John Kerry and the Purple Heart

[SuperScout]

To repeat the obvious, and what Packy said, there is not one federal, state, county or burg department or agency that gets all the money it wants or needs. Never has, never will. The whiners keep whining, the doers keep making do with what they have, and working harder to get more next time the basket passes by.

If any Libertarian, Martian, or pseudo-impregnated alien thinks that a liberal if going to provide for a better national defense, then I suggest that their helmet is on way too tightly.

Sir Scamp: roger your description of the sound/effect of a .30 calibre round smacking into approximately 5/16" of armor plate! I was sitting in the TC (track commander's) hatch one night, pulling my 2 hours of peering through the Starlite Scope when one of Chuck's AK-47 rounds hit the cupola around me. It landed about 3" from the top, and any further might have really caused me to bleed more profusely. Worst pain of all was a sliver into the left eyeball, which didn't get extracted until the next morning. It felt like it was 1" in diameter, and about 3" long, but when the eyeball doctor showed me the itty, bitty, teeny tiny piece of shrapnel, I quit my bellyaching, and went to bathe my other bleeders.

One can only speculate as to the reticence of Mr. Kerry to release any and all of his military records; it would either quell the fires of speculation, or confirm our basic doubts. If he releases them, and he comes across as the fighter he pretends to be, then I'll be the first to apologize here. If not, continual fields of fire will be laid down.

[Gimpy]

my country boy a$$!

I defy you or anyone ELSE to categorically refute any of the statements of facts I've posted above!

You can't do it.

[SuperScout]

Is the VA appropriation for this and future years larger than it was 6-9 years ago?

Isn't the CRSC and other improvements in the Disabilty Pay/Retired Pay an improvement of what never happened before?

What does your rant have to do with Kerry's medals or lack thereof?

[darrels joy]

During the news conference, Kerry . . . addressed a Globe story yesterday reporting that some veterans questioned whether he suffered sufficient injuries to merit the three Purple Hearts he received in Vietnam, especially the first, which his commanding officer said was for "a little scratch." The former officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard, is a registered Republican.

"The Navy made a decision 35 years ago to make an award, based on the normal procedures by which those awards are made, and those of us who were there know what happened," the senator said. "It hasn't been questioned in 35 years and, obviously, in presidential races, politics is politics and I understand that. But I'm proud of my service and I'm proud of the men I served with, and I'm proud of what I did on that particular night and the risks we took and what we achieved. Period. End of issue."

"End of issue"? Doesn't Kerry sound just a wee bit defensive?

[Arrow]

Sure wish that boy would make up my mind.

[Hardball]

Tonight in San Diego, the local radio talk show host Stacey Taylor (Male) stated that he was tired of dealing with Kerry's record and Vietnam, because, "hey man, it was thirty years ago" (paraphrased)

Ok, so that means:
For all military personnel in training, or on active duty today, studying the rules, regulations, and theories of service in the Armed Forces is an exercise in Relativism.

Unit cohesion, valor and selfless sacrifice in the face of the enemy; and standing for the ideals of America are subject to the whims of each individual. Or at least they are only important in the line of duty.

For is not Mr. Kerry arguing that overt aid and comfort to the enemy is not a hinderance to becoming the very person, elected by the citizens, to safeguard and command those same military personnel who are forced to learn of such virtues?

Duty, Honor, Country, unless it gets in the way of your political ambitions.

What "testimony" will this generation of "heroes" in Iraq bring before the US Senate?

Forgive MY arrogance, for Senator Kerry said "End of issue" so the case MUST be closed.

Hardball

[Gimpy]

Originally posted by SuperScout Is the VA appropriation for this and future years larger than it was 6-9 years ago?

On a percentage basis...........HELL NO! Based on the requirements of systems, personnel, heath care & drug price increases, increased patient load, etc....Bushs' so-called "appropriations" have been going BACKWARDS for Gods' sake.............it ain't that hard to figure out, Super. Ya just gotta OPEN YOUR FREAKIN EYES instead of your MOUTH!

Isn't the CRSC and other improvements in the Disabilty Pay/Retired Pay an improvement of what never happened before?

What "other" improvements??? You call a 1.6% increase in disablity compensation an "improvement" when veterans dependents are enduring the painful fact that their health care and drug costs haven risen more than 10% to 20 % in the past few years?? I don't think real wages for these folks have risen that much, do you??

As for the CRSC.................too little.........too late! This bull$hit proposal was only generated to appease the "ranks" of retired/disabled veterans for the "short-hall".........The folks who REALLY need this FULL CON-CURRENT RECEIPT of military retirement pay and VA disabilty compensation pay will be DEAD AND GONE when the final measure reaches it's complete conclusion....................TEN YEARS FROM NOW! How many WWII vets eligible for this do YOU expect will be gone by then??? At LEAST a few million, huh?

What does your rant have to do with Kerry's medals or lack thereof?

Abso-freakin-lutely NOTHIN!..........But, then again.........I was not the one first mentioning these "issues" either..........now was I???

Now.......................it's YOUR TURN to offer up some "answers" to MY charges mentioned above? Or, do you still prefer to "wiggle" and "waggle" your way around attempting to subvert the truth as I've put it before YOU??? :cd:

[MORTARDUDE]

No one has answered my questions. Did Kerry take care of the sailors in his care ? Did he commit cowardly acts ? Did he engage the enemy and kill him ? Was he a good officer ? Have any of the sailors who served with him come forward with anything negative about his tour in Vietnam ?

Larry

[Gimpy]

Originally posted by MORTARDUDE No one has answered my questions. Did Kerry take care of the sailors in his care ?

You're darn right he did!--------------

Did he commit cowardly acts ?

HELL NO!---------------------------------

Did he engage the enemy and kill him ?

HELL YES!--------------------------------

Was he a good officer ?

I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY!--------

Have any of the sailors who served with him come forward with anything negative about his tour in Vietnam ?


HELL NO!-----------------------------------GIMP
Larry

Thanks for posting this Larry!

[Seascamp]

Larry,
In my opinion, no he did not. Not by a long shot. More like recklessness and needless risk and he?s damn lucky they all didn?t end up as a fine film of raspberry jam on the water for any purpose beyond Kerry?s legend building. His job was to fight the vessel while maintaining the best tactical advantage of both firepower and maneuver. By his own words, he didn?t do that by choice, not by happenstance, disadvantage or orders. Some now retired and some deceased Flag Rank Navy Officers who were there in the same operation and at the same time have unequivocally stated he was a loose cannon going in harms way. It?s too bad he has suppressed his book for there ya could see and read it all.

If he did other then what he has represented, then let?s see it and hear about it. If all he has said ammounts to sea stories and legond making, I can accept that and get on with things as its no paint off my crash bars one way or another.

Like I?ve said before, I never saw a Swiftboat used as an armored landing craft/battering ram as those things were fast but fairly spindly when it came to adsorbing any kind of serious hit. An RPG could probably blow away the wheelhouse and port side barbette in one poof and a B-40 would just leave a gob of melted aluminum foil from one end to the other.

Just take a look at a pic and the design specs and if that?s an iron clad or an armored assault landing craft, then I?ll be a Monkeys Uncle.

Scamp