Looks like back in Vietnam, all you needed for a Purple Heart was a splinter wound and a bandaid. I'll try not to let this incident color my perception of those veterans driving around with Purple Heart logos on their license plates.

Kerry Purple Heart Doc Speaks Out

What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle.

I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound.

The wound was covered with a bandaid.

I will give equal space to a rebuttal other than "those Republicans are just dredging up the past", becuase that's what Kerry is running on - that he is braver and therefore more honorable than Bush.