Republicans press Kerry on Vietnam War injury record

US: In 1968 Senator John Kerry received a Purple Heart - a routine military award for being injured in action - after getting…

US: In 1968 Senator John Kerry received a Purple Heart - a routine military award for being injured in action - after getting nicked by hot shrapnel in Vietnam in what he called "a half-assed action that hardly qualified as combat."

Now that he is running for president, the incident has become a campaign issue, with Republicans questioning the seriousness of the injury which eventually led to his being sent home.

Yesterday Senator Kerry posted records of his naval service on his campaign website as pressure mounted for full disclosure of his military service documents. The Purple Heart was the first of three that Mr Kerry received in four months as a naval lieutenant for wounds to his arms, legs and buttocks, which qualified him for automatic return to the United States.

However, Mr Kerry's former commanding officer, Lieut Commdr Grant Hibbard, told the Boston Globe last week that Mr Kerry's first Purple Heart was awarded for a minor wound resembling a scratch from a fingernail.

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The Kerry campaign was not able to locate a report on the first injury though campaign spokesman Mr Michael Meehan showed the Associated Press a note from a file marked "Sick Call Treatment Record". This stated: "Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl bacitracin dressing. Ret to Duty."

The campaign said a reporter could see the record but not take a copy as Mr Kerry considers it a private medical record. "We are happy to compare Senator Kerry's record of service to anybody in the Bush campaign who has or has not served," Mr Meehan said, referring to President Bush's lack of combat experience.

Mr Bush has been accused by Democrats of shirking his duty in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.

When asked in a television interview on Sunday about the controversy over his first Purple Heart, Senator Kerry said all his military records were available to the public, but this did not turn out to be the case.

Yesterday the Kerry campaign said it would make all records available on the website. Mr Kerry was also awarded the Bronze Star for heroic achievement and the Silver Star for gallantry in action as the commander of a Navy swiftboat in the Mekong Delta.

He rescued a Green Beret soldier from the waters of the Mekong River under fire, while injured.