

The worst part of Viet Nam was coming back to “the World” and meeting shitheads like Val Kilmer, who fell for every lie told by John ‘F’in Kerry, Ramsey Clark, Hanoi Jane Fonda and all the other Communist lackey’s parading through the streets and bad mouthing my country.

It’s assholes like Kilmer who perpetuate the myth of the Deranged Viet Nam Veteran readily exposed in the book Stolen Valor and by many others, including Medal of Honor recipient Col. George “Bud” Day and yours truly.

What has Kilmer ever done for America besides rake in millions of dollars acting as if he were a brave soul, not standing up for our country?

Kabuki Village blog site expresses similar outrage towards Kilmer in an open letter.

Naturally, Kilmer issued a denial of ever saying any such thing here.

Esquire Magazine stands by their article claiming it is on tape here.

Kilmer, I have wiped better than you off the bottom of my shoe in the front yard. No apology can be accepted for this gross slander of Viet Nam Veterans by yet another piece of shit Hollywood Liberal slime ball.

I will never spend a dime to see another one of your movies and although I live far away from New Mexico, will oppose your candidacy for governor or any other elected office from afar.

America does not need more clueless clods holding office.

Val, GO TO HELL, asshole!

89 Responses to “Go To Hell, Val Kilmer”

  1. Thank you for this thorough and useful explanation

  2. Thanks both of you.

    Kilmer, through an assistant, has now come forward to claim he never said this. An inquiry is in to the author of the Esquire article for verification.

    To me, he sounds like any politican caught with his pants down.

  3. I love Val Kilmer and was very surprised, I cant believe someone would ever compare acting to war, I have never served my country but respect the men and women who have, To say he knows about war from a movie role where he went to his trailer or motel after, had a hot meal and shower and slept without fear of being killed anyone who would say this should be disqualified from any type of government, we have enough people who have no clue what America is about there already. As I said I have never served but still was pissed at this, just my opinion

  4. Thank you, Duane.

    Like you I have enjoyed Kilmer’s performance in some of his work and thought he was a pretty good actor. I can’t honestly say I was a huge fan of his, but appreciated his work.

    As a Viet Nam Veteran, when I read of his comemnts regarding us, whatever respect I had for the man was gone instantly.

    His back pedalling and claiming he never said it just incensed me more, especially seeing that his comments were recorded and he was lying.

    Due to the mistreatment and lies said about us for so many years, many of us are sensitive to such comments, especially from those seeking our support to elected office.

    That is what caused the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to band together and oppose Kerry in 2004 and the majority of Veterans got behind htem, not Kerry, who thought we would flock to him.

    One does not need to have served to see how outrageous Kilmer’s comment, and apparently his thoughts, were.

    Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

  5. I love Val! I’m from brazil and I love Val 4rever

  6. That is one of the greatest thing about America, Elis. You have the freedom and are free to express it.

    Likewise, I have the freedom to point out when he acts like a bonehead, as I did here.

  7. He is an amazing actor, one of the most talented. I am sure he did not say that, if he did, im sure he had his reasons. I support him in whatever he does and says the man is a genious and super sexy no matter what size he is to play which ever part he is playing. He rocks and I LOVE HIM inside and out. Val you rule forever!

  8. Moon, that you are mesmerized by him is of no concern to me, you have that freedom and that right and I respect that. But, the interviewer has stated the interview was recorded and Kilmer did indeed state that.

    The statement has no real bearing in his acting ability but on his character.

    It would have been much better for him to not have said it, but since he did, if he had come out right away and just admitted he spoke out of line, it might not be that big of a deal.

    Back to his acting ability, that alone does not qualify him political office and frankly, his comment on Veterans shows me he would be a failure as a governor.

    You do not get to call in stunt doubles for work of governor nor do you get to rewrite the script.

    He is an arrogant person, which probably makes him a good actor, but a lousy governor.

  9. Geez. Give the guy a break. He screwed up. What an asshole right? Can you expect every person to do everything right? Val isn’t a bad person, but he said a bad thing. Just because you think someone said something bad doesn’t mean that you should spit in their face.

    Does nobody in this world deserve a break? Its called being human.

  10. You mean like the break he gave us who served in Viet Nam with his claim, “Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship. They didn’t have the emotional equipment to handle that experience?”

    Nope, sorry, if you wish someone as much a weasel as that to represent you, I pity you.

    Kilmer didn’t even apologize, but denied he ever said it.

    But, that’s what you get with pampered Hollyweird types that you worship.

    Trust me, he doesn’t have a freakin’ clue!

  11. This statement from val is one of the most ignorant things i have ever heard. Not to mention self-absorbed and inconsiderate. How can anyone know what it feels like to kill someone by just literally “acting the part”? The fact that he has such a high opinion of himself and his incredable abilities to “more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.” have drastically lowered my opinion of him.

    For those who say that they still LOVE him and stand by his every move must have as ill-concieved notions of themselves as he has. On that note, I will not deny that he is a very good actor, and in that respect he has a lot of talent. But nobody can deny that his own denial was a huge laps in character, pride, respect, and better judgement.

  12. this wouldn’t be the first time that a famous personality was misquoted.

  13. You’re right, babble. Famous people and not so famous people are often misquoted.

    However, in this case, Kilmer has been quoted accurately. The interview was taped and researched for validity before I wrote this.

    http://www.military-money-matters.com/val-kilmer-esquire-response.html

    http://www.military-money-matters.com/val-kilmer-responds.html

    If you wish to defend the indefensible, that’s your right, but Kilmer is quoted accurately and as I said, he can rot in hell for all I care.

    It would have been more admirable of him to sincerely apologize when this first leaked out, not cry like a little titty baby that he was misquoted.

  14. Though I agree with you on the matter of Val Kilmer’s comment is totally lame, I have to say your blasting Senator Kerry is no better than Val Kilmer. You are standing behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as being fact. Take off your blinders and look at the facts that the major players in this Organization were republicans trying to make Kerry look like a liar. It has been proven that the medals Kerry received were properly received and with just cause. Just researching the group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Vets_and_POWs_for_Truth) shows what they were made of. All records of Kerrys service in Vietnam support not only his medals, but his record. So you need to get the fact straight yourself.

  15. Sorry Pat, but you are wrong, dead wrong. ALthough not a member of the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, I was loosely involved with them and stand behind what they say.

    Does it escape you that Kerry’s medals were based off of after action reports that he admitted to writing himself?

    During the campaign his staff even admitted two of his purple hearts were “self-inflicted.”

    Explain how a Silver Star is earned for supposedly killing a wounded and fleeing enemy.

    Explain how a Bronze Star is merited for picking up a person in a standard man overboard drill, that you caused to fall overboard in the first place by fleeing.

    In my own 18 months boots on the ground in Viet Nam, no one I served with worth a tinkers damn would have accepted, much less put themselves in for those medals under those circumstances.

