That was then, this is now
Back when Bob Dole was running against Bill Clinton, one of the early tactics used by the Republican party was to compare Dole’s wartime record of heroism to Bill Clinton’s time as a Rhodes Scholar (which kept him out of the draft).
“But,” I would say to friends who started to wax poetic on Dole’s war record, “Dole’s first purple heart was received for a wound that was self-inflicted. And there are conflicting stories about the injury that gave him the second purple heart. And parts of the story don’t add up.” (you can read more on this issue here)
“Yeah?” they would say. “Well, what have you got against the military? He served his country and got wounded in the process.”
“I know, and I respect that,” I would say. “But it’s not whether or not he was actually wounded or how he was wounded – it’s how big the story is getting around it. His actions were fairly common for soldiers at the time – but now that he’s running for President, they’re being played up as though he single-handedly defeated the Nazis.”
“Well, at least he went over and served his country, unlike that draft-dodger Bill Clinton!”
It’s nice to know that some songs don’t change their tune.
Republicans are now gathering around to take a shot at John Kerry’s military record.
Conservatives, talk radio hosts and some newspaper editorials have questioned the seriousness of his injuries and whether the Massachusetts senator was deserving of the three Purple Hearts, which resulted in his reassignment out of Vietnam.Kerry’s former commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, told the Boston Globe last week that Kerry’s first Purple Heart came from minor wound, resembling a fingernail scrape.
Now, it would be easy to just turn around and make the obvious response – which I’m not going to make here because it’s just obvious. I’m also not going to make it because it was usually the final response when it came to questions over Dole’s military record, and I don’t like to play those games.
The facts: Kerry cannot produce the actual files on his first purple heart – he claims that they have been lost. Unlike certain other individuals whose pertinent records have a habit of disappearing unexpectedly, however, Kerry can provide documentation that supports the original story.
The campaign could not locate a similar report for Kerry’s original Purple Heart. As evidence that Kerry was wounded, campaign spokesman Michael Meehan showed The Associated Press a “Sick Call Treatment Record’’ from Kerry’s personal files that included a brief written note dated Dec. 3, 1968, and stamped from the naval support facility at Cam Ranh Bay.“Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl bacitracin dressing. Ret to Duty,’’ it said. The note is followed by a signature that appears to say “JCCarreon’’ and some illegible letters that Meehan said probably designate the medical official’s rank.
What’s amazing, however, is the notion that “a fingernail scrape” would negate all that Kerry went through for his second and third purple hearts (a pdf file containing a copy of the reports on his second and third purple hearts can be found via this link, right- or control-click and select “save file as…” please).
The fact is: Kerry went to war. Kerry did some serious war-movie stuff. Kerry got wounded three times. Kerry was given the option to come home – and he took it, just as anybody who had any sense and had something waiting for him at home would have done.
And Kerry is willing to show records.
On an added note: Bob Dole’s official biography is not only more dramatic than a Spielberg movie, it no longer makes even the briefest mention of the circumstances surrounding his first purple heart. Instead, the wording suggests that Dole’s wound from “machine gun fire” was so serious that the military just handed him two medals for it.
Eventually, he returned to Percy Jones Army Medical Hospital for extensive therapy on his rebuilt arm. It took about three years and nine operations for Bob Dole to rehabilitate. He learned to strengthen his injured arm, and also had to learn how to write with his left hand, as the doctors could not rebuild the excessive damage done by the Nazi machine gun fire.Bob Dole was twice decorated for heroic achievement, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star Medal for his attempt to assist the downed radio man.
July 31st, 2004 at 2:41 am
You want a point – here’s a point. Once again, a Democrat attempts to skew the public perception of John Kerry’s background.
My question is, knowing the policy of the Coastal Squadron One was to “send home any individual who is wounded three times in action” I find it highly suspicious that Kerry actually earned three Purple Hearts in that short time period. According to Lt. Commander Grant Hibbard (as reported by Michael Kranish on 4/14/04 in the Boston Globe) “He had a little scratch on his forearm, and he was holding a piece of shrapnel. People were saying ‘I don’t thing we got any fire.’ and there is a guy holding a little piece of shrapnel in his palm.”
Ironically, the second “wound” (a scratch on the thigh) was also inflicted by a piece of shrapnel. Probably the same one.
In a time when Vietnam Veterans were coming home with missing limbs, blindness, hearing loss, etc. I think a couple of scratches should have been chalked up to a sad attempt at trying to release himself from duty in Vietnam. I think he got there, two weeks later realized it was a mistake to request duty there, and then proceeded to conjure up these poor excuses for wounds. Clearly, the so-called injuries did not sustain any long-term disability.
P.S. My fiance is a Captain in the Marine Corps – those “wounds” would have had Marines laughing Kerry out of the military.
July 31st, 2004 at 3:20 am
Hey, Gina –
Wow, this entry was a long time ago. I didn’t remember asking for a “point,” so I had to go back and re-read. I really can’t tell what you’re referring to with that line.
As for Kerry’s three purple hearts being “highly suspicious,” so what? There are people who returned home with purple hearts they earned from being knifed in bar fights – injuries that had nothing to do with the war, but which they received for being wounded while stationed in a war zone. As you say, Grant Hibbard recalls a little scratch on his forearm and Kerry holding a piece of shrapnel – but the medical files made at the time report the doctor removing shrapnel from the wound, not from Kerry’s hand. And I haven’t heard about “a scratch on the thigh.” Perhpas you can point me toward the documentation on that? Because what I have heard about is Kerry being shot and still returning to pick up a wounded man who fell overboard, and about Kerry being shot as he beached his boat to pursue enemy agents manning a machine gun nest.
You’re right that a lot of people lost arms, legs, and their sight in Vietnam among other things – but many more did manage to recover fully. I, for one, do not begrudge Senator Kerry his health.
And as much as I hate to make the obvious point – we have solid records showing that John Kerry always showed up for duty.
August 2nd, 2004 at 1:14 am
Oh please, democraps are just plain & simple weak on defense issues. They were given such a hard time on billary’s lack of service/ doging the draft that this time they tried to find at least someone that had some actual combat experience, even if they had to make it up. Yes, made up. It is obvious that kerry knowing about the 3 medals & out rule manufactured his injuries. How else can you explain him deserting his brothers in arms only 4 months into his tour? I know quite a few military men (officers both west point & naval) and none of them would consider abandoning the service men under their command. Oh, and another thing, for people who still think kerry deserved the medals? Look who introduced him @ the convention – former sen. max cleland – he lost 3 limbs in vietnam (and from what I know of him, he was probbably fragged), but in any event, max – who obviously in a wheelchair now has zero purple hearts.