"Say the secret word and the duck will come down and pay you $100. It's a common word, something you see every day."
Posted on 08/19/2004 9:20:29 AM PDT by Shermy
(From April 2004)
WASHINGTON - John Kerry has a piece of shrapnel in his left thigh from an injury he suffered in the Vietnam War, his doctor said Friday during a review of 36 pages of the Democratic presidential candidate's military medical records.
The records shown briefly to reporters provided a few more details about the wounds that resulted in Kerry's three Purple Hearts and show that he suffered from respiratory ailments, a skin rash and a minor urinary tract infection during his four years in the Navy.
Kerry was wounded three times while commanding a swiftboat in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, an assignment that brought him close to enemy fire several times.
Some of Kerry's critics have questioned whether his injuries were serious enough to warrant three Purple Hearts and reassignment out of Vietnam. Kerry's doctor, Gerald Doyle, said he could not characterize the severity of the wounds since he didn't see them, but he noted that Kerry was in danger of serious injury several times.
Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Doyle said if the shrapnel had hit Kerry in the eye, it could have blinded him.
And Doyle said Kerry's third Purple Heart came from a dangerous situation on March 13, 1969, that could have been life-threatening. A mine had exploded near Kerry's swiftboat and enemy snipers were shooting around his boat.
According to notes from a military doctor who treated Kerry three hours later, Kerry was thrown against the bulkhead, resulting in contusions on his right forearm. A small piece of shrapnel was lodged in his left upper buttock. He was treated with a tetanus shot, topical dressing and an ace bandage and advised to apply warm soaks to his right forearm.
Kerry also was wounded by a piece of shrapnel on Feb. 20, 1969, this time on his left thigh. Doctors decided to leave the shrapnel in place rather than make a wider opening to remove it. Doctors removed damaged tissue and the entry wound was closed with sutures, and no infection developed around the shrapnel, according to the records.
Kerry jokingly told reporters aboard his campaign plane that the shrapnel hurts when it rains. He said tht although it was hot and burned at the time, he doesn't feel it now.
Kerry was diagnosed with pneumonia in September 1966 and had an upper respiratory infection and bronchitis during his time in the military. The records also show Kerry had pneumonia in 1965 before his enlistment. Doyle said Kerry has hay fever and allergies to pollen and mold and is probably predisposed to pneumonia. Doyle said Kerry had pneumonia at least once since his time in Vietnam, but he usually recovers quickly from respiratory ailments because his immune system is healthy.
Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan interrupted Doyle to ask that he only comment on Kerry's medical records in the military, noting that the doctor had already issued a letter outlining Kerry's health during the 18 years that he has treated the senator.
Doyle said the skin rash on Kerry's chest, arms and legs in 1967 was probably an inflammation of hair follicles from the warm weather in San Diego, where he trained before going to Vietnam. It was treated with a steroid cream.
Two days after Kerry was treated for the rash, doctors noted that Kerry reported coughing and other symptoms and requested a chest X-ray. "This is a very aggressive patient," the medical notes say. Doyle said he couldn't know what that meant, but speculated Kerry might have insisted on getting the X-ray since he had pneumonia a few months earlier.
This week the campaign has posted on its Web site more than 200 pages of information about Kerry's military record. The campaign said when the Navy sent Kerry his military file, it did not include his medical records, and those shown to reporters Friday were copies that Kerry had in his personal files.
The Kerry campaign allowed 19 reporters who travel with Kerry to talk to his doctor and view the medical file for about 30 minutes. Reporters had to sign the file in and out and were not allowed to take a copy.
Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter noted that the 30-minute review was 10 minutes longer than reporters had with President Bush's military medical files. She said the campaign will not release the record to the public because "we don't consider this information to be public in the first place."
Also on Friday, Kerry announced a "Contract with America's Middle Class" during a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The contract was a compilation of ideas that Kerry has been touting on the campaign trail - a new plan to win the war, create 10 million jobs, cut middle class taxes and streamline government.
