Kerry Purple Heart Doc Speaks Out

National Review Online ^ | May 04, 2004 | Byron York

[rwfok]

Some critics of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry have questioned the circumstances surrounding the first of three Purple Hearts Kerry won in Vietnam. Those critics, among them some of Kerry's fellow veterans, have suggested that a wound suffered by Kerry in December 1968 may have made him technically eligible for a Purple Heart but was not severe enough to warrant serious consideration, even for a decoration that was handed out by the thousands. Whatever the case, Kerry was awarded the Purple Heart, and, along with two others he won later, it allowed him to request to leave Vietnam before his tour of duty was finished.

Kerry was treated for the wound at a medical facility in Cam Ranh Bay. The doctor who treated Kerry, Louis Letson, is today a retired general practitioner in Alabama. Letson says he remembers his brief encounter with Kerry 35 years ago because "some of his crewmen related that Lt. Kerry had told them that he would be the next JFK from Massachusetts." Letson says that last year, as the Democratic campaign began to heat up, he told friends that he remembered treating one of the candidates many years ago. In response to their questions, Letson says, he wrote down his recollections of the time. (Letson says he has had no contacts with anyone from the Bush campaign or the Republican party.) What follows is Letson's memory, as he wrote it.

I have a very clear memory of an incident which occurred while I was the Medical Officer at Naval Support Facility, Cam Ranh Bay. John Kerry was a (jg), the OinC or skipper of a Swift boat, newly arrived in Vietnam. On the night of December 2, he was on patrol north of Cam Ranh, up near Nha Trang area. The next day he came to sick bay, the medical facility, for treatment of a wound that had occurred that night.

The story he told was different from what his crewmen had to say about that night. According to Kerry, they had been engaged in a fire fight, receiving small arms fire from on shore. He said that his injury resulted from this enemy action.

Some of his crew confided that they did not receive any fire from shore, but that Kerry had fired a mortar round at close range to some rocks on shore. The crewman thought that the injury was caused by a fragment ricocheting from that mortar round when it struck the rocks.

That seemed to fit the injury which I treated.

What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle.

I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound.

The wound was covered with a bandaid.

Not [sic] other injuries were reported and I do not recall that there was any reported damage to the boat.

[mikegi]

Do they hand out Purple Hearts for mosquito bites, too?

Only if they were Cong skeeters...

[mass55th]

"probably caught a metal shaving off the tail of the mortar rocket while dropping it into the tube. Self inflicted wound."

If it was a wound that Kerry thought serious enough to receive the Purple Heart for, why did he wait until the next day to seek medical attention? That just doesn't make any sense to me. The incident occurred the night before, yet he never requested medical attention until the next day.

[Peach]

I would not trust Kerry to water my lawn.

This is why we miss you, PD.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Can you give us your expertise as to whether someone with Kerry's pilot training, could have flown an Israeli combat jet in 1991 ?
With his level of training, could Kerry possibly have done barrel rolls and other aerobatics in a fighter jet, like he claimed last night ?

calcowgirl found this ,but, bear in mind, this is what Kerry's ratings are in 2004, who knows what they were in 1991.

From Landings.com

Airmen Database Search Result

---

Name : KERRY, JOHN FORBES
Airman's Address : 19 LOUISBURG SQ
BOSTON, MA, 02108-1202
FAA Region : New England
Date of Medical : Dec, 2003
Class of Medical : 2
Expiration : Dec, 2004
Airman Certificates : Commercial Pilot
Airplane Single Engine Land
Airplane Single Engine Sea
Airplane Multiengine Land
Instrument Airplane
Glider Aero Tow (Private Pilot)

[colorado tanker]

If the records show anything like those rumors, they will NEVER see the light of day.

[Dan from Michigan]

So it was a metal splinter???

[mass55th]

Knowing Kerry's arrogance, he probably demanded to see an MD and not a Corpsman. Letson says he was the Medical Officer. Does that mean he would have been a licensed physician? I'm not familiar with military medical personnel. Isn't it possible that Letson was the only one available to see Kerry the next morning?

