Wealthy Forbes Kerry Camp Tries to Hide Tax Returns

TJ, the records are complete, and if they aren't the burdon is on you to name the missing document.

 

You don't seem to understand that debate and discussion usually involves factual information instead of colorful rhetoric. Unlike you and a few others on the board, most people actually like to think for themselves and make decisions based on facts. If you want to swallow the party line and be fed your daily rant by drudge et al, go ahead. Just because Matt Drudge or Sean Hannity says something it doesn't automatically become the gospel truth. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised when you insult those who don't do the same and then scream bloody murder when someone calls you out for posting non-issues on the board. We can't take it? I must be completely off when I see the normal pattern of posting that is classic TJ:

1. Post rant straight from right wing dirt machine
2. Dare everyone to DEFEND themselves
3. Toss out an insult or two and beat chest
4. Don't bother to answer criticisms that shatter original myth presented
5. Declare victory and run away.

 

Kerry was injured yet again on 13 March 1969, in an action for which he was awarded both a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. According to Kerry's Bronze Star citation (signed by Admiral Zumwalt himself):

Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry was serving as an Officer-in-Charge of Inshore Patrol Craft 94, one of five boats conducting a Sealords operation in the Bay Hap River. While exiting the river, a mine detonated under another Inshore Patrol Craft and almost simultaneously, another mine detonated wounding Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry in the right arm. In addition, all units began receiving small arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks. When Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry discovered he had a man overboard, he returned upriver to assist. The man in the water was receiving sniper fire from both banks. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain and with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the man aboard. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry then directed his boat to return to and assist the other damaged boat to safety. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry's calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.


According to the Boston Globe, this was the only one of Kerry's three Purple Heart injuries that caused him to miss any days of service:

Kerry had been wounded three times and received three Purple Hearts. Asked about the severity of the wounds, Kerry said that one of them cost him about two days of service, and that the other two did not interrupt his duty. "Walking wounded," as Kerry put it. A shrapnel wound in his left arm gave Kerry pain for years.

 

This is almost certainly my fave ever thread in the history of this board, beating out any Doc or popeye (bless him) rumor threads or even the Hakeem seen shopping at Whole Foods thread.

I just can't get enough of the dunce cap monkeys swinging and missing at t-balls. Actually, a better analogy would be the Charlie Brown kick. I mean, you know Lucy's going to yank it back, the b****, but the idiot runs up there and tries to kick it all the same.

You clowns go after Kerry's military service and his or his wife's finances? Come on. My Rovian hint is: Go after Kerry in a place where you know W has him beat. My Rovian challenge is: Find one.

Dorks.

 

Who cares about Kerry's tax returns?

If we were to list all of Bush's money and where it came from, the list would go on for miles and miles. And the President would need a full pardon from whoever succeeded him so that he wouldn't spend his last years being Georgina to his cellmate Bubba.

 

I hope you read the thread about Pat Tillman and stop these moronic posts about a man who actually served in combat. You're being really offensive now and you're so called pysochological warfare is only exposing your lack of character. Get a life.

 

I have a question. Who is responsible for awarding a Purple Heart? This is a serious question. I don't know the answer.

I imagine that the person injured is NOT responsible. If you are in a hospital, do you fill out a Purple Heart application? Did Kerry have any direct influence on this whether he received it or not? So if somebody did award him a purple heart, is he supposed to refuse it?

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't really understand the tactic of questioning the severity of his injuries.

Now if he lied about receiving a purple heart, that is something else entirely.

 

And by the way, many commanding officers won't even issue Purple Hearts for shrapnel-related injuries that aren't severe (i.e. allow the injured to return to battle immediately and don't even require notification of family members). Looks like Forbes Kerry got another sweetheart deal. He fled Vietnam on a technicality

Jorge is like his hero, Bush, here. You don't know for sure if he is lying or just ignorant. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and go for ignorance.

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b. While clearly an individual decoration, the Purple Heart differs from all other decorations in that an individual is not "recommended" for the decoration; rather he or she is entitled to it upon meeting specific criteria.

(1) A Purple Heart is authorized for the first wound suffered under conditions indicated above, but for each subsequent award an Oak Leaf Cluster will be awarded to be worn on the medal or ribbon. Not more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile, force, explosion, or agent.

(2) A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under one or more of the conditions listed above A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.

