Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of "Purple Heart Bandages"

[Khephra]

(EDITED TO INCLUDE FULL PRESS RELEASE)

Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of "Purple Heart Bandages"

snip.....

A statement from national VVA president Thomas Corey relayed through Alabama's VVA State Council said the bandages demean the Purple Heart and the wounded veterans who earned it.

Corey says wearing the bandages "is outrageous, disrespectful and infantile behavior." The bandages mock Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam.

http://www.nbc13.com/politics/3699263/detail.html

---

'Purple Heart' Band-Aids a Mockery of Service; Statement from Thomas H. Corey, National President, Vietnam Veterans of America

8/31/2004 6:51:00 PM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: Mokie Porter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, 301-585-4000 ext. 146 or 301-996-0901

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement by Vietnam Veterans of America National President Thomas H. Corey:

Vietnam Veterans of America has received reports of delegates at the Republican National Convention disseminating and wearing "Purple Heart" band-aids in mockery of one of nation's most distinctive honors, the Purple Heart medal.

The Purple Heart is one of the oldest military awards, first introduced in 1782 by Gen. George Washington to honor the service and sacrifice of the common soldier and recognize the spirit of volunteerism and selfless dedication. It was reinstated in 1932. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded by the enemy.

The spirit of the award recognizes the personal sacrifice of our troops without regard to the severity or nature of the wound. It is the wounding itself that merits the honor. To demean the decoration and the sacrifice it symbolizes demeans all veterans and the patriots who honor them.

With our nation's sons and daughters at war to protect global freedom, demeaning military service in this way is especially hurtful. Vietnam Veterans of America urges all Americans to decry this type of outrageous, disrespectful, and infantile behavior.

------

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another."

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=35484

[MidwestTransplant]

1. "John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam"

Claim? For the love of God.

[tom_paine]

16. Just more Pravda Whoring from your Imperial Pravda Whores

I guess Joshua Lawrence Chaimberlain only "claimed" to have won the CMOH.

Lousy traitorous bastard!

</sarcasm off>

I'd say it was beyond the pale, but most of Imperial Amerikan Media fits that description.

[Redleg]

32. That shit pisses me off too. Should read "OFFICIAL NAVY RECORDS."

[joeybee12]

2. Love the word "infantile"--that's exactly what this is, and what those

people are.

[calimary]

44. And let's all remember that the day in which these atrocious excuses for

human beings whooped it up at their convention - which was plastered with signs printed up to trumpet "People of Compassion." These are people of compassion, alright. The whole lot of them can go take a flying leap.

When I think of the anguish this has caused - and I've read some confessionals here on DU, too, and they just break my heart. People here, and their brothers and sisters in arms, sacrificed, bled, and hurt, BIGTIME, in the name of fighting for their country. And they're publickly sneered at like this. AWFUL! Really unforgivably slimes the Purple Heart - which is SUPPOSED to be an object of reverence. Is it THAT important to hurt people?

[saigon68]

3. IT'S ABOUT TIME ---THE NEOCON DRAFT DODGERS ARE SCUM

I'd like to whip Karl Roves ass right here in public.

[Wwagsthedog]

6. Go for it

karl rove is an insult to the Michelin Man.

[clydefrand]

14. Could I help??? Please, please. I've got experience

I used to be a mean old teacher... ;-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. And after you are done with him

off to basic with his sorry ass. I want him to go serve in the front lines. Maybe he can earn a Purple Heart too, and finally develop SOME RESPECT for those who served while he dodged.

Hell I will even volunteer to push the chanpaign boots... imagine pushing Rove with Rush...

[UpInArms]

38. can I help or do I have to just pay to watch?

:evilgrin:

[Bog Frog]

4. "mock . . . Kerry's CLAIM TO HAVE EARNED 3 Purple Hearts?"

CLAIM?

"Lt Kerry reporting for active duty in Vietnam so I can get three purple hearts... gonna need those for when I run for prez..."

GMAFB.

[Ripley]

5. WTF does that last sentence mean?

...Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam.

It's not a claim. It is a fact. :grr:

[Khephra]

7. Notice that's not in quotes

that's the reporter's writing.

[louis-t]

9. Damn liberal media.

[tblue37]

46. hey are doing what Campaign Desk calls

"he said/she said" transcription. These so-called journalists are so intent on "reporting" everything everyone says on "both sides", without any sort of statment of what is or is not true, that they end up treating everything as an assertion by one side or the other, regardless of how easy it is to verify whether what is being said is true or false.

