Posted on 08/08/2004 3:20:43 PM PDT by Jean S
During World War II, Dole served as a combat infantry officer with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy. He was wounded twice and hospitalized for thirty-nine months. He received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star. He eventually lost almost all use of his right arm due to his war injuries.
Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Bob-Dole
Democrats tout the Silver and Bronze Stars won by both Kerry and Cleland in Vietnam. But they prefer not to mention that, despite losing two legs and an arm to a hand grenade, Cleland was never awarded even one Purple Heart. The reason, as columnists Ann Coulter and Mark Steyn were widely attacked for pointing out, is that Cleland’s horrible injuries did not happen in combat, as Kerry tries to suggest with his deceitfully-crafted phrase about Cleland leaving his limbs “on the battlefield.”
Source: http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14415
Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart for an injury incurred during his first combat experience (on December 2, 1968). He was treated for a small piece of shrapnel in his arm and he immediately returned to duty. On February 20, 1969, he earned a second Purple Heart when his left thigh was hit with shrapnel and, again, he was treated and returned to duty. Eight days later, on February 28, 1969, Kerry's boat was hit by a B-40 rocket. After beaching his boat, Kerry chased down and killed a wounded Viet Cong, who had been shot in the leg by a crew-mate and was fleeing with another B-40 rocket. Kerry came back to the boat with the rocket and launcher. He was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions. On March 13, 1969, Kerry's boat detonated a mine (as his position took heavy fire) and his arm was wounded. For his injury and rescuing U.S. Army Green Beret James Rassmann on the same occasion, Kerry was awarded a third Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Combat V. The last of his three injuries included a bruised arm and shrapnel in his posterior which, according to Kerry, cost him about two days of active service. Due to questions regarding the nature of his wounds, the Kerry Campaign released his military records.
Source: http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/military_records.html
Cleland’s horrible injuries did not happen in combat??
I guess I've heard that. So Cleland is just a clumsey grenade juggler??
Yup.
That is not the point. What a disgusting comment.
If the 'teenager' Kerry killed was a VC with a rocket launcher, the killing was absolutely the right thing to do, unless he was a chi hoi. It does not, however, sound like a particularly courageous act. I know lots of guys who killed alot of VC and didn't get Silver Stars. A friend of mine who has a Bronze Star described it to me as a 'glorified good conduct medal' (his words, not mine).
http://www.russellks.org/BobDole.htm
.In 1942, at the age of 19, Bob Dole answered the call to serve his country by joining the Army to fight in World War II. He became a second lieutenant in the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, and in the spring of 1945, found himself in the hills of Italy fighting the Nazi Germans. After the battle, medics gave him a shot of morphine and marked his forehead with an “M” written in his own blood. He wasn’t expected to survive.
Also note that Bob Dole gave up his seat to run.
So,...Kerry got brown rice and grenade fragments in his butt from his own grenade that he threw in in a rice cache, and Cleland blew off his own legs and arm,...and they are supporting each other's politics....hummmmm I just don't know what to think of that...BRRAAGWAHAHAHAHAH HA HA HA
Checked the purple heart records on Kerry's web page, NO medical reports showing what he was treated for or what wounds he sustained???
My recollection is that he found a grenade laying on the ground that one of his comrades had dropped several minutes earlier and he made the mistake of picking it up.
I would SURE like to see Kerry's past exposed in these regards.
He was staying to have a beer with friends. As he got off the helicopter, he saw a grenade on the ground, and stooped to pick it up, thinking he had dropped it. Oops - it went off.
Actually, I've had my own theories of what happened to Cleland...
1. He could have been one of those jerks that used the grenade pull ring to attach the grenade to whatever rig he was wearing... When he moved to exit the chopper - the grenade got hung up on something during Cleland's exit, Cleland jumped to the ground, jerking the pin on his own grenade allowing it to drop ARMED to the ground at his feet......BOOM.
Variable on the above...
Cleland like MANY jerks, may have slightly compressed the pin wings on the Grenade pin, making it easier to pull the pin.. If the pin was TOO STRAIGHT -- his jump to the ground could have produced sufficient force on landing to pull the pin, allowing the grenade that was attached to his rig via the pull ring -- to drop ARMED to the ground at his feet.......BOOM.
A combination of BOTH, could have been the case - making this a Darwin event..
2. He was fragged.. This was not uncommon.
Semper Fi
It's never been clearly determined whether the grenade was dropped by Cleland himself or one of the troops with him. In his own description of the event, even he didn't know for sure. In either case, it would have had to have been dropped some number of seconds rather than several minutes earlier for it to explode when it did.
Not sure you going to find much. That is probably why the Republicans are backing away from this. 1) Purple hearts were awarded and no one has claimed they were not legit. 2) Bronze Star and Silver Star situations are 'he said' / 'he said' situations, that don't really matter because the medals were awarded after du review. Now the Vets have a good claim against Kerry's actions after Vietnam, and they could all say he was a jerk during Vietnam, but to go after the medals is probably a no winner.
How many days was Kerry in the hospital?
The idea of John Forbes Kerry having 1 more Purple Heart than poor Bob Dole makes me want to puke.
Cleland, like John McCain, deserve our respect and thanks for their military service. Just like any vet does. As far as their actual military service goes.
But any vet that lies about their actual service deserve nothing but contemp. Because their lies spit on all the other vets.
Historically, we have celebrated those that have been in military service and then went into public service. But anyone that attempts to build a public service career on lies about their military service should be stomped into the ground.
Zero. None of his wounds were severe enough to require any hospitalization.
In at least the first case, it was an immediate return to duty after treatment. I'm not sure on the other two.
Not so.
Cleland lost his limbs due to his own grenade. And it wasn't the first time a grenade had fallen off his flak jacket (his own words).
That isn't to take anything away from Cleland. His silver star shows him to be a real hero.
As a VietNam vet, I am apalled at the way Kerry has cheapened the purple heart for the real heros like Cleland.
I had a trooper try to get a purple heart for a stubbed toe during a ground attack. I informed him that he would be on the next patrol if he even thought about getting a purple heart. Told him that there were real people with real injuries getting the purple heart. He changed his mind about even going to the medics.
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