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| Kerry Offers Some Military Records | ||
| 2004-04-21 | ||
| WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid questions about his military records, John Kerry's campaign on Tuesday provided documentation of Vietnam War injuries that included shrapnel wounds to his arms, legs and buttocks that earned him three Purple Hearts. Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said the campaign was in the process of compiling the rest of Kerry's naval record and planned to begin posting it on Kerry's Web site by day's end. Kerry said all his military records are available to the public during an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Meehan said the Massachusetts senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee requested a copy of his record from the Navy last month and received roughly 150 pages last week. He served two tours of duty, four months on the USS Gridley frigate off Vietnam's shore and nearly five months as a swiftboat commander in the Mekong Delta. He volunteered for the second tour and earned all his medals during the second stint. Meehan gave The Associated Press 13 pages that included documentation for the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. The documents also included declassified reports that briefly explain the injuries that led to Kerry's Purple Heart awards. They show Kerry had shrapnel wounds in his left thigh after his boat came under intense fire on Feb. 20, 1969, and he suffered shrapnel wounds in his left buttock and contusions on his right forearm when a mine detonated close to his boat on March 13, 1969. The campaign could not locate a similar report for Kerry's original Purple Heart. As evidence that Kerry was wounded, Meehan showed The Associated Press a "Sick Call Treatment Record" from Kerry's personal files that included a brief written note dated Dec. 3, 1968, and stamped from the naval support facility at Cam Ranh Bay. "Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl bacitracin dressing. Ret to Duty," it said. The note is followed by a signature that appears to say "JCCarreon" and some illegible letters that Meehan said probably designate the medical official's rank.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 a 25 year old Jane Fonda was attractive and so was Mata Hari. . . . |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-21 2:53:28 PM |
| #3 No, no, no you don't understand. YOU AREN"T LISTENING. This macho military war hero stuff is something you have to do if you want to get ahead in New England politics. So I got in as an officer, got out without taking a bullet, and got down to the business of screwing Jane Fonda, dig? The Kong and exploding mines or hash and a 25 year old Jane Fonda: which one would you choose, bro? Oh, and, uh, Bush is Hitler! Power to the people! |
| Posted by: John Kerry 2004-04-21 11:26:08 AM |
| #2 Hrrrrmph. So much for the "war hero" bullshit. Three wounds, none of them so serious it couldn't be taken care of just by going on sick call to get a bandaid and then returning to duty. And demanding a Purple Heart for each scratch, and then demanding to go home once he'd got three Purple Hearts. Not exactly Audie Murphy. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-04-21 6:02:12 AM |
| #1 Bacitracin? IN other words he got a bandaid and some Bactine. Sounds like a scrape to me. And a small one at that. Kerry is a self aggrandizing Boston blueblood liberal. YEah, just what we need as a president. Not. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-04-21 1:23:39 AM |