[mbperrin]

8. Remind me again of how these repukes

"support" the troops? I seem to have lost the thread of their argument.

[MissMarple]

10. Excuse me?..."John Kerry's claim..."?

NBC just ignores facts and and uses innuendo. How lacking in integrity is that?

[Lorien]

30. That line shocked me too

He earned three purple hearts, period. We ought to call them on this fauxlike crap.

[blm]

11. It was the United States Navy's claim that Kerry earned 3 Purple Hearts.

Try being a reporter and not a lame-ass shill you fuckin' insult to journalism.

[MaineDem]

12. It's an AP article

I was going to call the news source and bitch about the wording. "Claim" my ass. They can't even report something like this without slanting it against Kerry, can they? Shit!!!

[realcountrymusic]

22. Send something like this to [e-mail]

The more of us call them on this bullsh*t, the more they will think twice the next time.
Feel free to cut and paste my letter.

RCM
______________________
TO: [e-mail]

To the Editor:

In the AP article entitled: "Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of "Purple Heart Bandages" and posted to the website of NBC13 Television in Alabama on POSTED: 1:54 pm CDT September 1, 2004, the following sentence concludes the article:

"The bandages mock Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam."

This is insulting and biased language, and it is also a complete untruth. John Kerry *did in fact earn* three Purple Heart medals in Vietnam. The word "claim" implies that there is some debate over whether he earned them, while the only dispute (and it is spurious) is over the severity of his wounds. I am shocked that AP would allow such obviously biased language to appear in a major wire story.

Sincerely

XXXX

[sinkingfeeling]

28. I sent them this....

Dear AP,

For the second time this month, I must ask if anyone there has a degree in jouralism? This AP release appears on www.nbc13.com. I strongly object to the GOP bias of the statement, "The bandages mock Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam." What evidence does the AP have that the US Navy was 'duped' into giving out unearned Purple Heart citations during Viet Nam?
John Kerry does not 'claim' to have earned three Purple Hearts, IT IS A MATTER OF DOCUMENTATED FACT!!!

It is really sad there is absolutely no truth in anything 'reported' in America because of the fascist corporate ownership of all media sources. Below is the release:

Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of "Purple Heart Bandages"

POSTED: 1:54 pm CDT September 1, 2004

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Those "purple heart bandages" being worn at the Republican National Convention in New York caused a backlash from the Vietnam Veterans of America.

A statement from national VVA president Thomas Corey relayed through Alabama's VVA State Council said the bandages demean the Purple Heart and the wounded veterans who earned it.

Corey says wearing the bandages "is outrageous, disrespectful and infantile behavior." The bandages mock Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sincerely,

[eleanor]

29. Thanks

I borrowed some of your language. I'd been to the Alabama station site and could not figure out who to contact - then went to the AP and got sent back to Alabama. I was getting dizzy.

[0rganism]

35. my letter

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Regarding article "Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of Purple Heart Bandages"

To the Editor:

In a recent AP article entitled Veterans Group Upset Over GOP's Use Of "Purple Heart Bandages", I read the following:

"The bandages mock Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's claim to have earned three Purple Hearts in Vietnam."

That is ill-worded at best, and disingenuous at worst. It is not just John Kerry's claim that he earned three Purple Hearts, IT IS THE UNITED STATES NAVY'S CLAIM. They awarded the medals to Sen. Kerry on the grounds that he received medical treatment, regardless of the severity of the wounds involved. There is no gradation of Purple Hearts based on how much flesh is damaged or removed in combat.

If you have any serious questions about the legitimacy of the US Navy's claim that Lt. Kerry was injured by enemy fire in the line of duty, you should take it up with the US Navy, rather than accepting and presenting at face value the allegations of partisan agents who are known to have produced inconsistent accounts and dishonest testimony over the years.

"Remaining objective" does NOT mean "giving equal credence to unsupported allegations from jerks with an axe to grind because Karl Rove says so."

Sincerely yours,
XXXXXXXXXXXX

[Khephra]

13. ORIGINAL POST EDITED....I FOUND THE PRESS RELEASE

So you might want to go back and read the first post again.

[jukes]

15. this kind of crap

is going to swell our ranks.

[DinahMoeHum]

17. What "claim"? It is thoroughly documented US Navy FACT.

and it ain't classified either.

:grr:

[G_j]

18. now do you think this will get much play?

we'll see but they would probably rather replay the "shove it" remark one more time.

[crispini]

21. I'm writing the AP pronto.

CLAIM?

[blue agave]

19. Yep, "infantile behavior" sums it up.

.

