Where's my Purple Heart

[bblight]

As Kerry continues to "Report for Duty" and as I get angrier and angrier whenever I see the clips of him testifying to the Congress against his brother Vietnam Vets, some of those old memories of my time in Vietnam are coming back.

I remember this one time in particular when we were being mortared - as I ran for the bunker, I fell (I had, for medical reasons, drank several cans of OB Beer - chased with a few shots of creme de menthe (to kill the taste of the Korean made beer)) and I skinned the heel of my hand.

At the time, I was aggravated for hiding in a dark, bug infested bunker when I could have been continuing with my medical therapy. Anyway! I believe I'm elligible for a Purple Heart for sustaining that wound as a direct result of enemy action.

I am going to draft a memo to St Louis requesting my award as soon as I finish this post.

 

[PatPatriot]

Good luck bblight keep us updated on it.

 

[bblight]

Thanks Pat - as a wounded hero, I will insist, I will demand, that everyone respect me and facilitate my needs.

I should have my Purple Heart in a few days.

 

[SENDITIN]

Bblight,

Was this incident "seared" into your memory? If so then we'll grant you a purple heart. You have to wait in line though...Muqtada Al Sadr took some shrapnel the other day and has applied ahead of you.

 

[bblight]

senditin, you will never know the anguish I've suffered as I went through the traumatic, memory searing event. I will carry mental scars till my dying day.

My Purple Heart should be enroute.

 

[jointpleasures]

bblight,
You'll get my vote in 2016. But you have to get the purple heart, first.

 

[PatPatriot]

Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 11:01 a.m. EDT
Navy Launches Formal Kerry Medal Probe

The United States Navy has launched an official investigation into John Kerry's Vietnam War decorations, saying, "it's the responsibility of all personnel to correct errors in official records."

In launching the formal probe, the Navy was responding to a referral from the Pentagon's inspector general's office - based on a complaint filed by the Washington-based legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, Fox News reported Friday.

Story Continues Below



In a letter to Judicial Watch, the inspector general's office said: "Concerning our allegations of violations of Uniform Code of Military Justice, we have the responsibility to . . . 'report suspected or alleged violations.' We have informed the secretary of the Navy of the allegations."
Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who has challenged the authenticity of his signature on one of Kerry's war decorations, told Fox that Navy records needed to be "thoroughly researched and the facts established."

Most questions about Kerry's combat record appear to be based on processing errors, Navy sources told the news network.

However, even if the errors were based on inadvertent mistakes, any corrections would force the top Democrat to acknowledge that citations touting his heroism that have been posted to his Web site for months were false - a development that could have devastating political consequences.

"Even if it was the Navy's fault," one source following the story told NewsMax, "surely Sen. Kerry knew the citations were wrong. Why did it take a formal Navy probe for him to correct records he had to know were fraudulent?"

Kerry received five medals during his four months in combat in Vietnam, including a Silver Star with a "Combat V" designation. A Navy source confirmed last week, however, that in the entire history of the Navy, no Silver Star has ever been awarded with "Combat V."

Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan suggested that the Navy probe was a waste of time and money.

"The facts are clear, the Navy awarded John Kerry the Silver Star, a Bronze Star with a Combat V and three Purple Hearts. It is waste of taxpayer's dollars and the Pentagon's time, especially during wartime, to investigate a 35-year-old Navy clerical error," Meehan said in statement.

But Meehan's boss disagreed, at least when it came to the case of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jeremy Boorda.

In 1996, Admiral Boorda committed suicide after he was accused of wearing medals he hadn't earned.

At the time, Sen. Kerry told the Boston Herald that the error was "sufficient to question his leadership position."

"If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value, self-esteem and your sense of how others view you," Kerry told the Boston Globe.



Editor's note:

 

[bblight]

I'd like to have a Silver Star with a Combat V, but I'll settle for a 100% disability retroactive to 1966, when I received my grievous wound.

 

[kayaman+]

"As Kerry continues to "Report for Duty" and as I get angrier and angrier whenever I see the clips of him testifying to the Congress against his brother Vietnam Vets, some of those old memories of my time in Vietnam are coming back."

I have a question bb, you don't believe war crimes went on or you think that G.I.'s should stick up for each other even when they are guilty of crimes?

 

[Oceans11]

It wasn't that Korean Mother-of-all-hangovers muck in spotty brown tins by any chance?

I would recommend you for a silver star if that was the case.

We clubbed together and bought the entire ships supply.
Then we chucked dozens of cases of it off the back of the ship during a barbeque (Heineken being the preferred refreshment that evening).

 

[bblight]

kaya - Only a damned moron would think that attrocities were as common as Kerry intimated in his testimony to Congress back in "69. - I never saw any or heard of any attrocities committed by Americans in the year I spent in Vietnam. All of the guys I knew had it in them to be soldiers, but none were sadists.