    Is there a reason you do not question such medals in 3 months, three purple hearts and not a single night in the hospital?

    And, what did Kerry do upon his return to CONUS? But throw every single Viet Nam Veteran there is under the bus with his bogus claims of atrocities and openly advocate communism.

    No sir, it isn’t me who needs to get their facts straight. You should stop reading biased news reports that ignore facts and rely on flimsy evidence to slander hundreds of honest combat decorated Veterans in favor of an opportunist.

    When you finish all that, perhaps you can explain why all those medals he now brags about, that he so ceremoniuosly threw away in 1971 and that now hangs on his office walls, had to be reissued and why his official discharge had to go before a review of officers and is dated 6 years after he would have ETS’d.

    Why too was such a big noise made over Bush’s Military records being made public, which they were, and Kerry still has not revealed his to the entire public, only 3 friendly reporters and even then, only 30 something pages.

    You amass that many pages in Basic Training.

    If you really wish to know the truth, obtain a copy of Not Fit For Command and Setting The Record Straight.

    Afterwards, perhaps you will understand why 2 Medal of Honor Recipients joined in with and supported the Swiftboat Veterans and POWs for Truth.

    You people got scammed and still are being scammed by lurch.

    Don’t you ever wonder why his support amongst Viet Nam Veterans was so poor?

    Incidentally, John O’Neill was a Democrat. He told Nixon he was a Democrat and supported mainly Democrats until he was attacked as he was in 2004. But that’s okay, he is welcome on our side.

  16. Whether the wounds were serious or not at least Kerry serve time in Vietnam, were was Bush during Vietnam, he certainly did not put himself in harms way.

    As for making his record public, it was posted on his website, and the information is out there for anyone to see now. Why did Bush keep hi record hiden till 2004, what was he ashamed of that fact his family used connections to keep him safe, and that he really didn’t full fill his service obligation.

    Bush was no saint, and he took us into a war using lies to get us to support him. From the time he sought office everyone new he wanted to go after Iraq, and now we have several thousand young men dead for his war, not a war on terrorizm, but HIS war. Something else for him to be ashamed of.

  17. Is that the best you can come up with, pat? BUsh didn’t go to Viet Nam?

    I guess you never thought about him volunteering for the Palace Alert program, but was denied due to not enough flight experience at the time.

    Why are you liberals so brain dead? Bush’s records were made public in 2000 and even some of your number in the media claimed the crap spewed in 2004 was redundant.

    Besides, Kerry still has not made his fully open to teh public. He only posted select pages on his website. We requested the rest was it was denied due to privacy legalities, meaning Kerry must authorize their release. We were told there were over 100 pages we could not access unless he authorized it. We are still waiting.

    As far as Bush not putting himself in “Harm’s Way,” I assume you know little about the F-102 he flew, http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0185.shtml

    You are really grasping at straws to support a traitor, Pat.

    Bush got in ahead of others in the TANG because he volunteered for flight training. The waiting list was for enlisted. That’s not family connection.

    Now, if you wish to discuss not fulfilling their MIlitary obligation, how do you bypass Bill Clinton, who signed enlistment papers and took the oath of enlistment on August 07,1969 , about the time my young ass was arriving in Viet Nam? The difference? I went, Clinton dishonored his oath and never showed up.

    I’m sure you know all about his famous letter by now.

    A full tour in Viet Nam was 12 months. Kerry stayed 4, Al Gore 5. I have twice the amount of boots on the ground time as both, combined, since I was there 18 months, so don’t presume you know more about it than I do.

    The Swift Vets and POWS for Truth each had full tours, except forthe POWs, who were imprisoned much longer.

    The rest of your diatribe is stale DNC talking points, disproved long ago. Obama signed on to handle it all no and he is failing miserably, as expected, since he doesn’t have a clue about leadership.

    Radical JIhadists began this war on us three decades ago and we had some 15 major tarrorist atatcks in the time running up to September 11, 2001. Bush, to his credit, took thefight back to them and we suffered no more until last week when Major Hasan murdered 13 at Ft. Hood, under a Dictatorial fully Democrat controlled government.

    Bottom line, both Gore and Kerr ygot their asses whupped by Bush. Even the left media, discontent with the final outcome of the 2000 election, performed independent recounts of hte 2000 election in Florida and admitted, reluctantly, that Bush won, legally.

    That includes the far left New York Times.

    The only shame to be had is how you morons dumped all over a man who sought only to protect you. He was no saint nor the greatest we ever had. But, he was damn sight better than that puppet we have now or the traitor we almost got in 2004.

    Kerry lost, deal with it. Seek help for your BDS.

  18. You are an idiot. Sitting on your computer hating on an artist for stupid reasons. Obvious jealousy.

  19. Sorry Geoff, what I really am is a United States Army Veteran who served two tours in Viet Nam. I lost 13 people I knew from my unit while there.

    For a shithead like Kilmer to come along and say what he said about us is not just over the top, it is mean-spirited and very uninformed.

    Then again, he just parrots the crap that morons like you bought into.

    Jealous of Kilmer? He isn’t qualified to lick the dog shit off the bottom of my boots.

  20. you need a life…thats why we lost that war

  21. “We?”

    I guess that’s what you people were taught and blindly accepted.

    Point out just which major battle was lost by the Military.

  22. I don’t understand what makes you so angry? That he stated he can understand the emotional baggage and pressures from serving in Vietnam better than those who served, or that he rightfully stated the MAJORITY soldiers that went over there were punk-ass kids.

    To understand the traumas, hardships, lost relationships, and the detachment from this world that former vets suffered in Vietnam is, quite frankly, impossible without actually experiencing it.

    HOWEVER, if it offends you that he said most of those guys were punk-ass slime-balls, well, it’s true. As unfortunate and undesirable as it is to accept, it is the dirty truth. I know many so called “soldiers” that now-a-days are looking to kill “sand niggers”, “pillage and rape!” and a whole bunch of other bullshit. These kids are the ones who tried to be a hardass in high school. The ones that wore their BDU’s everywhere, even to the grocery store off base. The ones that went fully uniformed to their proms. The ones that shot up villages of innocent Vietnamese women and children that had absolutely nothing do to with the war with the exception that they unfortunately lived right in the middle of it. The same ones that take videos in Iraq and Afghanistan of them luring children through the streets, relentlessly chasing after the HUMVEE.

    Now, not all people in the military are like this. I was a military brat growing up, and have met many, many, good people. My father who served twenty years, I respect immensely.

    I don’t like Val very much, but he does speak half the truth.

  23. Anthony, since it appears that you are not a Viet Nam Veteran nor were you ever subjected to the disdain we received upon our return home, your ignorance in this is obvious.

    Your ignorance in the caliber of those who served in Viet Nam is glaring, as is Kilmer’s.

