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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! February 26, 2004 The Second Purple HeartBy GreyhawkContinuing with the Snopes account of John Kerry's adventure in Vietnam: John Kerry earned his second Purple Heart while returning from a PCF mission up the Bo De River on 20 February 1969: Comments are open. One question for consideration: would you accept a second Purle Heart for this incident, or would you even report the injury? Posted by Greyhawk / February 26, 2004 3:31 PM | Permalink 12 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Is it just me or does anybody else have a feeling, based on the two accounts posted so far, that Kerry was (is) a flaming idiot in regards to common sense tactics? Should such an individual be awarded a PH for wounds (however minor) incurred because of utter stupidity?
While the incident, as described, meets the Purple Heart award criteria, I don't get how a "hot piece of shrapnel" can "bore" into one's leg sufficient to cause blood to run down the deck and yet not be serious enough to cause some loss of time from duty. Wasn't this shrapnel surgically removed or did Kerry simply dig it out himself with his K-Bar? Certainly this is all well documented in the Clinical Record report (Standard Form 502) included in his service records. I know mine is.
I agree.
While sadly it does meet the criteria (Please VFW Magazines article "The Purple Heart, Seperating Fact from Fiction" http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.magDtl&dtl=2&mid=1581
He got his.
I know mine was a good bit more, requiring surgery and rest in Hereford for 2 weeks not to mention recovery time.
However, methinks that Kerry tries to play on what he did (didn't?) do in The Nam much more than any other (including McCain) vets.
Did Kerry really see "The Elephant". Who knows, but I can hope that deep down he questions himself while he's shaving in the morning.
I probably would not accept one, but I don't think I can fault anyone for doing so. If it meets the criteria, then it meets the criteria.
I just found your site via a link to "Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy" and was absolutely blown away. Thank you for fighting for me, for all of us, for finding a place inside of yourself where you can do what needs to be done. I have no real idea of what soldiers go through, and I am horribly against war, but after reading your post, I understand more clearly what is going on, and why what is occuring has to occur. I know that I get to go to sleep tonight and be safe, and make choices about what I am going to do with my day tomorrow, because there are people who spend their lives creating the boundaries in which the rest of can live within. I apologize if i am babbling :) - your post is running through my head and all sorts of things are clicking. My god, the world that we live in . . . will the evilness ever stop? Will war ever be uneccesary? the movie Cold Mountain just popped into my head . . . the scenes of the battles . . . wow . . . my heart goes out to you . . . to the people fighting . . .
I will confess. I was married and had a pretty bad knee problem when I was called in for a physical in 1962. I did go. I did march against the VN war after 1968 and felt it was the wrong war, but I never disparaged our military people, except for the General Westmoreland.
My concern is why all the nitpicking about Kerry's decorations. I think you can say he went, he served, he survived and he had dignity in doing so. But I am not convinced yet he will be the best of presidents if elected, but I do know he will be better for America than Bush.
Bush, however, is hiding some thing. It is clear from his reticence ("I received a honorable discharge", case closed) to talk about the details of the last 2 years or so of his Guard duty. "I can't remember." I don't know about you people, but I can remember 41 years ago going into take my military physical and many other incidents 30 years ago. What is Bush, senile? Then he doesn't merit being President anyway.
I oppose Bush not on his military record as such, but because he is a liar, he is not leader of for all Americans, but a representative of a faction of Americans who want to change the fabric of America to something out of a novel, such as Ann Rand wrote without the debate and impute of the American public like as an autocrat and a devious and dishonest one at that.
I will confess. I was married and had a pretty bad knee problem when I was called in for a physical in 1962. I did go. I did march against the VN war after 1968 and felt it was the wrong war, but I never disparaged our military people, except for the General Westmoreland.
My concern is why all the nitpicking about Kerry's decorations. I think you can say he went, he served, he survived and he had dignity in doing so. But I am not convinced yet he will be the best of presidents if elected, but I do know he will be better for America than Bush.
Bush, however, is hiding some thing. It is clear from his reticence ("I received a honorable discharge", case closed) to talk about the details of the last 2 years or so of his Guard duty. "I can't remember." I don't know about you people, but I can remember 41 years ago going into take my military physical and many other incidents 30 years ago. What is Bush, senile? Then he doesn't merit being President anyway.
I oppose Bush not on his military record as such, but because he is a liar, he is not leader of for all Americans, but a representative of a faction of Americans who want to change the fabric of America to something out of a novel, such as Ann Rand wrote without the debate and impute of the American public like as an autocrat and a devious and dishonest one at that.
forget the second post. my finger got a tick.
Correction: "I did NOT go."
I agree with Mike. To be wounded enough to have hot shrapnel "bore" through your leg and to have blood run down the deck of your ship (in significant quantities to notice) that (1) you either have to be crazy for not seeking medical attention or (2) you exagerated the extent of your wounds.
Maybe Kerry's nuts.
Well, all it says is "with blood running down the deck" - it doesn't say Whose blood. Was anyone else injured in the incident? I would think that unless Kerry was wearing shorts and no shoes, that blood from the wound would be soaked into his uniform. I could be wrong...
Nevertheless, he obviously qualified for the Purple Heart and received it. Whether or not he "should" have taken the medal - that is up to his own conscience about what is right. Never having been in combat, I can't make a judgement on this.
hehe. I got a wound once that left a pool of blood on the deck. I think it was due to the fact that:
a) the knife had cut to the bone
b) I was drunk, and the alcohol thinned the blood, and impeded clotting.
Honestly, it is possible to receive a superficial wound that bleeds profusely. Usually, in the leg, it would be the saphenous vein that got knicked. Unfortunately, that would require an injury to the inside of the thigh, and the shrapnel would have had to go through the vessel, or it would tamp it. If that were the case, then surgery to remove the fragment is indicated, which would again require him being removed from duty.
Sounds to me like he got a scratch, and decided he might as well get the medal if it was there for the taking.
I wouldn't have a problem with that if he was not trying to use what the purple heart implies to help him obtain power, or that he used it to send someone else into harm's way, so that he could go home early. Personally, I would be ashamed to admit that I made someone take my place on the sharp end of things by calling a scratch a serious injury.
It is interesting that posters here opine on the factors of Kerry's acquisition of three Purple Hearts, yea or nay, when, should one not consider what the recipient did with them himself, as thereby expressing what he thought of them and how little they meant to him as he obviously could not believe that he had sacrificed anything of himself to earn them, in order to appreciate them. Someone suggested that he thought that perhaps Kerry got them in a box of Cracker Jacks. Whatever!