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Now FDA-approved, maggots have resurfaced as an important tool of modern medicine.

BOSTON - Veterans who served as crewmates on a Vietnam War "swift boat" commanded by a young John Kerry say they are furious that opponents of his presidential campaign are questioning the validity of the medals Kerry was awarded in the war. "I was there when Sen. Kerry got shot, and I've seen his blood on the deck of a swift boat. And I can assure you it's American red, and there's not a speck of blue in that blood," said Fred Short, 56, of Little Rock, Ark. Short, who served as a gunner's mate under Kerry's command, said he...

<p>The military records that Sen. John Kerry posted on his Web site yesterday raise new questions about the actions he took to earn several prestigious war medals and whether he deserved them.</p> <p>The Navy awarded Mr. Kerry three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in just four months of commanding a gunboat along rivers in Vietnam. It's an extraordinary record, say many veterans, and one that raises questions on its face.</p>

Staff Sgt. Matt Hayden was reasonably sure in early March that he could be home in Rhode Island instead of pulling military police duties here, near the capital city of Doha, where he was completing his year of active duty as a National Guard soldier helping to fight the global war against terrorism. Hayden figured the three wounds he received when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded about 10 feet from him Aug. 5, 2003, in Iraq probably were severe enough so he would not have had to spend the winter in this small country beside the Persian Gulf. But that is...

The Fifteen Prayers of St. Bridget of SwedenMarch 29, 1992 Brother John Raymond St. Bridget as a child lived in a castle in Sweden. The castle had a chapel where Holy Mass was said daily. At the age of 10 she heard a sermon preached on the sufferings of Christ. When she went to bed that night she lay awake crying over the sufferings of Jesus. Before dawn she had a vision of Christ Crucified, His Wounds bleeding as if freshly inflicted. He said to her, "See how I have been wounded." She asked, "Who has done this to You?"...

Let's Not Sue Over Each Word That Wounds BY E.R. SHIPP New York Daily News (KRT) - On Friday, Oct. 17, 2003, something terrible happened to my child at school. Something that will change her outlook on teachers for the rest of her life." Thus began a mother's anguished letter and a challenge not just to the administrators at Public School 35 in Hollis, Queens but also to the entire New York City school system - and to the rest of us who have watched from the sidelines, an increasingly uncomfortable place to be. We like to think that "sticks...

Bin Laden died from wounds suffered in Tora Bora air raid, says Arab expert By John Lichfield in Paris 10 May 2003 Osama bin Laden died after being maimed in an American air raid on the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan in December 2001, a French expert on the Arab world believes. Ghislaine Alleaume, a historian and Arabist at the French national research centre, the CNRS, reached her conclusion after studying television and internet messages circulated by Bin Laden's supporters. She bases her theory mostly on a video of the al- Qa'ida leader broadcast by al-Jazeera television on 27 December...

Nightclub stampede reopens Chicago's racial wounds By Andrew Gumbel in Chicago 19 February 2003 The nightclub stampede that claimed 21 lives in Chicago on Monday caused a war of words yesterday between the city's civic leaders and the African-American community. Each blamed the other for allowing the club to operate after a court order demanded its closure eight months ago. The Rev Jesse Jackson, who is based in Chicago, returned to the nightclub yesterday to demand an independent investigation that would look at the city's failings as well as any negligence on the part of the club. He said the...