Sen. John Kerry's Purple Heart-burn

http://www.claywaters.com/blogger.html ^ | Clay Waters

[edmundburk]

"Politics in a Time of War" in the latest USNews shows liberal Sen. John Kerry on a war footing with President Bush, as a possible prelude to a presidential run by eternal hopeful Kerry in 2004. Kerry is a Vietnam War hero, as he reminds us every chance he gets. According to US News:

“Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts sat at his Senate office desk next to the bullet-punctured American flag that used to fly from the gunboat he commanded in Vietnam and implied that anybody who tried to question his patriotism was going to run into a buzz saw. "I've got a pretty good sense of what it means to serve your country," Kerry said in cold, measured tones. "I've got a pretty good sense of patriotism. I can go toe to toe with anybody.'"

But the article doesn’t mention a little detail that takes a bit of the shine off the war hero. There is a mention of the bullet-punctured flag, but no mention of his Purple Hearts, which, despite what Kerry himself would have had us believe, he still possesses.

Kerry was a leading voice in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, an effort that culminated in a famous 1971 protest where the veterans disposing of their medals on the Capitol steps. Kerry tossed his Purple Hearts. Or did he?

The Boston Globe reported:

Newspaper accounts described Kerry throwing his own medals, and in a speech immediately afterward to the veterans, Kerry said: ‘This administration forced us to return our medals...These leaders denied us the integrity those symbols supposedly gave our lives.'"

But the medals Kerry threw were not his own.

Years later, a reporter noticed the Purple Hearts on display on the wall of Sen. Kerry's office. The medals he threw away weren't his but belonged to two other veterans who had entrusted them to Kerry to make a statement with. He told The Globe the two sets of medals he threw had been handed to him by a wounded veteran in a New York VA hospital and by a World War II veteran from Massachusetts that he had met at a fundraiser. He couldn’t remember their names.

So Kerry made himself look righteous by disposing of something someone else had earned. The perfect liberal.

[Lord_Baltar]

What I'd like to see are some of the reasons these guys gave to excuse themselves from serving. I know Cheney said something like "I had better things to do", Dubya refuses to go into any details about that whole grounded/AWOL thing.

However it is interesting, the folks that seem the most interested in sending in the Troops had no interest in being one of the troops when it was their turn to be sent.

[iamyourdaddytoday]

I heard that Tom Delay defended Dan Quayle by saying something to the effect of "Mr. Quayle wanted to serve during vietnam, but all of the slots were taken"

I have no idea if this is true, but really turns my stomach if it is....

[Lord_Baltar]

Sadly, it probably is true.

Funny, Delay didn't serve, either, did he?

[MichaelinMilwaukee]

After reading everyone else's comments about John Kerry's Purple Hearts, I have to also express my opinion. I am a Vietnam Combat Veteran (U.S. Marines 1967-68). By the grace of God, I did not get wounded while I was there even though I was in situations where I thought I was going to get killed. Here's what people might not be aware of regarding "some people" who received 3 Purple Hearts while serving in Vietnam: Most recipients were legitimately awarded this medal. However, it was common knowledge that if you got 3 Purple Hearts, you automatically were guaranteed a ticket out of Nam unless you volunteered to stay. It was also common knowledge that some people (while in a combat situation) did actually create self-inflicted wounds to get a Purple Heart (with the intention to eventually acquire 3 of them). Here's the point, since John Kerry refuses to discuss the details of how he acquired all 3 Purple Hearts and that they were all reported to be from very minor wounds, I am of the mind that his awards are highly suspect of being acquired under fraudulent circumstances. My hope is that someone from the news media would pick up on this and make it as hot a topic as the outrageous assertion that President Bush was AWOL from his National Guard Unit!

[bodyguardingu]

Courage comes in different forms and seems to me that yours comes in the form of ignorance as you seem to feel that only a certain party has courage or is noble. Remember that education does not confer intelligence !! Inside every Republican is a Democrat....screeeeming to get out !!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Courage to pick other peoples' pockets ?
I'll leave that to Wellstone clones like the two Johns.

[militarycollector]

If you get a chance to see the picture of Kerry before the Senate Foreign Relations committee, take a gander at what he is wearing. He is wearing "Utilities" and on his left side is his ribbon cluster. At no time has the Navy ever authorized the wearing of ribbons on utilities.