    You allude to My Lai as if it was an everyday occurence, it was not. It was the anomaly. Not known by many of that day is that is was a US Army helicopter pilot that brought it to a close and protected several village members, calling in other helicopters to ferry wounded and unwounded Vietnamese out.

    Google Hugh Thompson some time.

    Due to the false portrayal those like Kerry gave of us and how easily the public bought into his neo-com lies, the DOD looked over those claims. Not one “veteran” making those claims would go under oath to make them, when they were found.

    Army Reports Discredit “Winter Soldier” Claims

    May I also suggest you find a copy of the book “Stolen Valor” by BG Burkett and Unheralded Victory by Mark Woodruff to further your education on Viet Nam and Veterans of that war.

    You say that Kilmer speaks some truth in his claim of “Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship. They didn’t have the emotional equipment to handle that experience.

    If you believe an ounce of those words, you have no respect for those who wore the uniform and served, plain and simple.

    Viet Nam War Statistics

    Kilmer makes his fortune by make believe, fantasy, pretending. And, we are to believe he can handle war better than those who served in it?

    We didn’t get to cry “cut” and have a stunt double stand in for us.

    For every video you find or claim made of how bad our people in the Military are, there are hundreds, thousands of other examples that never make the news that show how caring we were, how careful they are today and how they place their lives in danger to protect a child or innocent civilian.

    If you respect your Dad half as much as you claim, you should be ashamed of yourself that you grant any credence whatsoever to Val Kilmer’s hyperbole of America’s Veterans.

    Kilmer was too young for Viet Nam, but not for any service at all. He never enlisted, never served, never went through Basic Training or any Military training of any accord, and we are to accept that from reading a book, he is better prepared to handle a war?

    No sir, he is just enamored with himself and arrogant. I doubt he could have made it through Basic Training with crying for his mommie.

    There is no way that “preparing for a movie role” compares with Military Training or serving in a war.

    There is no way that denigrating the Military and Veterans in general is honorable.

    That you bought in to it is your problem as it shows you know very little. An Army brat is not serving in the Army.

    In short, what it boils down to is, “If you didn’t go, you wouldn’t know.”

  24. WOW! What a piece of shit! Kilmer has his head WAY up his ass. What an ignorant motherfucker he is. I am a huge fan of his early performances (Tombstone especially), but after this I can’t support anything he says/ does. As an aside, PLEASE don’t lump all liberals in with that asshole or any of those pompous, narcissistic, bubble-headed hollywood morons who know nothing of the real world. I would like to thank you for your service to this country. I still can’t believe that crap actually spewed forth from that mush between his ears…what a fucker. Sorry this just pisses me off.

  25. Look….My dad went to Nam when he was 16 years old. He did two tours so that when his younger brother became of age wouldn’t have to go. I am very proud of my father and every man who ever went to war for this country. I admire Military men and women and feel that anyone who has served deserves the up most respect, honor, and dignity. My father wouldn’t even discuss the things that happened in Nam, but I remember as a little girl that he would have chronic nightmares. He passed away at the age of 54, and slept with one eye open until his passing.
    So anyone who can sit there and say that they know what something feels like when they have never actually experienced it has no flippin clue to what they’re talking about.
    I use to think Val Kilmer was attract and great as well…but there is no looks, talent, or personality that can make disrespect such as this acceptable…..

  26. Hmm…I’m going to take a moment to play devil’s advocate here.

    Well, if he actually said this, then he is wrong. But this is no reason to get so heated. You will never pay to see another one of his movies? Really? That is just immature. Okay? Who cares? That isn’t going to hurt him any. You will just be missing out. But that’s your choice, so so be it.

    I don’t agree with what he said at all. BUT, I don’t know if he even said it. People who are very close to me have been in horrible situations. Being falsely accused. Let me tell you, not fun. The whole mess ruins lives. So, unless you have 100% NO SHADOW OF A DOUBT PROOF that he actually said this, then please, don’t spread it around. Until there is proof, it is slander as far as I’m concerned. (Don’t comment back to me saying “OMG IT IS TROO HERE IS THE LINK YOU SO STOOPID”. I don’t know if it is true and I’m not looking it up. I have better things to do. If you want to politely show me where there is proof, then I will gladly follow the link, but please refrain from insults, caps, and general apelike idiocy.)

    My last point, your plentiful cursing is very rude and uncalled for. It just degrades your arguement and makes me lose respect for you, for what that is worth.

    Have a nice day.

  27. I would like to add that I thank anyone and everyone who has ever fought for the United States of America, and that if anyone has a problem with my comment…well, I believe the problem lies with you. I have been as neutral as possible. If he did say it, shame on him, but this is no reason to damn him to hell. Everyone has off days, and everyone has times where they want to cram a foot up their mouth.

  28. Too bad you didn’t actually read the entire post, swif. Esquire magazine stands by their article as they have it recorded on tape. If you can’t accept the interviewers confirmation, you have a problem, not me.

    I love it when a liberal as yourself cries immaturity because I won’t go pay to see another of his movies, after all the boycotts called for from you people because you disagree with something.

    Hypocrisy much?

    Considering the lack of true talent coming out of Hollywood these past years, I doubt I will be missing much. If the glitz and computer generated effects turns you on, good for you. I prefer real talent that hasn’t been seen in several years.

    As for your “losing respect for me,” do I care? I don’t see where you know me or have ever interacted with me. Therefore, how could you have had any respect for me in the first place?

    You have the right to not like what I wrote and I grant you the privilege of voicing your disagreement here, instead of deleting your words or not allowing comments.

    If you are too lazy to click the supplied links, again, your problem.

    Apparently, you never served in Viet Nam or was on the receiving end of much of the vitriol expressed by Kilmer and others.

    How dare him say he knows more what it is like to have served than those of us who did because he “studied books” on it for a fantasy part.

    How dare him say or even insinuate the 13 men from unit that gave their lives in service to our country while I was there “were borderline criminal or poor” and ” wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship.”

    You have the audacity to claim you thank anyone and everyone who has fought for their country, then support comments like Kilmer made about us, especially the over 58,000 names etched on the Wall in Washington D.C.?

    No, the “problem” does not lie with us. It lies with you and others who accept words like Kilmer said and excuse them.

    If Kilmer only had “an off day,” he wouldn’t deny saying those words and instead, would beg forgiveness for saying them.

  29. I do not fully agree with you. If Val Kilmer said that he knows more about being a soildier than a soldier and knows what if feels like to kill someone then he’s just an unaware dick wit. That I think you are right about. However my dear do not go on about being a war veteran and suffering and blah blah blah. My opinion is that anyone who chooses to go and fight a war is a dumb ass who does not realise that he’s just being used by the government like a little toy soldier by a child. Don’t expect to be treated like a hero. The vietnam war was a pointless unnecessary war for the US and you chose to participate. Tough.

