Veteran's Daughter Disappointed in Val Kilmer

Aug 03, 2010
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What did he say?
by: Anonymous

I do hope you read exactly what Val Kilmer said and in what context. We did read exactly what Val said. That's the problem.

He was talking about preparing for a role, and as usual, journalists twist what is said. The journalist in this case did not twist what was said. The reporter for Esquire tape-recorded the interview. The quotes were independently verified by another staff person, comparing it to the tape, before they were published.

Val does a lot of work for Veterans and has been out to Iraq himself. Maybe, but it had nothing to do with supporting the troops. In 1998 Val Kilmer made a trip to Iraq with Americares to distribute humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. There are no reports that we found of him even visiting any of our troops while he was there. Your comment is misleading.

He actively supports Operation Coming Home which endeavours to provide housing and support for returning vets. He would never disrespect them. But he did. See his comments below.

Like most of us, he holds Veterans of any war in the highest regard. Then why hasn't he responded to this publicity problem by publicly thanking all our vets and encouraging the rest of Hollywood to do the same?

We appreciate your loyalty to the image you believe is Val Kilmer.

However, in what Val said, he did "disrespect them." In case you've forgotten, his exact words (confirmed by Esquire from their recording, not twisted by the reporter) were:

"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. . . . I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there."

There is no context for those statements that would make them NOT disrespectful to ALL Vietnam veterans.

Perhaps Val did go to Iraq, but it had nothing to do with supporting our troops, as your statement implies. His own bio on imdb says, "Visited Iraq briefly in April 1998 with AmeriCares, delivering supplies such as food, medicine and baby food." He was delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. Wouldn't it have been nice if he'd bothered to pay a visit to our troops, since he was already there?

We invited Val Kilmer to redeem himself by publicly thanking our Vietnam veterans and encouraging other entertainers to do the same thing. He has chosen not to, which speaks volumes. It lends credence to the authenticity of the quote.

We realize Val has a PR problem, but he created it, and he's chosen not to remedy it.

As they say, you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Veteran's Daughter Disappointed in Val Kilmer

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Veteran's Daughter Disappointed in Val Kilmer