[johnb838]

How does a man get decorated based solely on his own word? If I go to the pro shop and tell them I hit a hole-in-one it doesn't count unless I can produce a witness. Something really, really smells bad about Mr. Kerry and his war hero status, and I hope he can be outed before this election.

[There's millions of'em]

The crew on the boat would have been official witnesses to Kerry's actions. They may have actually submitted statements as part of the documentation for the SS.