Posted on 07/28/2004 2:12:59 PM PDT by SoftballMominVA
Fauquier County supervisor Harry Atherton (I) had to be pressed hard to tell a few tales about his prep school days with Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
Kerry was a year ahead of Atherton at the tony St. Paul's School, in Concord, N.H.
"He and I were not close," Atherton said yesterday, explaining that being a class apart was like being an ocean apart.
Atherton remembers Kerry as being "a good athlete, a good student." He was "very transparently ambitious."
Atherton said competition and ambition were not things you wore on your sleeve at a New England prep school in those days. "Everything was supposed to come easily to you."
Calling Kerry "quintessential St. Paul's material," Atherton said Kerry was "preppy, had the family background .... The fact that he had attended a boarding school in Switzerland was not particularly a problem.
"He was very self-confident. Rather pleased with himself."
Atherton said no one had any idea about the degree of wealth or lack of wealth of other students. "It just wasn't talked about," he said. But Kerry was always "impeccably dressed."
Atherton would admit to two significant stories about the confluence of his and John Kerry's paths.
Six years after graduation from St. Paul's, Kerry approached Atherton, then serving in the Army, at an airport. Kerry asked Atherton, recently returned from duty in Vietnam, if he would like to join the Veterans Against Vietnam. Atherton reported that he said "no."
He was in uniform, Atherton explained, and thought the question inappropriate. "That's when I realized he (Kerry) had become a very political creature," Atherton said.
This is Atherton's second story:
During the Vietnam war, Kerry was the captain of a swift boat. "Swift boats were heavily armed boats that went up and down the river shooting," Atherton said.
Atherton was awarded a Purple Heart in Vietnam because he was shot by a swift boat -- yes, friendly fire.
"But I don't think Kerry and I were there at the same time," Atherton said.
Thanks for posting. Interesting article.
I do wish the last sentence had read something like "Atherton could not definitely deny that he and Kerry, a swift boat captain, were there at the same time."
He should not have received a purple heart for a friendly fire wound. The purple heart is for wounds from enemy fire.
You are wrong...
10 USC Sec. 1129 01/05/99
TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES
Subtitle A - General Military Law
PART II - PERSONNEL
CHAPTER 57 - DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
Sec. 1129. Purple Heart: members killed or wounded in action by friendly fire
-STATUTE-
(a) For purposes of the award of the Purple Heart, the Secretary concerned shall treat a member of the armed forces described in subsection (b) in the same manner as a member who is killed or wounded in action as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States.
(b) A member described in this subsection is a member who is killed or wounded in action by weapon fire while directly engaged in armed conflict, other than as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States, unless (in the case of a wound) the wound is the result of willful misconduct of the member.
(c) This section applies to members of the armed forces who are killed or wounded on or after December 7, 1941. In the case of a member killed or wounded as described in subsection (b) on or after December 7, 1941, and before November 30, 1993, the Secretary concerned shall award the Purple Heart under subsection (a) in each case which is known to the Secretary before such date or for which an application is made to the Secretary in such manner as the Secretary requires.
(Added Pub. L. 103-160, div. A, title XI, Sec. 1141(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1756; amended Pub. L. 105-85, div. A, title X, Sec. 1073(a)(18), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1901.)
Not completely familiar with the protocol on this one. But this award may prove Kerry was indeed there during Atherton's tour of duty (which I am sure was longer than Kerry's).
I infered from the posting that he received the award during his service in Vietnam. My reading of what you posted indicated to me, that at the time of the Vietnam war, friendly fire wounds did not qualify for Purple Heart consideration.
Is this the reg that kept Max Cleland from getting a purple Heart?
I understand that. However, the date of your information is 1999 I believe. Therefore, it could simply be making friendly fire awards retroactive.
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