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.
If there is shrapnel in there it has the same markings that are on his brain: "Made In Hanoi"
He came home with a self-inflicted souvenir. Some didn't come home at all. And of the ones who did come home, many came home without all of their body parts. And all of them that came home were confronted with his lies and war criminal accustions.
So he has a small piece of shrapnel from his own weapon...that's meaningless to me.
You heard correctly.
Two weeks ago I fell off my bicycle and scraped my knee on a curb. If I have hit my head on the curb I might be dead.
Does this count the steel toe in his butt from Theresa's boot?
Well, that ten minutes just settled it. I'm voting for 10-minute Kerry. sarcasm/off
The communist AP is trying to set a one day record for Kerry loving stories.
John Kerry: Vietnam Sick Bay Commando.
I am eating a honeydew mellon right now. If my fork slips and hits me in the eye I could be blinded.
I should get a purple heart then also. I drive on I-95 almost every day.
"Rocks in head" -- definitely.
He took his laminated light-duty chit and bugged out at the 4 month mark.
LOL First good laugh I've had today.
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.
Note who is making the statements here. I wonder sometimes in these articles is it the stupid doctors or the stupid reporters.
I think we all know what that means. This guy sure was on sick call a lot.
Xrays, Xrays, Xrays.
He probably put in a request for a medal for cutting himself shaving too.
...and in related news, an MRI has revealed that kerry also has an amazingly high concentration of feces in his skull. Reliable sources confirm this is due to him having his head up his ass since birth.
I'm still shocked that he did not put in a PH chit after going through the "shot" line prior to deploying...
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