The Sick Season has begun

[Jeunemaitre]

Maybe I'm naive, or just not smart enough to know better, but I don;t think a medal awarded for being wounded in combat is not something to dismiss. The website that you linked to, Occhi, referes to Kerry's wounds as "slight" wounds to his arms and thigh. So far as I know, there's no severity qualifier to the award of a Purple Heart: the level of Kerry's injuries are irrelevant. With regard to the description of the event for which he was awarded the silver star, I'd like to say that only someone in that position could judge the valor and bravery exhibited by those actions. I don't have any frame of reference for such a situation, so I'll leave it there.

I've never taken military service lightly. Though I never served, I think every day how fortunate I am that the men and women who came before me fought bravely when they were called upon. I remember the first time I found my father's medal boxes in his chest of drawers. I asked him what they were and where they came from. He was releuctant to say any more than that the purple one was because he had been hurt, and the bronze on was for a time when he had been brave.

Since then, I've never been interested in digging up war stories, but I have tried to be respectful, and grateful to every veteran I've met. Though I may disagree with the decisions made by the government, there is little more to do than thank the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for doing their duty in preserving my right to disagree.

And that's all I have to say about tha-at.