Retired doctor makes light of Kerry wound

The Huntsville Times ^ | August 6, 2004 | DAVID BREWER

[Howlin]

SCOTTSBORO - A retired family doctor said Thursday he used a Band-Aid to treat the first of three wounds Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry received in the Vietnam War.

Dr. Louis Letson of Scottsboro, who appears in a new 60-second TV ad questioning Kerry's war record, said Kerry came into his office at Cam Rahn Bay on the morning of Dec. 3, 1968, with an injury to his upper arm.

Letson said Kerry told him he and a boat crew of about five enlisted men were on patrol that night when they began receiving small arms fire and he was injured.

But Letson said the crew told a different story after Kerry left the office. "They were kind of amused by the whole thing," he said.

The crew members denied that they had been under enemy fire, Letson said. The crew said it was about 2 a.m. when they thought they saw some people on shore and Kerry fired a M79 grenade launcher.

"He had fired it up close against some rocks on shore when the grenade exploded" and he was hit in the arm by shrapnel, Letson said. "That's what caused the injury. The fragment was not from enemy fire" as Kerry portrayed it, the crew told him.

"The fragment was about the size of a match stick," Letson said. "It was sticking out of his arm. I grabbed it out and put a Band Aid on it. It didn't require an anesthesia or sutures."

Letson is among several swift boat veterans in the TV ad who say Kerry lied about his service, exaggerated his wounds to win war medals and betrayed soldiers with his antiwar protesting after he returned from Vietnam.

Kerry campaign's headquarters in Washington did not return calls for comment.

Letson said the crew said Kerry was not in charge of the boat that night, but was in training and that they were under the command of another lieutenant who was on board that night. He said the crew had joked how Kerry had told them he wanted to be the next JFK.

The late President John F. Kennedy was injured when a Japanese destroyer collided with the small patrol boat (PT-109) he commanded in World War II.

Letson said the base's commanding officer, Lt. Commander Grant "Skip" Hibbard, who now lives in Gulf Breeze, Fla., rejected Kerry's request for a Purple Heart for his injury that night. He said Hibbard told him that Kerry did not deserve the award because the injury was not combat-related. Efforts to reach Hibbard for comment were unsuccessful.

Letson said he is member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which was organized in April. About 390 swift boat veterans belong to the group, he said.

[Watery Tart]

The only person O'Reilly is looking out for is O'Reilly.

I tuned in (after almost two years' absence) to watch the Laura Bush interview. Blah Blah Hard Question Blah Blah--about what I expected.

I also had to hear how much he just LOVES Terezah! WooHoo! "I JUST LOVE HER!"

Then came the part that reminded why I stopped watching in the first place, although he has graduated somewhat. I stopped watching because of his "Hooker of the Week" segments. Apparently he has gone on to PORN STAR segments!

Sheesh. We used to watch his show religiously. Get a clue, Bill. You just look SILLY when you drool and flirt, and your credibility is ZERO.

[southland]

I am sure Dr Letson was in Viet Nam Cam Ran Bay about that time because he discussed it with him perhaps 20 years ago prior to this time frame. I knew him prior to his going to University of Alabama Med School Birmingham, Al. He was a licensed Pharmacist prior to going to Med School. He filled prescriptions for me prior to Med School .

[Watery Tart]

Is it me, or is O'reilly like a chameleon(sp) today. I use to worship this guy, but he's really starting to put me off. He is a really intelligent guy that prepares himself for his views, but I think he's starting to "lose it".

O'Reilly wants John al-Q'erry on his show in the worst way. He thinks he is a kingmaker. How long after the 2000 elections did he say that if only Gore had appeared on his show, Gore would have won the election?

Sheesh.

[conshack]

I agree. The Dems are making a big mistake if they think they can discredit him by saying he didn't treat Kerry just because he didn't sign the treatment sheet. He was the only doctor on the base and I bet he can prove he was there on Dec 3, 1968.

I will have to dispute the issue of being the only doctor on the base. Cam Rahn Bay was a large installation with a fully equiped hospital(I had the pleasure of being hospitalized there for two days and assigned there for 9 months, Feb-Nov 71). It was a medivac point for the whole area. Only guessing, but I'd estimate that there were at least 25-30 doctors assigned there, maybe more. I'm not taking up for John F'n by any means, but I did want to set the record straight about being the only dr on the base. There was also a navy detachment on Cam Rahn, and they likely had a dispensery. It's quite possible that Letson saw him there. One final point; Had the wound been of any significance, he would have been sent to the Air Force hospital for treatment.
I firmly believe that F'n did not warrant receiving ANY PH's for his wounds and hope he chokes on his lies concerning them.

[conshack]

O'Reilly wants John al-Q'erry on his show in the worst way. He thinks he is a kingmaker. How long after the 2000 elections did he say that if only Gore had appeared on his show, Gore would have won the election?

I don't get the opportunity to see O'Reilly very often any more. I'm working in Korea these days and can't get the cable company that has FOX. I hear the FReepers talk about him and agree that it seems like he is so concerned with the ratings, that he has prostituted the very thing that gave him his reputation. It appears that the "No Spin" approach is gone for him. That's sad.

