[Rudey]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
You can receive a Purple Heart for anything from a scratch on the arm to a fatal injury. That's the way it is. You get one per occurance. There isn't a chart that says if you lose a finger, you get one, and arm is good for two, a leg three and four if you get killed. If you get shot three times on Wednesday, you get one Purple Heart. If you get shot again on Saturday, you probably get another one. I knew guys in Vietnam who would hold their hands up in the air during incoming fire in hopes of losing a finger and getting sent home.

You also don't nominate yourself for a Silver Star or Bronze Star. You are nominated by others who were onsite and tell a superior officer of your actions, who then investigates the claim, writes up a recommendation and passes it up the chain of command. There, it is investigated again and a decision is made whether to award or not to award -- and whether the suggested award is too high or too low.

The Navy doesn't just give decorations away.

The heat of combat is confusing. Like an auto accident, if there are ten eye-witnesses, you will likely get ten slightly different stories. The vast majority of the people who were on the scene support Kerry. The vast majority of those who are tying to discredit him weren't there. Do the math.

Personaly, whether Kerry is a good candidate, will make a good President, has a great Senate record or not, I think questioning his service record and his decorations are disappointing. What may be worse, in this case, it's political.

His senate record? Didn't he miss some votes as a senator recently or something like that?

-Rudey