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Skull & Bones alum Bush and Kerry are disgraceful

JOHN KERRY, WAR HERO?
New York Post

Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry has never been forthcoming about how he earned three Purple Heart medals in Vietnam - and the reason for his reticence appears now to be coming clear.


At least the first of the decorations - awarded for wounds suffered in combat - was received in circumstances that can best be described as dubious.


Kerry's commanding officer at the time, retired Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, told The Boston Globe that Kerry basically awarded himself a Purple Heart after receiving a superficial scratch in what Hibbard said was not even a firefight.


Kerry had volunteered for river patrol duty late in 1968.


He and his crew saw some Vietnamese running from a boat onto the beach, opened fire on them and then pulled out - apparently without taking return fire.


When the boat was safely back at base, Kerry "had a little scratch on his forearm, and he was holding a piece of shrapnel," Hibbard said Tuesday.


Though Hibbard says he did not want to give in to Kerry's insistence that he be considered for a Purple Heart - "I don't think he deserved one," Hibbard told The Post yesterday - he eventually did so.


It's not hard to imagine why.


Even then, Kerry had strong ties to the Kennedy machine in Massachusetts (Bobby Kennedy speechwriter Adam Walinsky wrote Kerry's famous 1971 anti-war Washington speech).


And the future commander-in-chief-wannabe certainly would have known that - under Pentagon (news - web sites) rules then in effect - three Purple Hearts guaranteed him an early exit from the war.


One down, two to go? Seems so.


Kerry did leave Vietnam six months ahead of schedule - thanks to those Purple Hearts.


And he refuses to make public the detailed medical-treatment records relating to his wound - none of which, significantly, took him out of service for more than a day or two.


As noted, they did get him out of Vietnam - he won a cushy billet as an aide to an admiral. Presently he was out of the Navy altogether - also ahead of schedule - and free to begin his political career as an anti-war activist.


Yesterday, in response to questions about Kerry's Purple Heart, campaign aides released a document stating that Kerry received treatment for a wound suffered on Dec. 2, 1968.


Whether he required surgery or stitches - or even a Band-Aid - isn't specified.


And Hibbard told a reporter that the supposed wound resembled a scrape from a fingernail: "I've had thorns from a rose that were worse," he said.





Kerry wouldn't be the first to fabricate a combat decoration - if, in fact, that's what happened a long time ago.

But Kerry has forged a war-hero persona of particular relevance as he seeks to become a war-time president - in the here and now.

While other young Americans are earning Purple Hearts of their own, in Iraq (news - web sites) and elsewhere around the world.

So it is time for Kerry to come clean.

He needs to authorize the release of all relevant medical records for each of his three Purple Hearts.

If Kerry's medals were deserved, he has nothing to fear.

If not - well, it's time to find that out.