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!