(3) When contemplating an award of this decoration, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.

(4) Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:

(a) Injury caused by enemy bullet, SHRAPNEL or other projectile created by enemy action.

link

 

Thank you glynch.

Let me circumvent Jorge here. Kerry has provided proof that he received three purple hearts. I imagine that it isn't Kerry responsibility to file the "official records." If he got the award, I have to assume they were filed. If they've been subsequently lost, is that Kerry's fault?

He has proof he received the medals. End of story.

The burden of proof falls on the naysayer...not Kerry. So Jorge, you called everybody else "google monkeys", now its your turn to show us. If you can't prove he didn't deserve the award, then lets move on.

 

Shrapnel wound to the arm. What I want to know is how you could learn what Kerry's CO's opinion of his wound was without finding out what it was?

Those are consecutive paragraphs. I'd like to think that someone with as great a reputation for rhetoric as yourself would have read the primary sources.

By "many," of course, you mean "more than one." Here's what the Globe had to say in the article:

As they should have been, according to the regulations glynch quoted.

source of non-TJ quotes

 

Mightly googlers? I thought you don't resort to name calling?

Anyway, the answer to your question is irrelevant. But if you want to discredit one of the purple hearts, then the burden of proof is on you to demonstrate that.

Why should we (or even Kerry) do your research? If you have a problem w/ the fact that the military misplaced one of his medical records, ask the Miltary about it. That isn't Kerry's problem. Kerry provided all the proof he needs.

 

Let's see, his length of combat service is infinitely longer than Bushies and his length of medical review time is fifty percent more than the Bushies.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/04/23/politics1607EDT0681.DTL
(04-23) 14:22 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

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.

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Kerry got his first Purple Heart after he got shrapnel in his left arm above his elbow. Doyle noted that 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.

Doyle, who has treated Kerry since 1986, said Kerry still has the shrapnel in his thigh today, but has never complained about it bothering him
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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 make the record public because "we don't consider this information to be public in the first place."

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There you go TJ, the three purple hearts were...

Shrapnel to the arm above elbow

Shrapnel to the thigh

contusions on his arm, and wounded buttocks.

Three purple hearts, all of them more significant than a fingernail scrape. All of them compliant the regulations listed in this thread.

 

ONLY THREE?????????

wimp.

 

Since some posters seemed so interested in this (that ninth crewmember sounds alot like the rest of the Republican party):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A34941-2004Apr22?language=printer
Keen Focus on Lt. Kerry's Four Months Under Fire

By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 23, 2004; Page A01


As a senior at Yale, John F. Kerry harbored doubts about the war in Vietnam, and as a Navy veteran he became famous for opposing it. But in between, he fought aggressively during an extraordinary four-month tour in that country, earning some of the nation's highest commendations for valor -- and then he abruptly returned to the United States.



Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, was in the Navy from 1966 to 1970, leaving with the rank of lieutenant, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for wounds he received in combat. Most of the citations were awarded during his command of two "swift boats" on Vietnam's perilous coastal waterways.

Today, that record has become both an asset and an issue as he seeks the presidency. The senator from Massachusetts has used it to define his qualifications for the office, his experience in foreign policy, his leadership -- and, regarding the conflict in Iraq, his firsthand knowledge of war. But critics have cited it as evidence that he was opportunistic and have questioned whether he deserved one of his medals.

An examination of his record, supplemented by interviews with the candidate, his crewmates and some skeptics, found little to undermine Kerry's portrayal of his service.
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But the consensus among crewmates is that he bridged the differences and connected with his crew immediately. In combat, eight of nine of them say, he was daring and unflinching, never tentative. The ninth, Stephen M. Gardner, an avowed Bush supporter, recently told Brinkley: "Whenever a firefight started he always pulled up stakes and got the hell out of Dodge." Once, famously, Kerry -- in violation of regulations -- beached his boat and went after the enemy, chasing down and killing a Viet Cong guerrilla carrying a rocket launcher.

"I didn't want to just react and respond. I wanted to win," Kerry said. "I went there with a purpose, and that was to be successful on the missions."
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Rassman nominated Kerry for the Silver Star -- and to this day, he is perplexed that it was downgraded to the Bronze. "I figure I was dead, because so many people were shooting at me," Rassman said. "He came right up to the bow of the boat and pulled me in. That was stupid."
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