Proof FactCheck Doesn't Know the Facts

FactCheck.org ^ | 9/13/04 | The Bandit

[The Bandit]

Two other citations omit any mention of the killing. One was signed by Admiral John J. Hyland, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, and the other was signed by Secretary of the Navy John Chafee. Both those citations say Kerry attacked his first set of ambushers and that "this daring and courageous tactic surprised the enemy and succeeded in routing a score of enemy soldiers." Later, 800 yards away, Kerry's boat encountered a second ambush and a B-40 rocket exploded "close aboard" Kerry's boat. "With utter disregard for his own safety, and the enemy rockets, he again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only ten feet away from the VC rocket position, and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy." In these citations there is no mention of enemy casualties at all. Kerry was cited for "extraordinary daring and personal courage . . . in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire."

[Glenn]

It's been a long day. What's your point? I'm not seeing it.

[Tamzee]

I believe it was signed by Lehman who says he doesn't recall doing so.

[CaptRon]

I can recall several months ago a discussion here on whether it was Chafee's or Lehman's signature. In all honesty, while I think it's Lehman's, the penmanship is so bad it could be open to question.

[kingu]

Won't take more than a minute to open Microsoft Word and make it into anyone you wish... :)

[The Bandit]

It is clearly a Lehman's signature. Lehman certaintly would had known whether it was his signature or not.

[CaptRon]

I didn't say it wasn't.

He has only recently even commented on it. The discussion here on FR took place quite a few months ago.

[mconley22]

There is absolutely no question that the signature belongs to Lehman. Compare it to Lehman's signature on the 9/11 Commission's report. When I first saw the signature, I also assumed that it must be Chafee's, but the match with the 9/11 signature is too good. Unless the two Secretaries of the Navy had identical signature, the signature is Lehman's.

[mconley22]

Dear Mr. Jackson,

Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, signed the final version of Senator Kerry's Silver Star citation. Lehman also signed the final version of Kerry's Bronze Star citation. The Kerry campaign has acknowledged this fact, although its explanation is less than compelling, yet you identified Secretary of the Navy John Chafee as the signer of the third Silver Star Citation.

Lehman has claimed that he has no recollection of ever signing the two citations, and suggested that they were signed with a mechanical signer. He did not deny that the signature on these documents were not his.

The final versions of the Silver Star and Bronze Star citations were most likely produced after Kerry became a senator.

The Swift Boat veterans have steadfastly maintained that Kerry's citations and medals were based on Senator Kerry's own after action reports.

If you doubt that the signature belongs to Mr. Lehman, I suggest you compare it to his signature on the 9/11 Commission's report.

Your careless research of this subject and attempts to discredit Mr. Elliott raise serious doubts about your own objectivity.

[CaptRon]

I believe it is too. Never said it wasn't. Only commented that there had been some discussion here about that.

[mconley22]

You said that:

"In all honesty, while I think it's Lehman's, the penmanship is so bad it could be open to question."

The penmanship is bad, but if you compare the signature to the one on the 9/11 Commission Report, it is an exact a match as you will find. The signature is clearly, and without doubt, Lehman's signature or it is a forgery. The signature is most definitely NOT John Chafee's, as FactCheck claimed.

Lehman did not dispute that the signature was his, so I do not believe that "bad penmanship" could possibly be used to question it. The question is who might have used a mechanical device to affix Lehman's signature to the third version of Kerry's Silver Star citation and the second version of his Bronze Star citation.

The more important questions are whether, as a US Senator, Kerry asked some Navy underling to enhance his citation, and if the citation was rewritten in response to a Kerry request for replacement medals, which Kerry claims that he never threw away.