Those records are incomplete.  You should know that his first Purple
Heart is being called into question by the 250 Swiftees of the
organization at www.swiftvets.com.

They state he inflicted his extremely superficial wound on himself by
discharging an M-79 (grenade launcher) too close to the boat.  The 2 mm
piece of shrapnel he caught in the arm came from his own grenade.  The
doctor extracted the piece of shrapnel with tweezers and put on a
Band-Aid.  It was nothing.  His commanding officer threw him out of his
office when Kerry came to ask for a Purple Heart recommendation.  His CO
was surprised to learn during the current election campaign that Kerry
somehow got a Purple Heart for his self-inflicted scratch.  He does not
know how Kerry did it and who signed for it.  That record is sealed.

You will notice that the Kerry website only shows the Purple Heart
certificates, not the actual recommendations; we thus do not know who
signed the recommendation.  Further, the incident that led to his first
Purple Heart is noticeably absent from his "After-Action Combat Reports"
section of his web site.

I am looking forward to the book coming out on 15 August, Unfit for
Duty.  The free chapter, which is available at the swiftvets website, is
extremely interesting and I can't wait to read the rest of the book.

The extreme reaction of the DNC, getting multiple lawyers to send
letters to TV station enjoining them not to run the ad, leads me to
believe they consider this development to be of the gravest magnitude.
I think it may well lead to even worse disaster for Kerry in November.

I would be skeptical if it were one or two vets, but when it's 250+
including his superiors, I pay attention...

Oh, and if you think this ad is unjustified, just remember these
veterans are responding to John Edwards' ad which uses their pictures
without their approval.


Denys

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *