interesting 4 page story supposedly from Kerry's diary about the Rassman day...Thurlow reportedly got a bronze star also..
http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blkerryinvietnam/index.html
Kerry had been wounded three times and received three Purple Hearts. Asked about the severity of the wounds, Kerry said that one of them cost him about two days of service, and that the other two did not interrupt his duty. "Walking wounded," as Kerry put it. A shrapnel wound in his left arm gave Kerry pain for years. Kerry declined a request from the Globe to sign a waiver authorizing the release of military documents that are covered under the Privacy Act and that might shed more light on the extent of the treatment Kerry needed as a result of the wounds
I was unaware of Kerry missing anytime....?