Thumbing through it, too late, after I had bought it, I spotted a few things that prompted me to start my previous post.  I have time now, so I'll explain.  

First: Talking about Kerry's first purple heart, On page 36, second paragraph, under the heading: "What Really Happened."  It describes a training mission where Kerry's M-16 jammed and he picked a grenade launcher, fired it too close, and took a small piece of shrapnel, "barely 1-2 centimeters in his arm."  He was on the boat with William Schachte (the account mentions only his rank now, Rear Admiral, thus lending his subsequent authority to the account, I notice.)  Schachte berated Kerry for "almost putting someone's eye out." They were reportedly taking no enemy fire.    

My problems with this:  The only thing I could believe about this account is that the M-16 jammed.  You're on a training mission taking no enemy fire.  Your rifle has jammed.  Why would anybody's response be to pick up a grenade launcher if there's no enemy fire?  Why was a loaded grenade launcher lying around during training?  What kind of an excercise would require Kerry to fire, one would suppose, live rounds with an M-16, and failing at that, pick up a grenade launcher?

Second, you misfire said grenade launcher, and shower your unit with shrapnel.  Whose response to you would be, "You'll put somebody's eye out!" ?  Yeah, that's the first danger in setting off a grenade!  Was Schachte in command?  The account doesn't say.  What did the commander say?  Instead of reprimanding Kerry, it seems he also didn't stand in the way of the guy's purple heart.  Given that Kerry is purported to be very unpopular, I'm surprised  he survived the night.  

Third, how does one tell, looking at a piece of metal protruding from somebody's arm that it's only 1-2 centimeters long?

Even though it was barely that long, and hardly lodged into Kerry, I'll add that on page 37, Kerry managed to keep this piece of metal barely sticking in there, as we are reminded,  for the entire day in the septic environment of Vietnam, before having it removed the next morning.  The Navy dutifully rewards him a Purple Heart although everyone around is depicted with eyebrows raised.

This is "Vietnam: the Idiot Plot." Everyone around hates Kerry,  but everyone, including Kerry is an idiot.  

Maybe that's why we lost Vietnam?

/Zin  



-- Modified on 9/25/2004 2:12:58 PM

-- Modified on 9/25/2004 2:13:24 PM