Kerry also received a Silver Star for valor in combat and two other Purple Hearts during his service on the swift boats in Vietnam.[link|http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/05/kerry.veterans/index.html| All Politics ]
Larry Thurlow, a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who appears in the ad, told CNN that Kerry's boat fled from a mine blast that damaged another vessel in a March 1969 incident for Kerry won the Bronze Star.
"Our boats immediately put automatic weapons fire onto the left bank in case there was an ambush in conjunction with the mine," said Thurlow, a Navy officer in a nearby boat at the time. "It soon became apparent there was no ambush."
yet from [link|http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blkerryinvietnam/index1.html| this source ]....
Thurlow had maneuvered his PCF-53 over by this time, and he hopped aboard PCF-3 to offer assistance. The boat was a shambles, but they were still shooting too hard to assess the damage. "Someone on the fantail must have noticed Jim swimming in back of us, ducking against the fire that was trying to pick him off because I suddenly heard the yell of 'man overboard' and looked back to see the bullets splashing in the water beside him," Kerry reported. "We turned around with the engines screaming against each other -- one full astern, the other full forward -- and then charged the several hundred yards back into the ambush where Jim was trying to find some cover. Everyone on board must have been firing without pause to keep the sniper heads down."[link|http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blkerryinvietnam/index2.html| Page 2 ]
Kerry and the other wounded men received medical attention aboard a Coast Guard cutter, which was the closest ship capable of treating them. Along with a third Purple Heart for the injury to his right arm, Kerry was also awarded a Bronze Star for his bravery, as was Larry Thurlow.[link|http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blkerryinvietnam/index3.html| Page 3 ]
hmm....no ambush? But if Kerry didn't deserve a bronze star....did Thurlow deserve one?