Kerry also had a private meeting with Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to former President Carter, at Kerry's home in Georgetown.
" Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Doyle said if the shrapnel had hit Kerry in the eye, it could have blinded him. "
Isn't this shrapnel the piece that was half the size of a pencil eraser ?
The piece was literally hanging off Kerry's arm- he traveled 20 miles through jungle, to have it officially attended to- for Kerry's own medal count.
Any small projectile can blind- a piece of rice forced into the eye can blind.
But, Kerry wasn't hit in the eye.
The doc sounds as cuckoo as Kerry.
The Kerry camp should adopt NBC's Olympic theme as their song, with daily medal updates.
"No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night..."
Were his so-called "left-in shrapnel" written about in Tour of Duty?
Doug Brinkley doesn't seem to be available to ask this question?
Thank you. We think alike, "you'll shoot your eye out" was the first little voice I heard when I read that.
Better yet, I'd like to see him scanned with one those body wands.
sw
"Say the secret word and the duck will come down and pay you $100. It's a common word, something you see every day."
He might have been doing undercover work for the CIA.
Yes, I believe it was in that book. And if I am remembering right, he made the incident out to be more realistic in that book, claiming that the rice pile exploded while he was too close to it leaving rice and a piece of shrapnel in his derriere. That is why that book is difficult to find right now. That is mentioned on another thread at post 298 or so where there is a link to Kerry's gunners memories. The thread is found if you do a FR search on kerry critic (Steven Gardner)
Here's the link...it's post 399
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1194386/posts?q=1&&page=381
Oops...scratch that....not the right link. I will find the right one. Sorry
When a working class guy loses a foot, he has an article written about him that puts the word hero in quotes. Such was the example of New York Newsday and the Associated Press last year.... Iraq war "Hero" returns home. When a rich liberal elitist gets a splinter, there are no quotes around the word hero. Matter of fact, the word hero cannot be said enough.
...shouldn't it be called the "Contract ON America's Middle Class"
OK...sorry. Here's a good link on Gardner's most recent statements and the radio show he was on that lays it all out.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1194251/posts. Go to post 5
This link is new and I am also going to go read it! :)
Dang....I am sorry that I am not getting this link right! This is what I am trying to get you to! :)
Stephen Gardner- Member of Kerry Swiftboat- on WBT, 1100 AM @ 7.00 p.m. e.s.t
Posted by blteague
On News/Activism 08/18/2004 5:59:43 PM CDT · 26 replies · 1,119+ views
LOL!!!! I shot my eye out!!
No wonder Kerry can't keep his stories straight. I can't either.
The truth is just so much easier to remember. Something Kerry ought to take into account.
I still wonder where Doug Brinkley is?
That`s absolute BS. When I was 17 y/o (a looong time ago) I was running through a field with high grass and accidentally ran into some barbed wire that ripped into my leg. A piece of one barb got imbedded deep in my thigh and I had an operation to remove it, because as my doctor said "Your legs move more than other parts of your body and the barb will move with it.". Think about that, it`s true isn`t it? Unless you have something screwed in like splints for a broken leg, a piece of metal is going to go all over the place. And this Kerry rides bicycles, roller blades and snow surfs?? Bullllll shiiii. If this Doctor didn`t want it removed then the damn thing must have been small enough to be absorbed by the body. No Doctor is going to leave a chunk of metal in your thigh! That thing would move and cut an artery in no time. The thigh muscle constantly contracts and retracts 1000s of times every day.
… but he noted that Kerry was in danger of serious injury several times.
Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Doyle said if the shrapnel had hit Kerry in the eye, it could have blinded him.
And Doyle said Kerry's third Purple Heart came from a dangerous situation on March 13, 1969, that could have been life-threatening. A mine had exploded near Kerry's swiftboat and enemy snipers were shooting around his boat.
Could have and might have might cut it with Hanoi John’s supporters, but not with me. How about he release his medical files from the time, and the recommendation and approval for the awards?
I have heard a couple of times that "non-specific urinary tract infection" in military reports generally means the clap.
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