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I prefer to view this from a different perspective. As one who served in Vietnam a long time ago, I'm aware of what is becoming another myth about those who served: that "medal inflation" was commonplace.

Ask anyone who has received a medal for valor or gallantry and they, themselves, express doubt they were deserving of such an honor.

I did serve in a combat unit and knew many who received wounds deserving the PH. I myself, am glad to say that I did not receive one. What I recall best is that one of the company medics or the battalion surgeon first filed the paper work, depending on the nature of the wound.

Much is made about Kerry only spending 4 months in-country. How likely would it be for him to have made the contacts necessary to suggest to a medical officer that he be recommended for one PH, let alone three, in such a short time? A guy who was there 4 months was likely to be considered an FNG - without a whole lot of clout or connections.

My opinion is that Kerry received light schrapnel wounds that were treated in the field. These wounds and the wounds of any other soldiers would probably have been mentioned in after action reports, which would have been reviewed by officers higher up in the chain of command, who then may have gotten the ball rolling on the awards. Still, it is my belief that the process would not have been started by "higher ups" without some paperwork also being filed by a medic or medical officer who was present during the time in question.

I always thought it ironic that those killed in action also received the Purple Heart. Among the soldiers I served with, it would have been considered dishonorable to have claimed a medal such as the PH if one was not deserving. Though I strongly disagree with members of Kerry's crew who support him, I do feel that we were cut of the same cloth of the common experience, and that they would strongly disapprove of anyone, including Kerry, who would do something as dishonoble as claiming three bogus Purple Hearts.

In order to have received even a minor wound, one DID have to be there.

All I know is he lied about the soldiers serving in Vietnam after he got out saying that most were committing war crimes on a routine basis. It turns out he met with a North Vietnamese delegation in France after lying about it.

If there was a way to figure out how to receive Purple Hearts for phony wounds, I believe he would have done it.
It's been reported that he said he missed two days of service for the three wounds.

Let's wait and see if this story has legs. There is some reason he won't release his military records.

Your comments are informative and suggest that if Kerry was in fact running some sort of, "get home quick" scam by using the rule that three Purple Hearts got you out of theatre, then there would have had to have been collusion with another officer (presumably a medic) to get the paperwork rolling.
I suppose the only way to know for sure is to examine the original documentation to see just who initiated Kerry's medal recommendations.
Somehow, I sense that if this were a scam, it will turn out to be bigger than just Kerry. It may have involved a small group of officers and men, all devoted to helping each other get out of Vietnam ASAP -ie.; I'll sign your papers if you'll sign mine. Such a thing would be impossible in a large unit, but in a small relatively independent group with minimal supervision it might be conceivable. Then again, maybe I've watched too many episodes of MASH.

Your Viet Nam perspective and experience is probably more normal than Kerry's. I maintain he went there precisely to build a heroic war record to further his political career, as his hero JFK had done.

Remember the photo of Kerry and Ted Kennedy walking around a Viet Nam camp? How would a 4 month newbie arrange such a meeting if he wasn't extremely well connected going in? And he WAS connected.

I won't be surprised if he's exposed as the fraud he appears to be. Dispicable. It'll end his campaign if the public believes any of what's coming.

..and then there's the fact that he threw SOMEONE ELSE'S medals over the fence. He couldn't throw his away, he needed them to verify his war record. What a fraud.

Could he have "done it" to himself?

Maybe Kerry was making such a stink about the "free fire zones" that his chain couldn't get him out of there fast enough, and thus three (bogus?) PH claims were overlooked as a suitable means to an end. They probably knew back then that he would end up in the VVAW,