  30. Cathy, you are a walking contradiction. We Veterans do not expect to be treated like heroes, just a simple thank you for standing between thankless people like yourself and our enemies would suffice.

    In case you forgot, Viet Nam occured when America was drafting men into teh Military. Even enlistees didn’t necessarily “want to go.” But, we did and stood up to a Communist takeover, until the Dmeocrat Party ripped the rug out from under us.

    While you have the freedom to be as stupid and ill-informed as Kilmer is, before you whine on about how “unnecessary” Viet Nam was, perhaps you ought to become educated on it, beside the crap the victorious communist spew.

    Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese fled the benevolet liberators after they won and untold thousands died in the South China Sea. Find some of the survivors of the Boat People and ask them how “unnecessary” it was.

    Ask the family members of the millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who simply disappeared in reeducation camps how thankful they were to see America just give up on them.

    Then again, perhaps after World War Two, America should have abandoned Europe as we did Viet Nam and allowed the Soviet Union to conquer Amsterdam too.

    For some reason, I doubt you would have been too appreciative of that.

    But, do yourself a fasvor and seek some real and actual knowledge about Viet Nam before spouting off the next time. You just may be suprised at how ignorant you really are on the subject.

  31. Just stumbled on this posting…and I am amazed at the level of stupidity some of these people are showing! Lewwaters, thank you for your service to our country and insiteful views. I think most of these people are just liberal cowards that want to get a rise from you.

    Keep speaking the truth brother!

  32. Thanks, Max. I intend to go to my grave speaking the truth about Viet Nam.

  33. I’m sorry you had to go thro the unimaginable terror and post trauma of being a soldier in Nam…your country owes you acknowledgent and reparation..IN REAL TERMS..you obviously seem obsessed with war mentality mind set…having to win…keeping the battle going…will there be no end to feeding and justifying this madness….go away…war is not normal…lets explore more humane ways of solving the worlds problems..whichever way you look at it , war requires men/women to become murderers, rapists, violators of others and self….use your intellectual vitality and strength to love your brothers and sisters above all else…I wish you all the best

  34. Moondancer, huh? Haven’t heard names like that since the Hippies.

    You seem very misinformed, though, not too surprising. “Unimaginable terror and post trauma of being a soldier in Nam?” Please, spare me the condescension.

    You seem also to have totally missed why I even wrote and posted this. You neglect that Kilmer’s actions and words is in direct opposition to your words of “your country owes you acknowledgent and reparation.

    What “reparation” do you feel is appropriate that we don’t already receive? Does it escape you that many enlist and serve out of sense of duty and a desire to see people either gain freedom or retain it? Where do you think you would be if your own countrymen did not serve to keep your country free?

    You think it is an obsession with winning? I think it is a necessity to win, if we remain free. Would you want to be flogged for wearing make-up or wanting to learn to read? Do you feel you should face the death penalty should you be unfortunate enough to be the victim of rape?

    Yes, war is not normal, but neither is flying airplanes into occupied buildings or teaching young people to blow themselves up inside of occupied areas to kill as many innocents as possible.

    I often wonder how people like you become so deluded in your thinking. You say, “war requires men/women to become murderers, rapists, violators of others and self” with absolutely no regard for the sacrifice many have made over many years to keep you free enough to even speak such trash.

    You also fail to even realize that before the onset of war, all those “diplomatic” means you speak of were tried.

    In your live and let live delusion, you would allow groups like Al Qaeda and even the current leaders of despotic regimes access to nuclear weapons, which unlike the cold war between the former Soviet Union and America, would be used, anywhere.

    People like you do not stop wars, you prolong them by enabling the enemies of freedom, as was done to the Vietnamese people, which ended up causing the deaths of millions of Asians at the hands of oppressive communists. Far more than died in the war.

    Do yourself a favor and seek out some of those Vietnamese people who became known as the Boat People and ask them about what happened to them after 1975.

    You speak of loving your brothers and sisters above all else, but forget, or ignore, that our brothers and sisters often need protection or assistance from those who would kill or enslave them. How is it you fail to see that love of brother and sister also mean helping protect them?

    And, the ones who are willing to step and help protect our brothers and sisters to you are nothing more than “murderers, rapists, violators of others and self?”

    Do you feel it was very loving that Rwandans were slaughtered in the 1990′s while the world just sat back and watched?

    Do yourself another huge personal favor, Maria. Take the flowers from your hair, take off the rose colored glasses and actually learn what the world is like. There is evil out there and if no one is willing to step up and fight it, it wins, plain and simple.

    Don’t waste any false sympathy on me. Go out and learn something first and see if you are willing to step in between enemies and your fellow man.

  35. Words are hard to come by,… I thank you for your service. Unless you were there know one can know. I was in the Air Force during peace time, but I believe where ever on the Earth Our men and women are we should back them 110 %. My UNcle was VET who served in Nam, I only know the stories and for a statement like this to be made by an ACTOR is unbelievable crap. No One Wants war, but when our guys GO your support should go with them EVERYTIME!! Who are YOU gonna call on when the shit hits YOUR door step. SOme choose to go but at that time maybe some didn’t. It doesn’t matter but no soul knows Not counsilors, not family, No one but those guys or some one who has been there. Was just a dumbass statement from someone who is able to have an acting career and DO what he does because of the guys that take care of his back one day maybe he will truly know that. I apologize for the stupidity of those who do not know, for now days there is no excuse for ignorance.
    God bless you and yours

  36. Thank you, Laura, for your words and also for serving too.

    It doesn’t matter whether during war or during peace, those who wear the uniform are ready and prepared to go as called.

    Not having served in combat doesn’t minimize your serving.

  37. I am just going to point out that, firstly, the quotes came with a very limited context, and, secondly, Kilmer says: “I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.” I think he is comparing the role he is going to play/has played with himself in it versus someone who actually has experience in it (i.e. instead of himself playing a role, having an actual Vietnam vet in it) because he hasn’t experienced it. Someone who did go through the horrors of Vietnam would probably have a hard time re-enacting it, and since he said in the quote that the kids who went to ‘Nam had no experience doing those things, he is better fit to represent the role because neither has he. Or so he believes, who knows if he’s right? Honestly, who cares? Either way, it doesn’t reflect very well on you, wishing hell on someone for a subjective quote. You seem to have wasted quite a bit of time arguing with people for something that Val Kilmer probably hasn’t wasting any time thinking about. Also, you make some pretty vindictive (and puerile) ASSUMPTIONS about Val: “He is a punk-assed, pampered, spoiled rotten slime ball.” Again, doesn’t reflect well on you. Also again, you use Esquire as your source. ESQUIRE, a KNOWN TABLOID. They can LIE, hello?? “Oh, they CONFIRMED the quote.” OR, they CONFIRMED a lie? How do you know, sir? Yellow journalism will never die, not so long as greed exists. And what kind of grown man, especially a war hardened one, uses the language you do? You realize kids in middle school talk the same way; not someone one who wants to be taken seriously.

