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May 19, 2006
Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question
(CNSNews.com) - While Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, he has also long downplayed the controversy and bitterness surrounding the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for military service in Vietnam.
Murtha is a retired marine and was the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress. Since 1967, there have been at least three different accounts of the injuries that purportedly earned Murtha his Purple Hearts. Those accounts also appear to conflict with the limited military records that are available, and Murtha has thus far refused to release his own military records.
One of Murtha's former Democratic congressional colleagues and a fellow decorated Vietnam veteran, Don Bailey of Pennsylvania, alleges that Murtha admitted during an emotional conversation on the floor of the U.S. House in the early 1980s that he did not deserve his Purple Hearts.
"Murtha is putting himself forward as some combat veteran with serious wounds and he's using that and it's dishonest and it's wrong," Bailey told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 9.
Murtha served in the Marines on active duty and in the reserves from 1952 until his retirement as a colonel in 1990. He volunteered for service in Vietnam and was a First Marine Regiment intelligence officer in 1966 and 1967.
World War II Navy veteran Harry M. Fox, previously indicated that Murtha in 1968 personally asked Fox's boss, then-U.S. Rep. John Saylor (R-Pa.), for assistance in obtaining the Purple Hearts, but was turned down because Saylor's office determined that Murtha lacked sufficient evidence of wounds. Murtha later challenged Saylor for his House seat in 1968 and lost. Fox said he personally viewed Murtha's military records in 1968 as Saylor's aide.
When Saylor died in 1973, Fox attempted to succeed his boss in Congress, but was narrowly defeated by Murtha in a 1974 special election.
"Pretending to be a big war hero and boasting about having medals is a slap in the face to our veterans who were seriously wounded or killed in action," Fox was quoted as telling the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper's Nov. 1, 1996 edition. "He campaigned as a war hero and I've never seen any documentation that he earned any of these honors," Fox reportedly stated.
On Friday, Jan. 13, Murtha's congressional communications director provided Cybercast News Service with a copy of a letter from the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, citing Murtha's request of Sept. 26, 1967, seeking Purple Hearts. Cybercast News Service did not authenticate the letter.
"The records of this Headquarters show that you are entitled to the Purple Heart and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Purple Heart for wounds received in action against insurgent Communist Guerrilla forces on 22 March and 7 May 1967 in the Republic of Vietnam," according to the letter signed by an individual identified only as A. Gardoni. Gardoni's title is not listed on the letter.
Cybercast News Service attempted to contact Fox for this article, but learned that the health of the 81-year-old was too poor to allow him to communicate. But in a 1996 newspaper article, Fox questioned whether Murtha deserved his Purple Hearts, alleging that there was insufficient evidence of injuries and that Murtha was never confined to a hospital.
"Of course Congressman Saylor wanted to help if he could, but there was nothing in the service record to indicate the wounds were of any severity and the documents specifically indicated that next of kin was not notified in either instance," Fox told the Herald-Standard in 1996. "We were amazed that Mr. Murtha was asking for Purple Hearts for superficial lacerations," he added.
Murtha's accounts of his Vietnam War wounds may also conflict with the available U.S. Marine medical records obtained by the media.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 12, 2002, reported that "Marine Corps casualty records show that Murtha was injured in 'hostile' actions near Danang, Vietnam, on March 22, 1967, and May 7, 1967.
"In the first incident, his right cheek was lacerated, and in the second, he was lacerated above his left eye. Neither injury required evacuation," the Post-Gazette reported.
But an Oct. 26, 1994, article in the Herald-Standard quoted Murtha as describing two different injuries.
"I was wounded in the arm with shrapnel from a bullet that hit the motor mount of a helicopter. In the other, my knee was banged up and my arm was banged up when a helicopter was shot down from a very few feet," Murtha told the Herald-Standard.
A June 1, 1967 report in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat quoted a letter that the newspaper indicated was sent by Murtha to his wife that same year. The letter apparently detailed yet another version of how Murtha qualified for one of his Purple Hearts. According to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Murtha's injuries involved his being "struck in the ankle" by a "shot that ricocheted off the helicopter."
Murtha, a 16-term congressman from southwestern Pennsylvania and the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, drew national attention on Nov. 17, 2005, when he called for an immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
The Vietnam veteran even took a swipe at President Bush and Vice President Cheney, neither of whom have actual combat experience.
"I like guys who've never been there, who criticize us who've been there," Murtha said. "I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don't like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done."
Murtha discussed his own combat experience as a marine intelligence officer in his 2004 autobiography, "From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security."