[kabar]

I heard Letson being interviewed and he said he was the only doctor on the base. You could be right about the dispensary or a small navy support facility near by. According to Kerry's treatment sheet, it was stampled U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY CAM RANH BAY RVN.

While the concentration at Cam Ranh Bay of Market Time headquarters and forces during the summer of 1967, the demand for base support became extraordinary. Accordingly, the Naval Support Activity Saigon, Detachment Cam Ranh Bay, was redesignated the Naval Support Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, a more autonomous and self sufficient status.

I was stationed in Danang in I Corps, which was run by the Navy/Marines. I have no idea who was in charge of Cam Rhan Bay. It was a major port facility, but was it under Army or Air Force control?

[ducks1944]

BILL O. WANT KERRY TO COME ON HIS SHOW. THAT WHY HE WILL NOT SAY TO MUCH ABOUT IT. BILL IS IN ALL FOR BILL. BILL IS TO THE LEFT LOTS OF THE TIME FOR SURE.

[Future Useless Eater]

I have read in several places that the ORDERLY who worked for Dr. Louis Letson, and signed Kerry's grenade/shrapnel report, was named Jesus C. "Jess" Carreon, or J.C. Carreon for short.

I have also heard it reported that JC Carreon died around 1992....

...or did he???

• Could it be that the swiftboatvets merely lost track of Jesus Carreon?
• Could it be that after Vietnam, Jesus Carreon went on to get a doctorate in education?
• Could it be that Dr. Jesus Carreon introduced George W. Bush in Minneapolis in 2004?

I could find no JC Carreon close to Kerry's age, that died around 1992, and that includes Social Security Death records, as well as obituary records.
There was just this one JC Carreon, who would have been 36 in 1969.
I realize this 'could' be the same guy, but I suspect he was a little too old to be an 'orderly' in Vietnam...
JESUS C CARREON
born: 15 Oct 1933 - Guam or American Somoa or Philippine Islands
died: 30 May 1992 - 91902 (Bonita, San Diego, CA) 586-60-2122

I also WONDER if the swiftvets merely THINK their JC Carreon died in 1992 because someone saw the OTHER JC Carreon's death record...

---

This from "I love Jet Noise"...

Louis Letson 1, DNC Lawyers 0

“I am the doctor [who treated Kerry],” he said. “Let me explain that. My critics are pointing to the [signature on the medical record], J.C. Carreon. If they look it carefully a scribble after the words, saying, “HM1.” HM1 is a hospital man first class. [Note: the DNC letter sent to TV stations states "Further, the "doctor" who appears in the ad (Louis Letson) was not a crewmate of Senator Kerry's and was not the doctor who actually signed Senator Kerry's sick call sheet. In fact, another physician signed Senator Kerry's sick call sheet. "] Jesus C. Carreon was one of my medics at that naval base. He was a top-notch fella. Real prince of a fella.”

“Unfortunately, my friend Carreon died about 1992. He’s not around to back this up,” he said.

“Kerry might have thought my name was J.C. Carreon. I was the only medical officer at that base. September 68 to Sept. 1969. I can verify that with commanding officer.”

---

And then there's THIS Dr. Jesus Carreon in 2004, who looks about the right age, AND is also from southern California...

President George W. Bush is introduced by Jesus Carreon before giving remarks to the American Associations of Community Colleges annual convention in Minneapolis, Minn., Monday, April 26, 2004. "Jess told me coming in here that -- I asked him where he was raised. He said, Southern California," commented the President before his remarks. "He said he didn't speak English when he came to America at age five. His dad had big dreams for him. And here he is, years later, introducing the President of the United States in perfect English."

[Future Useless Eater]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an HM1 an ENTRY LEVEL Hospital Medic? (so I suspect that would be a very young man).

If nothing else, I think this man, introducing George Bush this April, could be the SON of the deceased orderly who signed Kerry's paperwork on behalf of Doctor Letson.

Even THAT could make for an interesting story...

[swilhelm73]

Hmm, perhaps you should drop the swift boat vets an email with what you've found?

[lainde]

bttt

[Future Useless Eater]

not sure how to do that but will look into it later...

[swilhelm73]

Contact Swift veterans at Latch@SwiftVets.com

[shezza]

It appears that this particular Dr. Jesus "Jess" Carreon is a PhD who has spent his entire life in the education field. He is chancellor of the Dallas County Community College, and has been in academics all of his professional life. See bio here. Of course that doesn't preclude him from being RELATED in some way to the mystery man Jesus "Jess" Carreon.

[Chieftain]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an HM1 an ENTRY LEVEL Hospital Medic? (so I suspect that would be a very young man).

You are WRONG. HM1 (Hospitalman 1st class) is an E-6. Top petty officer grade below Chief PEtty Officer (Chief). To obtain that paygrade at that time, he probably had at least 8 years active service.

[greasepaint]

Concerning the Purple Heart award,
did reguations (at the time) require that the wound
be sufficiently bad, that it sould be attended
to by a M.D.?

[Endeavor]

agree re:O'Reilly, and had to laugh at your "hamster in every pot" -- too funny.

[windchime]

Bump!

[GailA]

btt