[calcowgirl]

RVN Airplane Driver tracked his ratings back to 1986, I'm not sure what the source was. Here is his response to me re doing loops in a trainer at 12000 feet:

Yeah, I did a database search also and see the he has an amsel and instrument ticket that was awarded in 1986...so what. He is what is called by airline folks as a FLAP..light airplane pilot is the last 3 words. His whole tale indicates his ability level. First in a jet you only see 12,000 feet twice...once going to altitude and once coming back through for the approach..unless you are doing close air support. However for a FLAP lying 12000 feet is nose bleed territory...actually it is as high as you can go w/0 oxygen....hardly an altitude that a jet fighter would be working in...also...there is no pilot in the world that would let anyone touch the controls of an airplane that they are not being checked out in under 5000 ft...more like 10,000....let alone give them a T/O. Given his track record...he probably wasn't even in Israel, let alone begging for a ride in a fighter. As old "Mudbone" of Richard Pryor fame used to say "Damn that boy can lie; that was his job, I'm pretty sure that was his job, because that's all he did"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1129089/posts?page=102#102

[dozer7]

"When did Kerry learn about this trick excuse and how did he learn about it? It sure sounds self-inflicted to me!!! Kerry shot himself in the foot and got to bug out!!"

Worse than that. My take pop a mortor round up close hope for the best get a piss ant fragment in the arm. What about the rest of the crew what kind of frags could these guys expect? Sounds like, I am going to fire this shotgun and hope for a fragment, so hey the rest of you guys are on your own. My experience is rock and bullet fragments. A morter fragment is designed to kill that is the way they are designed. The best are #10 TUNGSTEN FRAGS.

best regards

the dozer

[NorthWoody]

Because the "unbiased" media says they are.

That, and the average American voter is either dumb as a rock or not really paying attention. One of my co-workers wasn't aware of who John Kerry is until the other day when I clued him in. All he knew was "isn't he some politician?" His wife is equally uninformed, and they both plan on voting in November.

There should be a short, basic political knowledge test one must pass before being allowed to vote

[maica]

I think this trickle will become a gusher as more veterans feel encouraged to vent their wrath at the man who slandered them while they still served.

****


When you have time I highly recommend reading the "incoming" [letters] section of Wintersoldier.com. There are lots of heartfelt outpourings by Vietnam veterans, and others. The groundswell of catharsis will continue, I am sure.

[calcowgirl]

Public Records are amazing (I'm sure glad Al Gore invented the internet!)

Alabama Board of Medical Examiners Physician Search Results:

Licensee Name            LETSON , LOUIS ETHERIDGE, JR  
Status                   ACTIVE-RETIREMENT WAIVER  
Location                 SCOTTSBORO, AL  
Birthdate                05/09/1940 
License Number           00005455 
License Issue Date       09/01/1970 
Expire Date              12/31/2004 
*ACSC NO  
Public File:             NO  
Primary Specialty        FAMILY PRACTICE  
Medical School Name      UNIV OF AL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE TUSCALOOSA  
Medical School Location  TUSCALOOSA, AL  
Medical School Dates     9/62-5/66  

[cajungirl]

My hubby was an army doc, he says he can remember clearly things that happened in 1967 to 69 and that if he saw a piker he would never forget it. It is highly plausible the doc is correct.

[mass55th]

Thanks...that means that Letson wasn't a licensed physican at the time he treated Kerry for his first wound which allegedly occurred on Dec. 2, 1968.

[Pukin Dog]

Combat aircraft at altitude are very easy to fly, if you have lots of space and no particular place to be or marks to hit. Taking off is relatively easy, but landings in combat aircraft are always difficult. I have no doubt that anyone with at lease enough hours for an instrument rating can maneuver a fighter jet. With enough thrust, you can almost fly a brick if they put wings on it.

The difference, is managing to fly, fight, land, shoot, fly in formation, drop ordinance, refuel, merge, dogfight and all the rest that goes into piloting a combat aircraft. Once the thing is in the air, anyone with enough sense to get a license can turn and burn in the air. Just don't ask him to put it down on a runway or carrier, or fly anywhere near another aircraft.

[calcowgirl]

Yeah... but, he'd finished his medical school. So... can you do your internship in the Navy? I'm assuming yes. ROTC then into Medical School? In which case, they are technically 'licensed', no?

[hgro]

It seems likely that Kerry's band of brothers were complicit in his phony stories. Those pictures of that bunch show all of them with medals hanging on their shirts. If they all stick together its no doubt they were all in on the fabrications.

[DollyCali]

It just keeps getting better & better doesn't it fellow FREepers.?

Thanks for thread/info rwfok..

[cajungirl]

wrong,,he was a physician and when one went into the army straight out of internship one wouldn't have a state license. You don't need it in the army, only graduation from med school, internship. This guy was a general medical officer.

[cajungirl]

My husband was drafted right out of internship in 1967,,that is what happened if one wasn't in a deferment program. Licensing only happens when one goes into practice in a state.