I hadn’t thought about this incident in a long, long time. After all, it’s now been nearly 47 years since my time as a Navy triage corpsman at Da Nang hospital during the Vietnam War. I was 20 years old and treated U.S. Marines coming off the battlefield.
An 18-year old Marine came in on a stretcher, one leg blown off at the thigh, the other hanging by a thread near his hip. His left arm was blown off mid-bicep. Under heavy sedation, we took him through emergency treatment where we got him stabilized, then x-ray, and finally pre-op. It was clear to everyone he would lose both legs and his right arm. The young Marine awoke in pre-op knowing both legs were gone, but he kept asking about his right arm. We were purposely evasive about that. Try as we did to prevent him from self-discovery about his right arm, he finally reached over and felt the bandages, and the stub.
Forty-seven years later, I still remember the look on his face as he looked right into my eyes and asked softly and with muted but unmistakable sarcasm, “Hey, Doc, do I get a purple heart for this?”
As Mr. Kahn said, Donald Trump has never sacrificed anything, or anyone. And Trump’s stated long-term desire for a purple heart, so much easier to be given one than earn one, is a testament to his utter lack of character. The character of a triple-amputee shone through bright and clear, and so did the character of Donald Trump.
Perhaps Mr. Sacrifice can track down this Marine, who served and sacrificed three of his limbs in that questionable military effort in Southeast Asia that Trump dodged, and ask him if he wants Agent Orange to have his medal.