"I had been awake more than twenty-four hours by the time we landed. A few hours into the battle, an on-again-off-again event, I could no longer keep my eyes open. I curled up next to a bunker and fell into a deep sleep for about an hour. Even the noise of frequent gunfire didn't wake me up. (One of my fellow officers told me the next morning that when he hadn't seen me for an hour or so, he assumed I was dead,)" Murtha wrote of one of his Vietnam combat experiences on page 14 of the 2004 paperback edition of his book. Murtha's two Purple Hearts are referenced on the back of the book.
In addition to his Purple Hearts, Murtha received the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry and the Bronze Star with combat "V" for service in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. Murtha also served in the Marines during the Korean War but did not serve in Korea, according to his book.
'He's a phony and a liar'
Bailey said during the time Murtha was being investigated for his role in the Abscam FBI sting in 1980, Murtha made a confession on the House floor.
... you admitted, back in our corner, that you didn't earn your purple hearts (sic) (you indicated you had small scratch on your cheek that wasn't even directly related to an APC [Armored Personnel Carrier] that ran over a small antipersonnel mine that was behind you). The other purple heart [sic] you even declined to explain," wrote Bailey in an open letter dated May 5, 2002.
Bailey is also a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. He served in the U.S. Army's 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and was awarded a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars.
"At the time (of Murtha's alleged admission), you were feeling particularly vulnerable because it wasn't too long after you had called me crying and sobbing, thanking me for 'saving your life' before the ethics committee (on Abscam-related charges). There was no doubt in my mind that you were expressing to me that you did not believe you did anything sufficient to earn the purple heart [sic] and that you didn't want to be active in my efforts to laud Vietnam veterans that served with us," Bailey wrote in his May 2002 letter.
"You may deny that all you wish -- but you and I know that that conversation took place," he added.
In the Jan. 9 interview with Cybercast News Service Bailey affirmed the contents of his 2002 letter.
"The issue here is this idea or pretense that [Murtha] knows combat and he's got two Purple Hearts. He's a phony and a liar," Bailey said.
Bailey also questioned why Murtha has thus far declined to release his full military records in order to clear up the controversy.
"The Marine Corps ought to be able to produce all the orders, the medical stuff, the citations and the orders granting [the Purple Hearts] and everything else. Where is that stuff?" he asked.
According to a May 16, 2002, edition of the Washington, Pa., Observer-Reporter, Murtha "produced military paperwork indicating he was entitled to the awards," and a Murtha spokesperson was quoted as saying that "the media for years has investigated 'and found nothing.'"
But Murtha's paperwork did nothing to sway Bailey's opinion.
"You may fool a few reporters into believing that merely because you got some perfunctory paperwork made out by a friend, that that means you earned the purple hearts [sic]. But even if you were awarded the medals later, there should be affidavits from witnesses. These things should be easy to get," Bailey wrote in his letter while demanding an apology from Murtha for questioning his credibility.
Murtha could end the controversy at any time, Bailey added, simply by calling a press conference and producing the evidence of his wounds.
"Explain where you were and what you were doing when you got the purple hearts.[sic] Explain who was with you and treated your wounds, but most important, Jack, describe your wounds or the lack thereof, as you did for me, years ago," Bailey wrote.
"Unless the Marine Corps gives out medals for unsubstantiated noncombat-related telltale scratches, procured for use in political campaign -- then show me the money, Jack," Bailey added.
Murtha: 'I'm proud of my service in Vietnam'
During the 1994 congressional campaign against GOP opponent Dr. William Choby, Murtha's two Purple Hearts became a political issue.
"Explain your Purple Hearts. He (Murtha) used them to get elected," Choby charged in 1994.
In responding to the charges, Murtha claimed that he "didn't ask for the Purple Hearts.
"I'm proud of my service in Vietnam. I don't know if he (Choby) served in the service at all. I left my family and my business to serve in Vietnam. My family made great sacrifice for me to make that service in Vietnam, so I'm very proud of that," he told the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper's Oct. 26, 1994 edition.
"I am disappointed that a guy (Choby) would say something like that when I volunteered in the reserves and I felt it was important that I go. What's the point in all this? It's irritating," Murtha added.
Choby also challenged the validity of Murtha's Bronze Star with Combat 'V' during the 1996 congressional campaign.
"I find it very curious that Combat 'V' doesn't even exist in any of the materials he had distributed," Choby was quoted as saying in the Herald-Standard of Oct. 13, 1996. "His military record improves over the years," he added.
