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Originally posted by damasa
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I wish we'd get off the purple heart debate already because it really cheapens it. Dole was shot down in a plane and almost killed and only received "ONE" purple heart. My grandfather was wounded twice in one encounter and only received "ONE" purple heart in that instant. He was wounded in two other separate encounters and received a purple heart for each. This was always a hot topic with my grandfather because there was a lot of controversy surrounding purple hearts in this era. Many thought that they were "given out like candy."
He once told me that you can never place any amount of medals on the sacrifice of a solider. You can't give a solider five purple hearts for almost being killed. You can't give a solider three purple hearts for losing a leg. You can't give a soldier two purple hearts for losing an arm. But you can give a solider one purple heart for being wounded in battle, demonstrating the risk the solider takes, a risk that could ultimately result in death. He told me you can never compare a material object to the wound of a soldier because the purple heart demonstrates the sacrifice of the soldier (no matter to what degree) during a time in which a solider can lose everything.
That's a debate I hold dear to me because my grandfather always did... [/B]
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Damasa, your post about your grandfather is amazing. He sounds like a terrific and wise person.
And, you're right about the whole Purple Heart thing. Let's move on. The issues surrounding what Kerry did upon his return are much more significant IMO. And at this point Kerry is ill served by sending Cleland out to pull a cheap and predictable publicity stunt.
That's my .02.
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