US Election 2004

In the post Abandon Ship?, it was noted that according to various news accounts regarding Swift Boat Veterans for Truth two of Kerry’s Purple Heart Medals were from self-inflicted wounds.  While it has not been suggested that his self-inflicted wounds were intentional, a case could be made that they were the result of Kerry’s incompetence or carelessness.

In the days following the Allied victory in the Battle of the Bulge, General Patton reports on several soldiers who abandoned the battlefield:

On the fourth [2/4/1945], I visited the hospitals and found a surprisingly small number of wounded, but did run on to three self-inflicted wounds: two shot through the left foot and one through the left hand.  It is my experience that any time a soldier is shot through either of these extremities there is a high probability that the wound is self-inflicted.  I got out an order that, from then on, soldiers so wounded would be tried, first for carelessness, and then for self-inflicted wounds.  It is almost impossible to convict a man for self-inflicted wounds, but it is easy to convict him for carelessness, for which he can get up to six months.  After the soldiers had thought this over for about two months, they began to get their friends to shoot them; however, since the friends were frequently inaccurate and took off too many toes, the practice was never highly developed.  [G.S. Patton, Jr., War As I Knew It (NY: Bantam Books, 1980), p. 224]

Swift Vets provide a summary of the various accounts of Kerry’s first Purple Heart [HERE]. 

In addition, Swift Vets offer a response to the Kerry campaign's concession that Kerry did not qualify for his first Purple Heart [HERE]. 

It is increasingly looking like Kerry was in fact a deserter, as his three Purple Hearts were the basis for his early exit from Vietnam.

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