Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Chris McConnel]

From the SBV site



1. KERRY'S FIRST PURPLE HEART


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1.1 Forearm or not?

[NOW]

Grant Hibbard, today : "He had a little scratch on his forearm"

[THEN]

Grant Hibbard, two weeks after the "little scratch" incident in 1968 that so deeply troubled Hibbard : "Of 16 categories for rating, including professional knowledge, moral courage and loyalty, Mr. Hibbard checked “not observed” in 12. Mr. Hibbard gave Mr. Kerry the highest rating of “one of the top few” in three categories—initiative, cooperation and personal behavior. He gave Mr. Kerry the second-best rating, “above the majority,” in military bearing."

Kerry's medical report from 1969 (which Letson claims to have authored but did not) : "3 DEC 1968 U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY CAM RANH BAY RVN FPO Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl. Bacitracin. Ret. to duty"


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1.2 "Turned down" Purple Heart or not?

[NOW]

Grant Hibbard, today : "I turned down the Purple Heart request"

[THEN]

Grant Hibbard, April 2004 : "I do remember some questions, some correspondence about it. I finally said, 'Ok, if that's what happened ... do whatever you want.' After that I don't know what happened. Obviously, he got it. I don't know how"

Grant Hibbard, two weeks after the "little scratch" incident in 1968 that so deeply troubled Hibbard : "Of 16 categories for rating, including professional knowledge, moral courage and loyalty, Mr. Hibbard checked “not observed” in 12. Mr. Hibbard gave Mr. Kerry the highest rating of “one of the top few” in three categories—initiative, cooperation and personal behavior. He gave Mr. Kerry the second-best rating, “above the majority,” in military bearing."


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1.3 Kerry "requested" Purple Heart or not?

[NOW]

William Schacte, today : "Kerry requested a Purple Heart"

Grant Hibbard, today : "Hibbard said Kerry came into his office "to apply for a Purple Heart," but that he turned down Kerry's "Purple Heart request."

[THEN]

Grant Hibbard, a few months ago : "But in a conflicting interview this summer, Hibbard said Kerry did not directly ask for the medal but a medical report."


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1.4 "Learned" from people "with" Kerry at the time or not?

[NOW]

Larry Thurlow : "I learned that from the people who had been with him [Kerry] at that time, when he reported that he received an injury from hostile fire, when in fact, there was none...The only name that comes to mind now is a guy that is actually a member of our group...Steve Gardner."

[NOW]

Steve Gardner : "Gardner admitted that "he was not on the boat with Kerry during the incidents for which Kerry got his medals," reported The Columbus Dispatch on August 6."


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1.5 Three, or is four, or is it "possibly four" men with Kerry?

[NOW]

John O'Neill : "During his August 12 appearances on Crossfire and on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews , O'Neill claimed that [in addition to the three men on the boat, including Kerry] another anti-Kerry veteran, William Schachte , served on a boat (a small whaler) with Kerry the night Kerry received the injury that resulted in his first Purple Heart."

[A LITTLE LATER]

John O'Neill : "When pressed on Crossfire by Former Clinton White House special counsel Lanny Davis about the number of men on the whaler, O'Neill could only reply that "[t]here were at least three and possibly four men on the whaler."..."

[SBV WEBSITE AT THAT TIME]

SBV website at that time : "While waiting to receive his own Swift boat command, Kerry volunteered for a nighttime patrol mission commanding a small, foam-filled "skimmer" craft with two enlisted men."

[SBV WEBSITE SOME DAYS LATER]

SBV website some days later, after Media Matters pointed out how Schacte and O'Neill's story contradicted SBV's website : "While waiting to receive his own Swift boat command, Kerry volunteered for a nighttime patrol mission on a small, foam-filled "skimmer" craft under the command of Lt. William Schachte. The two officers were accompanied by an enlisted man who operated the outboard motor."

eRiposte note: Three men, four men, or possibly four men? On top of that some compassionate website editing...


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1.6 Scrape or not?

[NOW]

Grant Hibbard, today : "He had a tiny scratch...less than from a rose thorn"

Grant Hibbard, today : "...[Kerry's wound was like a] "scrape from a fingernail"..."

[NOW/THEN]

Louis Letson, today : "What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle. I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm."

eRiposte note: A "tiny scratch" from a "fingernail scrape" that was "sticking superficially" but "penetrated" no more than 3-4 mm! How swift!

Kerry's medical report from 1969 (which Letson claims to have authored but did not) : "3 DEC 1968 U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY CAM RANH BAY RVN FPO Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl. Bacitracin. Ret. to duty"

http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/sbv_v_sbv.htm