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| Kerry’s Doctor for Purple Heart #1 Speaks Out |
| 2004-05-04 |
| Link via Drudge to NRO Kerry Purple Heart Doc Speaks Out The medical description of his first wound. His statement - Dr Louis Letson, MD I have a very clear memory of an incident which occurred while I was the Medical Officer at Naval Support Facility, Cam Ranh Bay. John Kerry was a (jg), the OinC or skipper of a Swift boat, newly arrived in Vietnam. On the night of December 2, he was on patrol north of Cam Ranh, up near Nha Trang area. The next day he came to sick bay, the medical facility, for treatment of a wound that had occurred that night. The story he told was different from what his crewmen had to say about that night. According to Kerry, they had been engaged in a fire fight, receiving small arms fire from on shore. He said that his injury resulted from this enemy action. Some of his crew confided that they did not receive any fire from shore, but that Kerry had fired a mortar round at close range to some rocks on shore. The crewman thought that the injury was caused by a fragment ricocheting from that mortar round when it struck the rocks. That seemed to fit the injury which I treated. What I saw was 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. I 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. Not [sic] other injuries were reported and I do not recall that there was any reported damage to the boat. Oops |
| Posted by:BigEd |
| #15 This type of scrutiny is long coming for Kerry. For over a year he has spouted how he's a Vietnam vet and how he has those purple hearts. And it matters because he denigrates those who earned their hearts when he evidently purposely injured himself for one. |
| Posted by: AF Lady TROLL 2004-05-04 10:44:43 PM |
| #14 [Troll droppings deleted] |
| Posted by: Man Bites Dog TROLL 2004-05-04 10:44:43 PM |
| #13 Ruprecht, Under the point system the Army used after the war ended, each Purple heart was worth a certain number of points. the more points, the earlier a soldier got out. Let's find another reason to bash Kerry. There are so many.... |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2004-05-05 1:30:35 AM |
| #12 The difference between this and the Bill Maudlin story is you didn't go home from WW2 because of Purple Hearts. In Vietnam 3 purple hearts and you were gone. A cynical person might wonder if Kerry inflated his first wound to increase his odds of getting out quickly. If you play your cards right you could get out in 6 months or so that way. Or so a cynic might wonder. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-05-04 11:36:59 PM |
| #11 I think Kerry actually believes his exploits as he describes them in the same way that Al Gore believes his own hype. Remember the story about Kerry having a film "re-enacting" the event that won him one of his medals? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-04 11:06:46 PM |
| #10 Ahhh, but Kerry demanded this medal. He put himself up for it. It wasn't thrust upon him. And he felt it and its two successors gave him the right to an early trip home. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-04 11:05:38 PM |
| #9 [Troll droppings deleted] |
| Posted by: Man Bites Dog TROLL 2004-05-04 10:44:43 PM |
| #8 I think Kerry actually believes his exploits as he describes them in the same way that Al Gore believes his own hype. Cognitive Dissonance Reduction tends to purify incidents that could otherwise cause a mental breakdown. I speculate that CDR has a larger effect on politicians because they have to believe their own myths in order to convince others. For instance, it is documented that Tail gunner Joe received his "battle wound" during a crossing the line ceremony (shipboard hazing conducted when a USN ship crosses the equator.) A guest lecturer at a history symposium that I attended in college put forth a convincing argument that by the end of his life, Joe whole-heartedly thought he had been wounded in battle. Note - large amounts of bourbon tend to facilitate the CDR process. Disclaimer: as a Math major with a low GPA, feel free to dismember my foray into petulant foray into graduate level psychology. 8~} |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-04 10:43:53 PM |
| #7 Apparently almost all his colleagues in today's press conference think he is unfit. The Dims are trying to spin this as Republican smear but I don't think that all of those other Nam Vets are Repubs. I just can't think of anythjing more appropriate for John Kerry than the name Hanoi John. That says it all for me. Spin away Hanoi John you haven't fooled a lot of us Nam Vets. |
| Posted by: Bill Nelson 2004-05-04 9:43:57 PM |
| #6 you take the medals the Army gives you Ahhh, but Kerry demanded this medal. He put himself up for it. It wasn't thrust upon him. |
| Posted by: spiffo 2004-05-04 7:36:44 PM |
| #5 I don't think it is that big of a deal, but there are two things that make it relevant: (1) Kerry apparenty sought the Purple Heart (unlike Mauldin I take it), and (2) Kerry apparently lied to get it. |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-05-04 7:33:54 PM |
| #4 If you read Bill Mauldin's WWII memoir, you'll find that he received a Purple Heart for a would even more superficial. When he was in line waiting to get outprocessed, the interviewer expressed some credulity at this. Then, a Sargeant told the interviewer not to complain; you take the medals the Army gives you. So, please don't make a big deal about this medal; there are more important things to worry about. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2004-05-04 7:24:12 PM |
| #3 What is Kerry's current description of this "injury"? Anybody know or have a link? I think he hurt himself worse when he pulled a muscle tossing his ribbons over the fence. He probably applied for another purple heart for that. |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-05-04 7:10:26 PM |
| #2 ROTFLMAO !!! Ooooooh, brave hero!!!! Not. |
| Posted by: Dem no longer 2004-05-04 6:43:45 PM |
| #1 ...he remembers his brief encounter with Kerry 35 years ago because "some of his crewmen related that Lt. Kerry had told them that he would be the next JFK from Massachusetts." Somehow, that does not surprise me even one tiny bit. Sheesh... |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-05-04 6:42:18 PM |