Purple Hearts: Dole 2, Cleland 0, Kerry 3

During World War II, Dole served as a combat infantry officer with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy. He was wounded twice and hospitalized for thirty-nine months. He received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star. He eventually lost almost all use of his right arm due to his war injuries.
Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Bob-Dole

Democrats tout the Silver and Bronze Stars won by both Kerry and Cleland in Vietnam. But they prefer not to mention that, despite losing two legs and an arm to a hand grenade, Cleland was never awarded even one Purple Heart. The reason, as columnists Ann Coulter and Mark Steyn were widely attacked for pointing out, is that Cleland’s horrible injuries did not happen in combat, as Kerry tries to suggest with his deceitfully-crafted phrase about Cleland leaving his limbs “on the battlefield.”
Source: http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14415

Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart for an injury incurred during his first combat experience (on December 2, 1968). He was treated for a small piece of shrapnel in his arm and he immediately returned to duty. On February 20, 1969, he earned a second Purple Heart when his left thigh was hit with shrapnel and, again, he was treated and returned to duty. Eight days later, on February 28, 1969, Kerry's boat was hit by a B-40 rocket. After beaching his boat, Kerry chased down and killed a wounded Viet Cong, who had been shot in the leg by a crew-mate and was fleeing with another B-40 rocket. Kerry came back to the boat with the rocket and launcher. He was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions. On March 13, 1969, Kerry's boat detonated a mine (as his position took heavy fire) and his arm was wounded. For his injury and rescuing U.S. Army Green Beret James Rassmann on the same occasion, Kerry was awarded a third Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Combat V. The last of his three injuries included a bruised arm and shrapnel in his posterior which, according to Kerry, cost him about two days of active service. Due to questions regarding the nature of his wounds, the Kerry Campaign released his military records.
Source: http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/military_records.html

HitmanNY said: "Did enlisted men do any better?"

Losing a college deferment during the VietNam war meant that one would be hearing from their draft board quickly.

One option was to volunteer for three years active duty in the Army with technical training rather than serve two years as a draftee with assignment to infrantry almost certain.

Assuming one had qualifying scores on the admissions tests, one might opt for a signal school lasting nine months. Adding the two months for basic and a months leave, that would leave two years to serve after completing the technical school.

E-1 Private is a private with no stripes and is the entry rank. Four months of service generates a promotion to E-2 Private, with raise of pay and a single stripe. This was virtually automatic and occurred for everyone who didn't get into legal or behavioral problems.

Promotion to E-3, Private First Class, was almost automatic after about 18 months, at least for those in signal schools. For some shorter schools this might be the rank at graduation. For longer schools, the rank at graduation was Specialist E-4, with an Eagle rank insignia and the same pay as a Corporal (two stripes). Not everyone who started a school offering E-4 at graduation was able to successfully complete it. Some underqualified people found themselves washed out of school and may have ended up in infantry training.

Prior to my attendance, it had been the practice that Honors Students would get a two stripe promotion at graduation to E-5. (All I got was the certificate.)

The top finishers in technical school would find themselves assigned to VN ( well, duh, why didn't I think of that sooner.)

Most of the technical specialists just out of school would arrive in VN as Specialist E-4s.

After about six months, it would not be unusual that some of the E-5s at one's duty station would have ended their tours and gone home. This would create openings and roughly the top half of the E-4s would be encouraged to appear before a promotion board. Perhaps one or two in five would be promoted to E-5. Six months later, one might hope to be sent home.

At the time I was in, there was an early-out policy which stated that a soldier returning home with less than 150 days of active service remaining would be discharged. In order to qualify, one might extend one's stay in VN for, say, five months, and get out of the Army five months early.

Such a soldier would probably be informed that a $10K re-enlistment bonus was available to him and that immediate promotion to Specialist E-6, and perhaps Specialist E-7 could be negotiated. Such a soldier might have a hard time keeping a straight face while turning down such a golden opportunity.

I understand that most of the Specialist ranks are no longer used. Specialist E-7 would be the same pay grade as Sergeant First Class. Only Master Sergeant, E-8, and Sergeant-Major, E-9, are higher.

As this shows, I think, a person who had an Army enlisted career in mind could have got off to a great start at the time I was in. There were a lot fewer commissioned officers than enlisted personnel, so competition for any officer-level promotions would be very heavy.

Also, the promotions I received were all "temporary" promotions made possible by the large increase in the size of the Army. The highest permanent grade I held was, I believe, Private First Class. This fact may have created great disappointment for those who decided to make the Army a career only to find that Reductions in Force might take away all that they thought they had earned.

