Can't believe people would run with this

by GGR
(California)

PLEASE READ THIS



As the mother of a son currently serving, and the daughter of a vet in a family of vets than run in an unbroken line back to the Revolution, I spend a lot of my surfing time on mil and vet blogs, and try to keep up with the news. I dedicate a lot of my time to support, especially to wounded warriors (incl my son, who met an IED up close and personal, survived, and has recovered nicely, thank you).

As a little kid during the Vietnam era, I remember being confused and angry at the way our warriors were being treated by the press, some celebrities, and other grownups I didn't know. I confess that it developed into a life-long sensitivity to this particular issue, esp regarding Nam vets (OK, I'm touchy).

The Nam vets I knew and know are an honorable and eclectic collection of individuals and I respect and honor them all. As a student at UCLA in the 80's I stood on Bruin walk and toe-to-toe challenged those who would defame our service people, supported ROTC and vets on campus, and tried to garner support to investigate what happened to our MIAs. These are life-long concerns to me.

Do you guys even know who Chuck Klosterman is?? He is a writer known for his narcissistic, sarcastic humor and cynicism. He firmly plants his tongue in cheek, then releases his wit. He gives his spin to stories, imaginatively creating conversations in his books. This Val Kilmer quote is from one of his books! "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story" You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Yourself-Live-True-Story/dp/0743264452

The Esquire blurb is just an excerpt. It is supposed to be funny, but I guess only to those who like this kind of sarcastic wit, and its out of context. As Klosteman is belittling Kilmer throughout the whole essay, I can't believe anyone would actually believe that these are verbatim quotes. I think Kilmer is a brilliant actor and Klosterman's writing can occasionally make me laugh out loud, so CHECK your sources, people!

If Klosterman TAPED this and can prove that its verbatim, that's one thing, but that was NOT how this was originally written. It was supposed to "give a sense of weirdness".

NONE of us KNOW Kilmer. He says he is the son of a vet. Please cut him some slack and stop spreading this rumor. Before you jump all over this and ruin his reputation, you should make 100% certain you know what you're talking about. Innocent until proven guilty, if you really believe in the Constitution, right?

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Feb 08, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		The Jury's Still Out
by: Janet, Editor

Hi GGR,

Thank you for the service of your family members, especially your son.

And thank you for joining our discussion, and letting us know that you, too, are sensitive to the mistreatment of Vietnam vets.

You should, then, understand why the vets who have responded here are offended at the perpetuation of this false stereotype, whether it was done by Kilmer or Klosterman.

Kilmer himself said they were justifiably offended.

There are several things in your comments that we'd like to respond to.

First, you indicate the Esquire interview is an excerpt from a Klosterman book, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story. If you will go to the original Esquire article, you will see it was published in July of 2005. The book you mention was published in June of 2006.

Ordinarily, excerpts are published AFTER the book they're taken from, not before. But that isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule. Sometimes, "teasers" are published before a book comes out, but not usually a full year before the book will be published.

Again, going back to the original Esquire article, at the end, it says, "Chuck Klosterman is the author of many fine books, including Chuck Klosterman IV which is available at your local bookstore or online . . ." That title was published in August of 2006.

If this article were merely an excerpt from an upcoming book, wouldn't you think THAT book would be the one advertised at the end of the article, something like, "This article was excerpted from the upcoming Chuck Klosterman book . . . Look for it in your local bookstore"?

I haven't read the book (and don't intend to), so I don't know - Could it be that the book is a compilation of stories previously published, and this one was simply included in them?

If you've read the page you posted to, you'll know we ARE checking our sources. Do you have ANY IDEA how much research is required, and how much time that takes? We're being responsible enough to try to verify the information, unlike many online sources, so give us a little credit.

We verified that Kilmer's response actually came from Kilmer, and we've contacted Esquire to give both the magazine and Klosterman an opportunity to respond.

As soon as we hear from them, we'll let you know - right here.

AND if you read the page, you'll see that we've apologized to Mr. Kilmer IF he did not make the remarks attributed to him.

So maybe you could cut us some slack, too?

"Innocent until proven guilty, if you really believe in the Constitution, right?"

Does that apply to us, too?

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