[Career Prole]

20. I keep hearing about making a mockery of medals.

When will someone address what bush and his daddy have done to me and so many other veterans?
Junior keeps bragging he has an honorable discharge, yet according to the records which he's released and the word of Ben Barnes he never earned it...he bought it.
I don't have much of anything by way of accomplishment to look back on accept for one lousy certificate that says that for six years of active duty I did a job for my country day in and day out, faithfully and with integrity...in the U.S. government's words, honorably.
There was a time when there was only one way to get such a certificate. Now the news is out there with supporting evidence that any rich jag-off can get the same honor without even showing up. Does anyone care what that does to the value of an real honorable discharge? Hell, you can't tell 'em apart!
I think we need a protest of our own.
Let's go to DC, make paper airplanes with our honorable discharge certificates, and throw 'em all over the White House fence.
:grr:

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. HEy I did sent Guillespie a nice email

really, where I reminded him that his party has no idea what honor means any longer. I also pointed out that his yellow sreak is as wide as the missisipi... I doubt he read it... oh and I also included a letter of Mrs Peale, with her fake purple heart on her fat chin.

Hey this was good for me, you may want to send a symbolic letter to Ed Guillespie as well... I hear they got flooded wiht emails and calls

[Career Prole]

31. Sounds like a plan...

Then I'll go get arrested for littering the White House lawn!

:evilgrin:

[Politicub]

45. The real tragedy

This is truly sad, and I think a new political low. Though the GOP delegates are attempting to poke fun at John Kerry, what they are really doing is debasing the meaning of the Purple Heart. I would imagine many of these people who are mocking a wounded vet have never served themselves.

It is shameful and deplorable. Voicing disagreement is American and a welcome tradition. Destroying the meaning of our American symbols of valor is beyond the pale.

I hope the GOP condemns this behavior, but I'm afraid the damage inflicted on the time honored symbol of the Purple Heart can not be undone.

[David Zephyr]

25. PurpleHeartNacht.

We must not let them skate on this folks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x714721

[ezekiel333]

42. Kick

[msmcghee]

26. Just another girly man . .

.. /sarcasm off

[kskiska]

27. Newt was on TV yesterday

saying he thought the "Purple Hearts" were "funny."

[Bandit]

33. This is the paragraph that needs to be shoved in their face

The spirit of the award recognizes the personal sacrifice of our troops without regard to the severity or nature of the wound. It is the wounding itself that merits the honor. To demean the decoration and the sacrifice it symbolizes demeans all veterans and the patriots who honor them.

[rocktivity]

34. That's why I made this AWOL Bush button

:headbang:
rocknation

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

36. I've been at a slow boil about this all day

Anyone wearing one of those obscenities is commiting treason.

My father was wounded in a minefield in Italy in WWII, and carried a piece of shrapnel in his body until he died two years ago. What these people are now doing is an insult to the blood he shed for America, and is a slap in the face of my family.

The men in my family, me included, have served this country over the past five generations by donning a uniform in time of need.

I feel those unthinking, unfeeling little fascist ingrates in New York are taking a gigantic shit on the honor and integrity of every man and woman who has ever worn a uniform in the defense of our country, and they should be tried, convicted, tied to a post, and shot by a military firing squad.

[David Zephyr]

37. Kick!

:kick:

[Spinzonner]

39. Sounds demeaning to the bullets

Besides, the troops in Iraq are desparately in need of ammunition because of the administrations incompetence and corruption and need all we can supply. We shouldnt waste them on their sorry asses.

Maybe recyclable ropes or swords would be better, not to mention more environmentally friendly ...

[ignatius 2]

40. Yahoo..glad to see this from the VVA. What those scumbags did Monday

evening was pure slime and they need to be held accountable. They not only slander Kerry they slander every vet,soldier and loved one. This along with the swift boat liars and Dole's ignorant comments should tell the military how these repigs really think about them.

Wouldn't you love to ask Dole and the rest of the GOP how much blood must a soldier in Iraq spill to deserve a purple heart?

[Khephra]

41. kick

[struggle4progress]

43. kick

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

47. Purple with outrage

Posted on Thu, Sep. 02, 2004

The Military Order of the Purple Heart was not amused by the Purple Heart bandages passed around at the GOP convention by a Virginia delegate.

The group's national commander, Robert Lichtenberger, said the 38,000 members were “outraged that an award that has been earned by them for shedding blood … would be so denigrated by using it for the purpose of political advantage.”

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9558325.htm