Posted on 02/29/2004 7:38:32 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Former Sen. Max Cleland said Sunday there was no reason for Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry to release his full medical file - including records documenting the injuries that won him three Purple Hearts in Vietnam - calling requests for the Vietnam records "the height of hypocrisy." "That might be the height of hypocrisy, for people who never went to Vietnam [to ask for Kerry's wartime medical file]," Cleland, a leading Kerry backer, told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg. "I mean - I felt a wound. John Kerry felt a wound," he added. Sen. Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam but never received a Purple Heart, said Kerry's physical sacrifice had been just as great as his own, telling Malzberg, "I don't see any difference." When pressed on why he thought Kerry didn't need to release his full medical file, Cleland shot back, "You read the book 'Tour of Duty.' I'm not going to get into an argument with you here. Let's just say, we have a clear choice in America." However, when asked two weeks ago about the severity of Kerry's wounds, "Tour of Duty's" author Douglas Brinkley explained, "They were minor." The issue of whether Sen. Kerry should release his medical files could become a prickly one for the candidate, especially since he has been less than forthright about personal medical issues in the past. In Feb. 2003, Kerry underwent an operation for prostate cancer. But he had declined to reveal the condition for months, even when reporters asked about his health. When he finally went public with the news, Kerry claimed that the cover-up had been necessary because his doctors "had not settled on a course of treatment." When he ran for president in 2000, George Bush released his full medical file, a disclosure so complete that it came to include Bush's 1970s dental files this year. The exchange between Cleland and Malzberg went like this: MALZBERG: There's been criticism, fair or unfair, that within the first 24-hours [John Kerry] had his first purple heart. He got three in four months without even a day of duty lost from wounds, according to his training officer. But he will not release his Purple Heart medical treatment reports to be released. And he is the only person keeping them from being released. Would you call on him to release all of his records, sir? CLELAND: Well, look here. I mean - ah, ah - I think - ah - that might be the height of hypocrisy, for people who never went to Vietnam - as Shakespeare said, "Those who jest at scars never felt a wound." I mean - I felt a wound. John Kerry felt a wound. MALZBERG: But you never received a Purple Heart, sir. CLELAND: May I just say, when he was the skipper of his boat with five enlisted men in that situation - going into the jaws of death every day - he had to rely on his instincts for survival. And he and his crew were one. They were a band of brothers. Now, under that situation they saved each others lives. He also saved the life of a Special Forces officer out of the Mekong Delta River, Jim Rassmussen [sic]. And he is campaigning around America for Kerry even though he's a Republican. The point being, we've been there, done that, gotten a few holes in our T-shirt and we've come back to America to say, war is the last resort, not the first resort. MALZBERG: I understand, sir. But you were a hero. You lost three limbs, sir, and you don't have a Purple Heart. He barely missed day and he has three of them. And I'm just saying, why not end the controversy . . . Why not see what the injuries were, sir? CLELAND: May I just say to you and all your listeners, if you want know the full story of John Kerry and the Vietnam War, just go out and buy a book that's on the New York Times bestseller's list, called "Tour of Duty." . . . If we get bogged down in guerilla wars in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in the Balkans and all around, we're going to see repeats of Vietnam. . . Now that people are going after John Kerry for supposedly being weak on defense, especially by those who never went to war. I mean, you talk about a short term, George Bush had eight months dropped from his tour. He never even completed his tour of duty. MALZBERG: Well sir, Kerry got out early, also - Kerry got out six months early as well. CLELAND: Yeah, because he got wounded. MALZBERG: But we don't know the extent of those wounds, sir. CLELAND: I got out five weeks early because I got blown up. MALZBERG: Yes, but don't you see the difference? You lost three limbs. CLELAND: I don't see any difference. MALZBERG: We don't know what happened to Kerry because he won't let us know. CLELAND: That's not true. You read the book "Tour of Duty." I'm not going to get into an argument with you here. Let's just say, we have a clear choice in America. And the great citizens of New York have a great choice on Tuesday. . . . We don't have to repeat another Vietnam. [END OF EXCERPT]
That info was posted a here a while back by an ex-sailor who was also a boat skipper.
On the other hand, Rudy Giuliani's widely covered battle with prostate cancer took him out of the race to become the "junior senator from New York." Then we got you-know-who.
Wrong, sir. The fact that someone did not go in Vietnam is in no way a reason to request Kerry's wartime records. Oes that mean that a vet who served for 26 years is not able to ask, or someone who served in the Iraq war?
"I mean - I felt a wound. John Kerry felt a wound," he added.
Max, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. Get that through your head.
This is really a pretty interesting strategy by the Dems. Get a guy who lost limbs to go after anyone who wants to see Kerry's records, in an attempt to try and make them "feel bad" about making the request.
Using the Dems logic, would the Republicans need someone who served in Vietnam who had NO arms and NO legs make the request for it to be legit? Geesh...
Well DUH!.. of course not..
You're a democrat, MAX.....
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