  38. Boy, a dyed in the wool fully deluded fan of a sleaze bucket, who’d a thunk it?

    I guess in your rationalization you somehow ignored Kilmer’s words of, “Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship” in relation those of us who served there.

    If, as you try to indicate, “Someone who did go through the horrors of Vietnam would probably have a hard time re-enacting it” do the studios use actual Veterans as advisors to verify the reality?

    Why shouldn’t I wish him to hell for what he said? I’d enjoy pissing on Jane Fonda’s grave as well.

    Deluded twits like yourself crack me up, though. You excuse the slander of millions of men who stood in harms way, then defend and rationalize confirmed words spoken by a wuss like Kilmer who exists in a fantasy world?

    Then, you complain abnout mild profanity?

    If Kilmer can make his slanderous statements about all of us who served, we sure as hell can say what we want about his pansy ass.

    If that kind of language really does offend you, feel free to exercise the freedom men like me fought for you to have to exit the blog.

    Nice try, but Dr. Phil you aren’t.

    Grow up and do something besides act holier than thou to others whose boots you couldn’t even shine.

  39. Who gives a [pinky] about actors? They live a life of trying to be somebody other than themselves. Waste of time.

    As for someone who signed up for Vietnam (let alone, extended the tour), you are a moronic puppet. Unless you believe that the goal (surplus of cash crops and other south-east Asian staple exports) was worth the slaughter of millions. Of course, that would still make you a moron, as you wouldn’t see a dime of that investment. If you thought it was about communism, you need to learn how to read.

    You “served” corporate interests. Not our country. To boast about that , or to have pride about that, is as sad a thing as I can think of, aside from the ravaging of a beautiful country and the countless deaths of civilians, children, raped women, and young Americans that resulted. (I only really pitty the drafted young dummies who didn’t have the balls to dodge the process.) I don’t wish suffering upon anyone, but if you signed up, you bought the ticket and took the ride. Don’t brag about it. There is no possible point of accomplishment to have pride about that awful war. I can almost understand the notion of wanting to “serve your country.” But if you had the vaguest idea about how nations worked, you’d sing a different tune.

    And you spend time worrying about actors. PTSD???

    I’m wondering why I’m bothering writing this. I anticipate only defensiveness and petty one sidedness. The pawns serve the king in death, not life.

  40. Well, Pluto, you certainly know how to endear people to you….not!

    From your bombastic screed, I’d have to believe it is you who cares about actors.

    Oh, I don’t have to “read” about Viet Nam, as you know I was there and could write a book about it myself. I also took the added step to befriend Vietnamese refugees who escaped from the benevolent communists and they too don’t have to “read” about it, they lived it.

    You seem to worry about “the slaughter of millions” without any foreknowledge or even after thought that the numbers grew that high AFTER putrid scum like yourself brought about a total abandonment of the people.

    Oh, something that also escapes your own pansy-assed self, it doesn’t take any balls at all to run away or to cower. Living up to your values is what shows courage and conviction, something foreign to you.

    In some ways I feel sorry for morons like you. You have empty lives and cowardly hearts, no values, only a holier than thou attitude which actually shows deep insecurity.

    You have no sense of duty or honor, just sell your souls to the highest bidder, or who stands in front of you currently.

    You exist in a clueles cocoon depending on others to protect and care about you. You have no appreciation for life itself due to never having to defend one or realize how precious it actually is.

    You are a perfect candidate for assisted suicide as you have no purpose in life, other than try to drag your betters down to your pitiful level.

    “Petty one sidedness?” You are the epitome of that yourself.

  41. You constantly complain about people having a “holier than thou” attitude all while calling everybody “morons” and “cowards” and telling people that they couldn’t “lick your boots”. The irony is astounding. I served in the military(during the Gulf War) and believe me, any military man or woman worth anything wouldn’t go around treating people they hardly know with such disrespect. Forget for a second what some actor said and instead look at how you are talking to people you don’t even know on here. I don’t know how things were when you served, but during my service, respect was important and we operated on a certain code of conduct. One you don’t seem interested in following.

    Also, telling people to “find the real truth” and then citing right-wing talking points and propaganda as examples is more than silly. If I said to you, “find out the truth about Obama” and then told you to watch an episode of Keith Olbermann as an example, I doubt you would take it very seriously. There’s something to be said for being even handed.

    I’m sure you’ll respond to this with some condescending rant about how I’m a liberal coward moron that couldn’t lick your boots. But don’t bother. You would be wrong. And besides, we wear the same boots.

  42. Pitiful effort, Sean, pitiful.

    You served in the military during the Gulf War, claim you and I wear hte same boots and other such “brotherly rhetoric,” then have nothing to say about Kilmer’s slanderous remarks about Viet Nam Vets.

    Yeah, right.

    However, if you feel you are a “liberal coward moron,” who am I to argue?

  43. “However, if you feel you are a “liberal coward moron,” who am I to argue?”

    Well thanks for being thoroughly predictable and proving me right. Are you capable of making a thoughtful reply without resorting to shallow name calling and insults? You seem like a bright guy, so why resort to the tactics of somebody with a lacking intellect?

    Anyway, am I meant to be less of a quality military man because I’m not as outraged about Val Kilmer as you? Is that how far you’ve fallen? Judging, questioning and looking down on a former soldier, the type of person you claim to be a champion of, because they don’t agree with you fully? You want to know why I’m not as outraged about Val Kilmer as you? Because I don’t care about Val Kilmer. I couldn’t possibly care less what some washed up actor has to say about me or the life I’ve lived or the choices I’ve made. Just as I’m sure he wouldn’t care what you or I have to say about him. Is what he said stupid? Insensitive? Ignorant? Yes on all counts. Throw him in with the other millions of people who have said stupid, ignorant and insensitive things. Should we be outraged and rant and rave about each and every one of them? Who has the time for that? I already fought in one war, I’d rather not spend the rest of my life fighting many smaller petty ones. I’m proud of what I did regardless of what some actor thinks. Those I care about are proud of me too. That’s good enough for me. I don’t need more validation than that. People on the other side of the fence are never going to be convinced no matter how much you rant. Especially when it’s done in an insulting tone. It’s a waste of time. But by all means, feel free to keep spinning your wheels with this stuff.

  44. Whether you are less, equal to or more is neither here nor there, Sean.

    Your words speak for themself in that you are less outraged at Veterans being demeaned, lied about and slandered than you are about such a despicable person being exposed.

    As far as my “spinning my wheels” with this, did you note it is a post over a year old and yet, you felt the need to comment twice on it?