Cool. I am casual friends with a retired AF Colonel, a super guy, once a meteorologist in the AF. Anyway, the only time this topic ever came up with him, he basically said you can get to Lt. Col/Col on merit and time, if you are any good. I think his era was the 1970s.

Anyway he wasn't explicit but spoke dismissively about officer promotion above that rank. I figured he just wasn't in the 'clique' and the politics in play would make it a real feat to rise above his rank. He retired, and enjoyed other careers after that.

As for me, I am more of an enlisted man type, I think, so I was always identified more with the guys with stripes. If I would have ever enlisted in any branch of service, peacetime or wartime, it would have been the USAF as an enlisted man. I strongly considered that in 1986 when I turned 18, but opted instead for College and then Law School. I don't think I would have been career, though.

Also somewhat related, the first thing I noticed about that pic of Kerry pointing his finger at the young Marine (the Marine looked to me like he wanted to slug him), was that the quiet dynamic of the scene was an 'Officer' (granted 30+ years post-service) talking to 'Stripes' - I think the young man was Sgt. Anyway, for what it was worth (and in no way flattering myself since I can't shine a US Marine's shoes), I was naturally identifying with the Sgt in the pic. Those are my kinda guys!

First let me thank you for your service to our country.

Second, let me thank you for taking the time to explain this at length. I have looked online in the past for exactly this kind of analysis but never found it and I resorted to reading between the lines.

In any case, while I know your explanation doesn't satisfy all cases, I think I got a good grasp of how it worked in most cases. Thank you very much for taking the time to satisfy my mostly academic interest.

Re: The temporary promotions: I don't think most civilians know much about them, and the only reason I am aware of them was that my dad has mentioned them to me in the past.

He was drafted in July 1945, so as they say, he was a "lucky fella, mr smith," coming in just as the war was ending. He was an MP and I don't think he ever left stateside. In any case, he either spoke of the experience of some of the people he knew in the service or some friends of his who wound up in Korea, but he had mentioned the temporary promotions and I thought the whole concept was a royal ripoff.

My dad smiled and said "well, you're in the army, now!"

Again thanks for your service and taking the time to explain this to me.

as Kerry tries to suggest with his deceitfully-crafted phrase about Cleland leaving his limbs “on the battlefield.”

Kerry is dishonest, and Cleland has milked his service for dramatic effect, too, but I would really urge you to carefully rephrase your criticism. Cleland was wounded serving in the military, and while it may have been from his own mistake, it still happened in the military, while he was serving, and would not have happened had he not been in the military. So sorry, but I do agree that Cleland left his limbs 'on the battlefield'(Vietnam was the battlefield), and parsing to this extent to criticize will only backfire.

In fact any serviceman injured, even in bootcamp, is in my eyes someone who was injured 'on the battlefield', because it is an injury that could only happen because they agreed to serve. Why should we insult the soldier, sailor, or Marine who is wounded outside actual combat? Yes, I understand the need at times to distinguish between various types of injuries and circumstances(such as for the awarding of a medal), but I have a debt of gratitude and sorrow for anyone in the military who is injured in service. I never voted for Cleland, never will, and didn't care for how he at times hid behind his injuries to try and prevent criticism of a horrible voting record in Congress. The latter is shameful, but his loss of limbs were real and happened in service to our country, and so I salute and honor that sacrifice.

You do good work here on FR, and I am not trying to be harsh or condemning, but simply disagree on this point and hope that we can be more careful in how we criticize, lest we inadvertantly denigrate the real sacrifices of so many men and women that took place behind the scenes, in support roles, and out of the spotlight. Those are all in service and 'on the battlefield'.

HitmanNY said: "First let me thank you for your service to our country. "

I was a very reluctant soldier. The alternatives were few. For what it was worth, you are welcome. I am a different and better person for having served. The day I got out is still one of the happiest in my memory.

HitmanNY said: "...he had mentioned the temporary promotions and I thought the whole concept was a royal ripoff. "

Armies through thousands of years have probably learned to cope with having to swell the ranks during war time only to shrink when peace breaks out.

When I first received promotion orders which read, "promotion to temporary grade ...", I thought that there might have been some probationary period involved or something like that. Later, I just ignored the wording. Only in later years did it seem to make sense. I wonder what "permanent" rank some of the NCOs I served with held. For all I know, some of them might have been PFCs as well.

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