Vietnam was a backward country with the bubonic plague still common in the hinterlands. Most GIs just wanted to end it and get home. Whores were as common as flies - and cheap; so why rape the woman who'd probably sell it to you for a buck or two. Most of the Vietnamese men were to be pitied - most of them were just farmers (rice paddiers?); they just wanted to live life and were caught in the middle - we knew some of them became chuck at night - but what could you do.

People like Kerry are the enemy - they'll lie about you and stab you in the back to advance themselves!

eek - OB was about the worst beer there was - but when it's OB or nothing.... well, you drink OB and then drink creme de menthe to kill the taste.

 

[kayaman+]

So for example in the movie Casualites of War, you would consider the G.I. that was portrayed by Michael J. Fox a traitor for reporting the crimes he witnessed?

 

[bblight]

No kaya - I'd like to think I would have done the same as Fox. No - you're missing what I'm saying - Kerry accused all of us - everyone - of committing or being a part of attrocities that were being committed against the Vietnamese. Kerry played the anti Vietnam card to improve his social and political position - he turned on his brothers.

Kaya - some histroy for you: Most of the troops that served either volunteered, to stay out of the draft, or were drafted. They saw fit to do their duty as was expected of them. They didn't hold it against anyone who decided to avoid service by whatever means possible; they would have done the same if they could have. They did what they had to do. Period.
Most Vietnam Vets turned against the war sooner or later - against the war, not the troops; against the government that enabled the continuation of the war - but not against the troops.
What Kerry did was join a crowd that took their haterd for the war out on the troops that were serving - Hanoi Jane Fonda was the titular leader of this group. A bunch of pseudo intellectuals and elitists who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and who were steeped inthe finest Marxist tradition.

Kerry now wants to be Commander In Chief - and he isn't fit to lick the boots of the lowest troop, let alone lead him.

 

[kayaman+]

bb,

Actually I got a little info update on this whole thing from my Pop just last night. He was very politically active at that time and was actually involved in a lot of the protests we discuss here.
Kerry didn't actually rat on anyone. Kerry was considered a bonafide war hero and had come out against the war, along with the fact that he was also considered an eloquent speaker he was chosen to give a speech. Apparently he was so moving that the rally in which he spoke started looking like an AA meeting. Vets started standing up saying, I'm Johnny C, I raped 7 women in Vietnam; I'm Joe D, I shot at least 20 innocent people; etc. What Kerry later testified to were those accounts that he heard from those vets, just second hand accounts of what he'd heard, not accusations.

 

[JudgeWapner]

BB,realize alot of heavy shit went down there including atrocities commited by our troops. But anyone who did time there has my respect and admiration.

 

[bblight]

Thanks Judge - I appreciate it. I'd like to ask you, what attrocoities that were committed in Vietnam are you aware of?

Kaya - During my years I've run into a lot of "fakes" - guys who said they were there - and weren't; guys who said they'd did certain things, but when closely questioned, their stories fell apart.

I remember this one guy who had me fooled until I mentioned my tour in Korea and he made the mistake of saying he's also served there - that the jungle there was almost as bad as in Vietnam - FYI, Korea has no Jungle, and in the wineter is abot the coldest damned place on the Earth.

What I'm fgetting at, is that there are a lot of "stories" about attrocities that are just stories made up by liars who are seeking - I don't know - maybe some self esteem?

Again - I'm not saying attrocities didn't happen - they just weren't a common occurrence and most GI's didn't have it in them to purposefully do such things.

Oh, yes - and Kerry didn't rat! He lied! He told lies about every soldier that served in Vietnam - he accused them of committing attrocities; of killing, maiming and raping, of razing villages in a manner like that of Ghengis Khan, etc., etc., etc..

Are there any Vietnam Vets around here who took part or personnaly saw any of these things? Please come forward and let us know.

 

[JudgeWapner]

BB,I think My Lai might qualify. But hey, I wasn't there.The term alot was probably wrong.But let me also say,that if I saw a friend of mine get half his face blown off,I would probably be capable of anything.

 

[bblight]

Judge - that's what I'm talking about - My Lai was an attrocity committed by soldiers, stopped by soldiers and reported by soldiers. The hierarchy of the military and the government tried to cover it up - not the troops; one of whgom reported the attrocity and started the ball rolling.

If other attrocities had been committed, it would have been reported sooner or later - and it wasn't.

Kerry's accusations of attrocities being common were lies!

 

[JudgeWapner]

Fair enough.

 

[kayaman+]

"Oh, yes - and Kerry didn't rat! He lied! He told lies about every soldier that served in Vietnam - he accused them of committing attrocities; of killing, maiming and raping, of razing villages in a manner like that of Ghengis Khan, etc., etc., etc.."

Again the version I heard was that he testified to accounts he heard first hand from other G.I.'s. Do you have anything back up your claims?