Purple Heart #3
E P I L O G U E
ADVANTAGE SWIFT VETS
We argued that the injury from Kerry’s third Purple Heart was a wound to his buttocks resulting from a small grenade he threw at a rice pile earlier on March 13, 1969, the day in which a later separate action involved the Rassmann incident that resulted in Kerry’s Bronze Star award. This account is consistent with the one told in Kerry’s campaign biography, Tour of Duty. 11
In the appendix, we present the casualty report that led to Kerry’s third Purple Heart. The report was dated 13 March 1969 and documents Kerry’s wound as being to his buttocks. The report, however, as we noted in Unfit for Command, is fraudulent in that it attempts to link the buttocks wound suffered earlier in the day with the Rassmann incident, suggesting the injury resulted from a mine explosion rather than a self-inflicted wound. Even Rassmann himself has said in numerous public occasions that Kerry had wounded himself. So too, has the special forces officer who was in charge of the mission.
We have maintained that only one mine exploded in the Rassmann incident, that under PCF-3 commanded by Dick Pees. As we shall discuss, the damage report for Kerry’s PCF-94 does not show mine damage from that incident, so it is hard to understand how a mine exploding close to PCF-94 could have thrown up shrapnel through his boat to have injured his buttocks. The mine exploding under PCF-3 exploded at a considerable distance from Kerry’s boat and none of the other injury reports from that day reflect any shrapnel wounds.
In summary, a key conclusion regarding Kerry’s Purple Hearts remains undisputed in the controversy following publication of Unfit for Command: Kerry’s injuries that “earned” him Purple Hearts #1 and #3 were from accidental self-inflicted minor injuries. After examining the particulars of the argument presented above, we maintain that that the controversy regarding Kerry’s Purple Heart awards advances as follows: Advantage, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR KERRY
1. Why was the wound received from the grenade thrown at the rice reported to the Navy for a Purple Heart as coming from a water mine?
2. Were you lying when you claimed to have received the shrapnel wound during the ambush?
3. Why have you continued to lie about the nature of the wound you suffered to your arm—whether it was bleeding or was truly just a bruise.
cont'd......