    If you served during the Gulf War, you have no idea what it is like to be condemned by the very country that sent you to war in the first place, thanks in large part to Viet Nam Veterans who have stood up to slanderous remarks and comments about the Troops and Veterans such as Kilmer made.

    Shameful that you, also claiming to be a Veteran, fail to see the harm and minimizes what you know little of.

    You are free to slither around not caring about how Veterans and the Troops are slandered.

    I choose to stand up to low-lifes like Kilmer, Hanoi Jane, Kerry and anyone elese who would blanketly denigrate the contributions of America’s Veterans and the Troops.

    Isn’t the First Amendment a great thing?

  45. I’d also add, Sean, since you state, “I already fought in one war, I’d rather not spend the rest of my life fighting many smaller petty ones.”

    Why drop in twice to bust my chops then? Am I not also some “smaller petty one” in your eyes as well?

    Why drag up an old post over a year old?

    You betray yourself with your very words.

  46. I find those words so hard to believe. Oliver Stone directed Val Kilmer in The Doors. Oliver Stone is an educated two tours of duty Vietnam Vet.

    Strange (Days).

  47. Maybe Oliver Stone will speak out on this and maybe he won’t. Stone served one tour in Viet Nam, wounded and returned disgusted with war, not unlike a few others.

    Most of us who served in Viet Nam were also “educated.”

  48. For me i’d say if someone say something so terribly wrong in other’s view and he is questioned about it, its only natural to wanna maintain his stance while trying to deny credits to such statements which is a big sign or arrogance, fear, ignorance and weakness.
    I basically stumbled upon this writeup when i saw a tv programme in africa and one of the actors was asked about val kilmer, george clooney and Christian bale for batman and he immediately got worked up at the mention of Kilmer, why.. because of Val’s attitude when both of them were on the same set for a movie in africa and kilmer’s assistant or so, server a paper to him (the other actor) indicating that under no circumstance is he supposed to look at Kilmer in the eye while talking to him and also that instead of kilmer to project loud into the boom mic, he would attach a small mic to himself and speak in low tones while other actors struggle to hear what the Val kilmer was saying.
    This clearly show what sort of a man he is, and what his tendencies really are, not what the make believe screen tells us.
    I am african myself and live in africa but i feel that if someone has indicated his grievances on what some other did or said publicly, yes some may defend the accused but that shd be it, you shd not go ahead and try to discredit the Veteran who feels bad at some statement, and go ahead to make his efforts for your country look meaningless, they put their lives on the line for your freedom and he has the right to feel bad at an indiscriminate use of words by an actor or whoever, otherwise dont respond to him and let things be after-all he wont know you read his publication if you dont respond to it.
    We in africa know what trouble and fights mean and we try as much as possible not to start any fire without any reason, but you guys dont seem to care anyway, technology keeps you invisible so why not attack the other fella, afterall he wont see me.

  49. val kilmer is a kick ass dude. how about you go to hell, you patriotic retard. Vietnam fucked everyones shit up. im sorry you had to go there, but it was a horrible ignorant war. conservatives are old rich bastards with chapped assholes. dont talk shit about val kilmer. he has a lot of fans.

  50. Samantha, need I remind you that even Hitler had fans? Everybody in public has fans. But, that is no excuse for Kilmer’s misguided and hateful rhetoric thrown at people who would have laid down their lives so he could become the asshat he is.

    Your ignorance of Viet Nam is astounding, but not too unusual. Let me guess, public education? I am always amazed at how you younger people who read a book or listened to leftist teachers, most of whom also never wore the uniform, become experts and think you know more about the war than those of us who were there.

    As for you other canard, I’m getting old, but my parents were married when I was born and I’ve never earned over 40K in a year in my life.

    Compare that to your liberal parents who probably think just as poorly as you do.

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving yet another example of just how ignorant you “me, me, me” people are today.

    Oh, and when you begin your own family, I hope they turn out exactly like you!

    Ta ta

  51. I just came across your post, and this is the first I’d heard of the quote. It sounds like Val Kilmer is an eejit, and I agree with most of your analysis. There’s a few things I don’t agree with, though, and that’s the use of words like “liberal” and “pampered” in the poll. I’m a die-hard liberal and, compared to anyone fifty years ago, I’ve a pampered, easy life, but I still think he’s an idiot for his ideas on this.

    What I’m saying is that he’s not an idiot because he’s liberal or pampered, he’s an idiot because he think he understands war better than Vets.

    Thanks,
    Donny

  52. No argument, Donny. But, as you should know, I am a conservative and both of us, liberals and conservatives, often use invectives that do not always accurately describe each other individually.

    Maybe one day we can go back to disagreeing agreeably and actually compromising for the betterment of the country.

    Thanks for stopping by.

  53. Fair enough. In the name of full disclosure, I should say that I’m not an American. I’m Irish, and we don’t have the same kind of two-party partisan politics or anything like the conservative/liberal (or Republican/Democrat) divide here, so it’s a different experience reading American political commentary.

    Certainly, I think most people would consider Kilmer’s waffle to be incredibly stupid. Even if he believes what he says, it’s hard to imagine how he could think it would be a good idea to say this publicly. I wonder if he was drunk or something (From my own experience, I know I’ve said and done some stupid things after a few pints).

    Anyway, I have to commend you for responding to your comments, and not moderating out the views you don’t agree with.

    Thanks,
    Donny

  54. I’ve been told I have Irish ancestry in my background, Donny. Of course, as a typical American, there’s probably a bit of everything back there.

    You’re right, our politics are different and I imagine yours confuses me as much as ours confuses you.

    Why Kilmer would make the claim he did indicates to me that he, much like many others in the profession, carries an elitist attitude, undeserved in my opinion.

    It is said that history is written by the victor and nowhere is that truer than in Viet Nam. No one yet has ever presented me with a legitimate explanation of why Viet Nam was any different that Korea, where the countries remain divided today, one communist and poverty stricken and the other free and thriving.

    And, thanks for the compliment. To me, if you are willing to voice an opinion in public, you should also be willing to support it.

    Thanks again.

  55. is it esquire or vogue? dude, you’re a little obsessed with val kilmer. not that i blame you. he was hot in tombstone.

  56. Dude, this is a year old and it is you who brings it back up.

    Who’s obsessed?

    But hey, if a pus gutted moron with a big mouth and no brain makes your panties all wet, more power to you. Maybe that is why he is an ACTor and not a DOER.

    If you worry about typos, perhaps you should learn when to capitalize words properly, Dude.

  57. I Loved Val Kilmer since the 80 and still today, I don’t Listen to rumors ,I Listen and hear the Truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  58. Some can’t see the forest for the trees.

    The links are up to the magazine article. That makes it truth and those who’s strong denial just show they can’t handle the truth.

    Not my problem.

