Bubba gave her a Purple Head.
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Posted on 08/09/2004 5:36:55 PM PDT by 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.
I was thinking of comparing this with his 'sofa' shot, which I believe is from his New Soldier book. How could this guy, become that guy, in such a short time? or was he always - that guy?
I mean, I can understand his turning so fast. He came in there as a troublemaker. And because of that Wright and the others, essentially, threw him out of 'the club' (and also his Thorne connection meant he had to go ultra-lib to earn his gigolo money; that was his 'financial' lifeline). This is what Kerry thought happened to him at St. Paul's, as well. Rejected again. In November - it's REALLY going to hurt.
Yea, I really haven't heard anything new from the Dems in days. They may be stuck on this one.
He's daft.
"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas.
Has anybody picked up on the fact that Vietnam and Cambodia are primarily Buddhist's and Christmas is just another day for them? Celebrating Christmas huh?
It doesn't matter what the doctor says. He didn't sign the report (SOP I read earlier to have a subordinate sign off of the paperwork), but this is the spin I just heard on Hannity and Colmes about the Swiftie doctor's allegations.
Also, Kerry may have just been confused geographically and only THOUGHT he was in Cambodia. Legitimate mistake, donchaknow.
The Left is spinning really hard. Be interesting to see if the Swifties continue to get press.
Prairie
"Yea, I really haven't heard anything new from the Dems in days. They may be stuck on this one."
Hhmmm..not sure if they're stuck- I think this is what it looks like when the Dems are in shock- they're disoriented and stunned. Lenny sounded enraged/terrified.
Not if he had been told, which is very likely, that there were signs telling warning him of his approach to Cambodia and there were guards blocking the waterway.
There are a lot of Christian South Vietnamese
Is it possible to get a Purple Heart for a bruised ego?
They need to prove Dr. Letson didn't treat Kerry by releasing the medical reports. :)
bump
He really needs to get O'Neill on. Freep Him!
There are a lot of Christian South Vietnamese
Perhaps there are many today, but in 1968, there were VERY few. Personally, didn't see one Christian church during my year there. How about other vets out there?
Yes, I think Kerry PR flacks are going to have a hard time selling their initial lie that Dr. Letson was a "phoney doctor". The Dems are beneath contempt as they try to lie their way into the White House...again!
Was O'Reilly raggin' on about this again tonight?
I distinctly remember that Madame Nhu and her relatives were Catholics. I think there were quite a few Catholic Vietnamese, because there had been a French presence there for many years.
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