The Murtha controversy is reminiscent of the flap surrounding the war record of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. But while critics like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked Kerry in 2004 because of his anti-war activism of the 1970s, Murtha's three chief accusers all made their allegations years and in some cases decades before Murtha emerged last November as a prominent anti-war activist.
Choby told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 5 that Murtha's entire political career is based on his war record. "Without that credibility of those combat medals, he would have never been elected to office," Choby said.
Wild Thing's comment.....
I always thought the way a Purple Heart was awarded is that there is a write up at the unit of the individual and then signed by medical personnel...and then it is processed. I may be wrong, but isn't it very strange that years after...one applies for a PH.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 19, 2006 12:55 AM
Comments
I was awarded 2 purple hearts for each I had hospital stays. The first was about 10 days aboard a hospital ship then I was retutned to duty.That was for shrapnel wounds in my legs and back. The second on my second tour. I was in the hospital for 3 months. The wound eventually cost me my left lower leg.For both awards the citation was written up by platoonleaders both officers and signed off on by the commanding officer and of course had to be approved up the chain of command. I did not receive the second one till almost 9 months later at Ft Carson Colorado. It took it that long to catch up with me.I dont know how anyone gets the purple heart without time in the hospital and really dont think they should.Murtha is another democrat phony like Kerry. They should be embarrassed and ashamed.
Posted by: Jack Hamilton at May 19, 2006 09:33 AM
One must be careful,for if you Jump The Shark
it doesn't turn around and bite you in the arse!
Posted by: Tincan Sailor at May 19, 2006 10:14 AM
Jack thank you for sharing about this.
I agree with you phonies like Kerry etc. should be embarrassed and ashamed.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 19, 2006 10:51 AM
Tincan Sailor well said and very true.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 19, 2006 10:52 AM
There were several guys I knew in the Army who talked about going into politics. At that time, mid-60s, military service was almost a must for political office. These few guys were always hounding the company clerks about making sure their records reflected this or that. They also brown nosed superiors and got awards, written up by fellow officers on a write-up swap basis, that were undeserved.
Most of us enlisted swine knew what was going on and because we could do nothing about it, we sorta did not care. Figured it was part of the normal bullshit of officerdom(officerdumb?).
So know lots of that dishonesty is coming to light. When a veteran politician will not open his complete military file to public scrutiny, he is afraid of something. Something that will prove he is a bullshitter.
Posted by: TomR at May 19, 2006 12:32 PM
Tom I agree there has to be a reason when a person will not be open about something like that.
Thanks for sharing too about this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 19, 2006 03:29 PM
C'on give Murtha the benefit of the doubt, we all know paper cuts can be very painful even if they don't require a hospital stay.
Our company clerk had an in emergency the night transfer out to the opposite end of Vietnam due to his upgrading his status and rank, his paperwork being inadvertently signed by the Old Man as part of the morning paper rush. We NCO's were aware and placed a bounty on this bastard who has escaped justice to this day.
If purple hearts were handed out for stupidity I'd have several and one would have been from an I Corps M.U.S.T. unit where I had to have a leak plugged and a zipper installed. My fear of a court-martial was greater than any desire for personal heroics so I didn't tell them the truth.
Like TomR said most officers were there to get their ticket punched so they could advance up the ladder or go into politics. My own First Sgt. was of this type, he spent less than 30 days in country, none in the field, took his ETS and retired to take the job of Mayor in his home town, yet he spills that he is a full fledged veteran. Just the opposite my C.O. was a 'permanent' Captain. a battle field commissioned mustanger who had no political ambitions.
I want to puke around guys like Murtha and Kerry.
Thank you Jack Hamilton for not only your service but for the heavy sacrifices you have made.
Posted by: Jack at May 19, 2006 04:19 PM
Jack oh nooo you mean paper cuts don't count? hahaha
Thank you Jack so much for your input on this. And there is NO way you are or ever have been stupid. I don't allow my friends to say that about themselves. giggle But I sure have been sometimes. heh heh
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 19, 2006 04:52 PM
I will have to say that the officers I had were different. I dont know I guess infantry officers have to depend on there subordinates so much. We had many officers that were killed and wounded.Life expectancy for infantry LT's was not that great.My CO was one of the bravest men I have ever seen in my life.Infantry officers have to lead by example.I would not be here if it were not for a LT and a very couragous medic. I was an E5 what was called a buck sergeant on my first tour my first week in country my Batallion commander the sergeant major and a couple other officers were killed in a chopper that was shot down.I went through 3 platoon leaders.The medics were something else. The medic that treated me and saved my life ended up in the hospital with me in Japan.
Posted by: Jack Hamilton at May 19, 2006 07:37 PM
