Something About Nothing (Purple Hearts)

[kskiska]

By Roger Simon

(snip)

Even though there is nothing funny about Purple Hearts, I had to smile when I first heard that accusation. As anyone in the military can tell you, Purple Hearts have over the years been awarded for all kinds of reasons.

My father, a combat veteran of the Pacific in World War II, received a number of medals including a Purple Heart. The Purple Heart was the only one he would talk about. “We were unloading sides of beef off a ship,” he told me, “and there was an air raid and some jerk let go of his rope and the side of beef fell right on top of me. When I woke up in the hospital, an officer was going down the rows handing out Purple Hearts to everyone. So that’s how I got my Purple Heart.”

According to the Associated Press: “Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Kerry's third Purple Heart came from an incident on March 13, 1969, when a mine had exploded near Kerry's swiftboat. A small piece of shrapnel lodged in his left upper buttock. He was treated with a tetanus shot, topical dressing and an ace bandage. Kerry also was wounded by a piece of shrapnel on Feb. 20, 1969, on his left thigh. Doctors decided to leave the shrapnel in place rather than make a wider opening to remove it.”

So here is a guy still walking around with shrapnel in his thigh that he got while serving his country in combat and he has to defend himself against charges that his first wound wasn’t big enough?

Which leaves me with two questions: One, how many of those who are questioning his service in Vietnam served in Vietnam at all?

And, two, who the hell cares about how big his wounds were? What’s the standard? The bigger the wound, the more qualified you are to be president?

Because if that is the standard, then George W. Bush is in big, big trouble.

more…
http://www.rogersimon.com/archive/004987.html#004987

[Old and In the Way]

1. Funny thing about shrapnel.

A few inches can mean life and death. It was the combat, stupid. (Not you kskika :-))

[kskiska]

2. Ooh, gee, for a minute there…

;-)
Actually, my dad's got a purple heart from bailing out of a B-17 over Germany. Flak made a hole right through his hand (Germans fixed it). Could have been a lot worse.

[Old and In the Way]

3. My dad (God rest his soul) had an experience in WW2

He was in a pocket aircraft carrier off the coast of South America somewhere in the Pacific. He was in the engine room. They took 2 topedos somewhere close to his station....neither detonated. No Purple Heart, but I'll bet it took 10 years off his life.

Serendipity...

[Stuckinthebush]

4. My uncle received a Purple Heart in WWII

He was the navigator on a bomber (can't remember the type). His plane was shot down somewhere over Germany. He didn't make it.

The war in Europe ended two weeks later.

This whole purple heart nonsense from the GOP is going to blow up in their collective faces. Once people start to compare the records of the two men, the fact that Kerry put himself in harms way intentionally shows how much of a better CIC he would be than the idiot in chief we have now.