  59. Val Kilmer has always been one of my favorite actors. I just watched “Felon” and was surprised that he played John Smith. The movie was very moving but Smith and the whole premise of the story was just not quite believable. To bad the Hollywood left seeks to misrepresent so much of life. Not finding their version of life represented in reality they choose to create their own reality. This movie and Val Kilmer’s comments are clear indications that the Left is alive and well in Holly-weird. I wonder how much hate and fear they create with their bullshit stories.

  60. “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” —BUSH…Your God, Your BITCH!

  61. And, that is supposed to be something profound?

    I certainly can see you are one of UNM’s brightest……… NOT!

  62. I had two non-criminal, high school graduate brothers drafted into Vietnam, and who fortunately came home safe, if not entirely sound. One brother has battled depression ever since.

    I refuse to let some loser like Val Kilmer who’s career tanked and who got fat upset me with his inane prattle. I seriously doubt anybody is REALLY giving him the time of day. However, I would just love to send him off for a tour of Iraq and see if he comes back spouting that crap. Maybe he wouldn’t come back AT ALL.

  63. Kilmer expressed himself well, I can see what he means. Generalizing surely, but something to it. Many people do deflect hard emotion, an actor burrows into it. The writer who attacked him is clearly a vulgar little person who lacks some knowing.

  64. You waste good words on an nondescript movie actor, when the muslim fraud sitting the President’s chair is leading our country down the road to oblivion. You need to work on ALL the problems, including the thieves we call congress.

  65. Elsa, I feel sorry for morons like you. Kilmer only knows what he is told. I lived Viet Nam every day for 18 months and every day since. He ha no substance, no honor and no sense of duty to anyone other than his own conceited self.

    That you embrace that speaks tons about you.

    Edwin, this was written well over a year ago. For some reason that I do not know of, it has become the single highest red post on this blog and it keeps being read.

    If you looked over this blog, which I write for more local issues and my other blog, Right In A Left World, which I operate addressing more national news and also look at local radio host, Victoria Taft’s blog, where I guest blog, I cover much more than Kilmer.

    In fact, this one post is the only one I have done on him as he isn’t worth that much effort.

    But please do look around and see there is much more going on around here.

  66. Kilmer has been shooting his mouth off about plenty of other things in the same way…. he also has claimed that “80% of people in New Mexico are drunk”, and other insulting things which have caused the permits he’s applied for in the state to be put on hold. He is clearly an arrogant asshole.

    But what disturbs me even more, is the number of people who by their comments here, refuse to believe their movie hero could be less than their hero-worshipping little minds want to believe.

    “If he said those things”, keeps being written. How many times must it be said that those things are ON TAPE. But they don’t want to believe it.

    I might not agree with all of Lew’s politics, and who cares, that’s not what’s really important….but it should be crystal clear to anyone with a brain and who is willing to use it (that’s the catch, isn’t it?) that Lew has done the time and the research to know what he’s talking about. How about the rest of you? Not, but that doesn’t stop them.

    I came to the conclusion many years ago, that the majority of people will believe what they want to believe. Sad thing is that so many don’t really care about facts if it disagrees with what they like and prefer to believe.

    Most of these comments prove it. If you want more proof, just read any news article at yahoo.com or any other news site that allows reader’s comments. The ignorance is staggering, yet they all are convinced they know what they’re talking about. And from where did they get their information on which to pronounce their judgments? The slanted news media, that reports a fraction of the actual story, and slants it to their views. Believe it, any news “report”, is only a few pieces of information, what they will allow the reporter to know, and then the reporter takes this worthless info and makes his/her own story out of it. And that’s what people think they can make judgments on.

    “Lack some knowing”, someone said. What a perfect example of what I’ve just written. Refusing to believe the truth from one who knows, clearly knowing NOTHING. But these people will not be convinced. THAT’S what is going to be America’s downfall. The truth can be very ugly, and often is, especially in the world of politics. It doesn’t take much research to learn that. A little research will bring up details about Pearl Harbor, the dropping of the A-bombs, and many other things in that and other wars, that the general public knows nothing about, and apparently doesn’t want to know anything about.

    That is what scares me. Head in the sand, no experience, no knowledge, yet pronouncing judgments.

  67. Val Kilmer expressed himself very well. His opinions were exactly like I would expect they would be coming from a Hollywod liberal. NO BRAIN NO PAIN. Because one is a actor does not make him intelligent and by Kilmer’s remarks it makes him flat out STUPID and IGNORANT. For someone who has been in the public spotlight for so long he should have never said what he said because he knows how it would be immediately reported. But the liberals like to give him a pass because they don’t believe people should be held accountable for their actions if he indeed said what he said. BULLSHIT. Hell, Obama is still blaming Bush for our country’s problems and the now the oil well problem is Bush’s fault too. It makes me sick to my stomach how liberals just think they can say whatever they want and get away with it. Vietnam like WW1, WW2, Korean, Iraq, Afganistan are ugly but as Americans we must stand together to support all our servicemen past, present and future or we as a country will not exist as free nation one day.

  68. You pompous self righteous ass. How could someone as self centered as you know anything about brave troops that risked their lives. My husband is a Vietnam vet, he joinned the military and left behind a career when he did, he volunteered for vietnam and was in the military for 4 years. He wasn’t poor, his father didn’t beat him and he already had an education. You Val Kilmer are nothing but a total jerk and I wouldn’t spend a dime going to see a movie you were in, besides I don’t like going to see fat, bloated men that can’t act.

  69. Thank you for clarifying who you directing that at in the beginning, N Best. I almost thought you mean me at first ;-)

    Welcome home to your husband and thank you for standing up for us.

  70. “I can only ask that you view my apology as a stepping stone toward repairing this misunderstanding between us so that we can go forward, working together toward a common interest in promoting and protecting our beloved New Mexico,” Kilmer said.

    Which is just another way of saying ‘ Please don’t come looking for me in my backyard anymore, the broken beer bottles and all that rough neck beating is your business, but please for the sake of New Mexico (and my fledging career) let’s get over this you bad ass bitches, I mean ho’s, I mean wife beaters? Well you know what I mean you bitches. Christ, is there a toilet where I can puke? By the way who took my Jack Beam?”

    http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/06/val-kilmer-wants-to-apologize-for-calling-you-a-homicidal-drunk/

  71. On his statements about those personnel involved in the war, yes, he’s an asshole, but he’s not wrong. After-all the greatest fighter in the world skimped out and made it sound poetic. (Muhammad Ali) Who gives a fuck? Life isn’t about what you say. It’s about what you do. And if he served, it shouldn’t be undermined and he can perceive it how he wants. Welcome to America you pompous prick! You’re indulging in the same gloat. I am a soldier as well, and the truth is we’re all full of shit until those moments you train for, and then there’s nothing theatrical about it. I’d rather watch him do it any day. In all actuality, all he said was that he’s a better actor than someone who’s not an actor. So why don’t you start a forum on an article out of the equalizer next time and let us all know before-hand that you’re a crying loser. This has been a major distraction from a project I’m working on. I’m making a t-shirt with Kilmer quotes. Peace!

