Thiebear Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 You know its bad when your own doctor says (In the words of Monty Python) IT's merely a flesh wound: Kerry's Vietnam Doc: Wound Accidentally Self-Inflicted The Navy medic who treated Sen. John Kerry after he sustained his first battlefield wound in Vietnam said Tuesday that he thought that the injury had been inadvertently self-inflicted - raising new questions about why Kerry sought a Purple Heart after the incident. Contacted by National Review Online, Dr. Louis Letson recalled that Kerry insisted during treatment that he was injured by enemy fire while his swift boat was patrolling the Mekong Delta on Dec. 2, 1968. However, "some of his crew confided that they did not receive any fire from shore," the Navy doc told NRO. Instead, his crewmen claimed that Kerry "had fired a mortar round at close range to some rocks on shore." One crewman told Letson that he thought Kerry's injury "was caused by a fragment ricocheting from that mortar round when it struck the rocks." Concluded Letson, "That seemed to fit the injury which I treated." He described the top Democrat's wound as "a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. "The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle." Letson recalled that he "simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. "I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound. "The wound was covered with a bandaid," Dr. Letson said. Based on the bandaid wound that was likely a result of a mortar round he fired, Kerry sought and eventually received his first Purple Heart. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Wow. This guy has one hell of a memory. He must not be from Alabama. What makes this even more disgusting is the president* didn't get anything for that paper cut he bravely endured that time he managed to show up for his drill weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted May 5, 2004 Author Share Posted May 5, 2004 So you slammed everyone from alabama. slammed the doctor slammed Bush Any comments on the actual event in the article or dont you want to have an opinion on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webnarc Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 I've been waiting to read this. Please source it because it sounds like an editorial piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2143-2004May4.html here you go. Its alittle different though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkyalligator Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 National Review online....hmmmmm.....sounds like a very credible news source......NOT!!!!!!.....Please.... Also...as far as I know you don't seek out medals....they are given by higher level officers......I doubt that part is true either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webnarc Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2143-2004May4.htmlhere you go. Its alittle different though. Thanks for the link . It's another John Kerry going to the bathroom story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Hadn't heard about this. I have heard one person (doctor? commander?) say he had seen paper cuts worse than Kerrys wound . Not sure if it is the same incident or another and I am sure it was an exaggeration but it makes you wonder. The same person went on to say that it seemed unusual to him to request a purple heart for such a small wound but legaly he qualified so it was approved. Now here's what gets me. Kerry ASKS for his purple hearts for minor injurys, THEN he comes back to America and makes a big deal of throwing his medals away. Only they aren't his medals. As best as anyone can figure they are his ribbons which can be easily replaced. The only common ground I can find in the two events is the need for attention. The other impression I get is that Kerry had planned to go into politics at an early age. Not a big deal, some people are like that. But It makes me wonder if his tour in Vietnam was his way of emulating his childhood hero JFK in an effort to pump up his future political goals. Like I said. I don't consider this to be that big a deal, but it does make me a bit uncomfortable with him. It just seems to be a patern of pre-meditated attention seeking that is more about style than substance. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 I didn't know you could request Medals. I thought they were given to you by a commanding officer who chooses. How does it work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 He's got until November to hang himself... and at the rate he's going he won't even be Democrats TRUE choice as their democratic nominee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted May 5, 2004 Author Share Posted May 5, 2004 Think of it like this: IF (in all caps) President Bush's Doctor came out from one of the bases he was allegedly at when not helping someone I cant remember campaign and said: I remember Bush came in and had to get medication to control his air-sickness... You couldnt turn on a channel and not read about it. True? Not true??? You reach 3 purple hearts you got out of Vietnam (thats why you ask for them)... His commanding officer at the time said to give him one to shut him up... (does it seem plausable?) If you say the word "Bandaid" and "Purple Heart" in the same sentence you should be ashamed of yourself... wooh rambling done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Originally posted by Thiebear If you say the word "Bandaid" and "Purple Heart" in the same sentence you should be ashamed of yourself... wooh rambling done... Don't know the point of the rest of your rambling but *I* didn't say purple heart and bandaid in the same sentence. THE MAN WHO APPROVED THE PURPLE HEART DID. This is a man who has seen serious wounds and his comment was that it was unusual to hve someone with such minor wounds request a purple heart. I'm sorry if you don't like the message but that is what I heard. I have to run now but I wil try to dig up some info on the web tonight. OR, you can educate yourself and do your own research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Originally posted by Thiebear So you slammed everyone from alabama. slammed the doctor slammed Bush Any comments on the actual event in the article or dont you want to have an opinion on that? I wasn't slamming everyone from Alabama. I just figured they don't have good memories since they don't remember Bush showing up. I didn't slam the doctor. I said he had one hell of a memory to remember one superficial wound that happened 36 years ago out of all the people he treated. I did slam Bush. I do have an opinion on the article. It's part of the on going GOP smear job against Kerry. Nothing but red meat for certain types of people. I think it's pathetic and a sign of desperation, but predictable. And I imagine most of the indignation from the right is feigned. I'm sure had Kerry hid behind his daddy and not gone he would be stealing huge amounts of voters from the GOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 hmmmmm. my thoughts? IT WAS 30 FU@#ING YEARS AGO!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 At least he was willing to actually go to war and fight for his country and be put in a position to be hurt by mortars rather than hide behind his dads influence and get a cushy job in the Air National Guards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooper Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Come on, it's far more patriotic to blow off a mandatory physical -- especially since the National Guard was issuing mandatory drug tests for the first time -- and go AWOL for a year than go to Vietnam. Dubya's the hero, not that french-looking Kerry. It was thirty years ago, guys. Who cares? I want to know who's going to do something for us NOW. Sadly, neither Kerry or Dubya excites me in the least. I guess Kerry should gets points for being able to complete a sentence. Have you actually listened to Dubya lately? His speech is actually regresssing. I'm worried that soon he won't be able to form a single word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 If Kerry's wounds did not merit a purple heart than go after the guy who awarded them to him. Last time I checked, you can't just ask for a purple heart and get one. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Actually you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 It has to be awarded by someone. Commanding officer. And the wound has to meet certain criteria to qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Yes, but the soldier can put in for it himself. It has to be that way. Otherwise, a soldier could only get a PH if they were wounded while a commanding officer was watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinthePRF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 This d**k waiving contest is getting exhausting. You were only in the coastguard. Well you were unpatriotic. Well at least I was at Vietnam, you stayed home. Well, at least I didn't fake my injury to seem like a real hero. Wow, this has SO MUCH to do with how either will be as a president for the next four years, it's SOOOOO important. *YAAAAAAAWWWNNN* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Of course, but it's not quite so simple as asking for one and then you get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Never said it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEF Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 "Last time I checked, you can't just ask for a purple heart and get one." "Actually you can." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Thats a true statement. Nowhere does it say I thought it was easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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