  72. My my, kelt, care to give real documentation of how Kilmer is not wrong on those of us who served in Viet Nam?

    Comparing Kilmer to Ali is a joke. Ali did not serve due to religious convictions (Islam) and paid a price. Although opposed to that war, I defy you to find him speaking ill against Viet Nam Vets as did your boy, Kilmer.

    As for “who gives a fuck,” apparently you do. Or, you would not waste time commenting and making a fool out of yourself on a post that is over a year old.

    Soldier? Not like any I served with in my 8 years active duty.

  73. firstly lewwaters, i would like to say i deeply respect you for doing your duty, and not just doing it but staying over there longer to defend your country. i would secondly like to say that val kilmers comments that are seemingly certified as his are ignorant and idiotic. I would thirdly like to say that i have studied the vietnam war extensively and i do find it disheartening that the media can affect public opinion so completely that young men who go to do their duty can be made to appear as monsters… (point in case the famous picture of the monk burning which wasnt even in protest of the americans) however i do think the basic idea as to why america and her allies went to vietnam was flawed… i am sorry if it upsets you but i have serious issues with the domino theory, so whilst i respect you and the other veterans personally, i dont respect the men who made you go there for a cause that was fundimentally flawed.

  74. Richard, you do not upset me at all, you expressed an honest respectful opinion, thank you.

    Many, including those of us who fought that war, have similar questions that will probably never be answered adequately. One of my largest remains why, if Robert McNamara, as he said in his book In Retrospect, had such serious reservations as he now claims, did he not voice those reservations strongly to President Johnson?

    We will have to agree to disagree on the ‘Domino Theory,” as if you look back, other nations nearby suffered from the communist takeover of South Viet Nam, most notably Cambodia and Laos, with Indonesia taking a stand against communist insurgents.

    What I can never grasp is why we made a stand in Korea, but abandoned Viet Nam. The situations are nearly identical, otherwise.

    History will continue to disagree over Viet Nam itself and even those higher up who directed and initiated it. But, as you point out, it wasn’t the fault of those who were sent to fight it.

    For me personally, after all these years, I am surprised that lately, many from Viet Nam itself reach out to those of us who served there to thank us for our efforts to keep their nation free.

  75. lew i am an english citizen currently living in australia… whilst i agree with the domino effect in the way of the spread of the communist idea, i find it ridiculous that australia for instance went to vietnam because they believed if they didnt australia would become communist… this i dont see as feasible. I am very glad that the citizens of vietnam are reaching out to thank you brave soldiers for your efforts, because your own nation has been so swayed by a slanderous media that there are alot of people out there that see you as some sort of murderous hoard, and this i find greatly upsetting. As for Robert McNamara my guess would be that he like so many chose to stick with the side thats popular, when the vietnam war was the hit topic and america wanted to fight for democracy he was on team, now when vietnam is a dirty word he suddenly says he had reservations all along… moral of the story, never listen to politicians…

  76. I’m guessing no one here has ever said something they later regretted. Notice the enquirer STATES the interview was taped, but really…you’re going to believe the Enquirer??? That alone scares the bejebus outta me.

    None of these arguments matter though. Not one. No one will change their mind on either side of this fence, facts or bs, doesn’t matter: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/?page=full

    But if it makes ya feel better, carry on!

  77. Oops, my mistake, the magazine is Esquire…
    Still, I’ve been interview many times…and the media is after what they are after..doesn’t matter WHAT you say, it’s how they fit it into their own agenda. They twist it.
    Again…my argument doesn’t matter.
    Carry on!

  78. Well, lurking, the only thing that makes your argument “not matter” is that it is a poor one.

    Of course people say things they later regret. But, isn’t part of regretting them admitting you said them and express a profound heartfelt apology?

    Kilmer denies saying it, then issues a poor excuse of an apology saying he regrets if he hurt anyone’s feelings.

    And yes, you are also right that facts can backfire. In this case they are backfiring right into Kilmer’s lap.

  79. Lewwaters just tell some of the liberals that they need to go back to playing Dungeons and Dragons and leave the adults alone.

    Love your comments. We need more men like yourself.

  80. Thanks PR, I appreciate the comment.

    As for some of the others who commented, I suspect many of them don’t have a clue what they are talking about, just blowing smoke to feel good.

    It kind of comes with the territory when you decide to blog.

  81. kilmer sounds like a conserative not a liberal he is rich and criticizes the less fortunate. liberals stand up for the less fortunate and the middle class. they do not slander heros and take there acts of heroism for granted. thank you

  82. Do you mean like those liberal union members are fighting to extort more from stuggling taxpayers in Wisconsin, Jim?

    Stop reading Jerry Lembcke, he is dead wrong.

    Sadly, I imagine you actually believe your diatribe.

  83. Wow – was this ever cleared up? I find it VERY hard to believe someone would actually believe these things let alone say them out loud. Maybe he was severely misquoted? It is the enquirer after all.

    Either way – i agree with everything you said if this story is true, but i remain dubious.

    Admittedly I know little about Kilmer, but he doesn’t strike me as a typical hollywood airhead liberal so i’d be surprised if this was real.
    (please note i’m not by any means calling ALL liberals airheaded – but there is just something about many of the hollywood left that has always irked me – just like the religious right or so-called NeoCons drive me up the wall)

    Good article though (and i know i’m late to the party)

  84. Mic, although time has passed since I wrote this, it was confirmed that he definitely stated those derogatory remarks about those of us who served in Vietnam. The interview was recorded.

    http://www.military-money-matters.com/val-kilmer-esquire-response.html#axzz1m66qseU4

    Kilmer claims to have apologized, although his so called apology includes a denial still of him saying what was recorded.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/actor_val_kilmer_apologies_for.html

    As far as I am concerned, he can take his pseudo apology and shove it you know where.

  85. Yeah, with all due respect to the journalistic integrity of Esquire – the claims are still dubious. Furthermore the expectation that Kilmer dispute the validity of the Klosterman and Glass publications mentioned seems a bit silly – is he supposed to know everything that is said or written about him? all of this seems to have surfaced when he was considering a gubernatorial run. seems like a smear campaign to me.

    Again – i’m not really defending the guy, i just find it really hard to believe that some pinhead would make statements like that knowing people would be reading/hearing them. If they have a recording, why not make it public? Like I said – he never struck me as a hollywood liberal. but what do i know? obviously i missed ALL of this so i don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of pop culture.

    As for the second link to his apology – if he really didn’t say the vietnam thing and all he did was talk some crap about his neighbors i don’t really see the big deal. I will say that guy going on a rant against Kilmer certainly seemed like a nutbag though. How can a business be “racist” because people can’t afford to be clients? what an imbecile.

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