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"I read somewhere that Kerry should have been disciplined for leaving his boat like he did..."

I haven't read that, but in my opinion he should have been court marshalled for what he did. If he didn't disobey a standing order, he most certainly used very poor judgement in doing what he did, and indeed risked the safety of his crew, the boat and the mission.

An example...after returning from patrol, normally 36 to 48-hours in length, we had to clean up the boats to turn them over to our relief crew...each boat had two crews assigned. This clean up process was typically very thorough...many boat officers thought their Swift Boats were miniature battle ships and when they were turned over they were CLEAN from stem to stern.

One of the boats used to drop anchor in a quiet little shallow bay on an obscure island where the crew used to scrub the boat down from bow to fantail...even washed down the hull. One time the tide went out and the boat was aground...stuck! The crew had to call for help and three boats were pulled off regular patrol to guard the beached guys until the tide came back in. The guns and ammo were transferred off the boat...the whole deal. The officer of this crew was nearly relieved of command when the CO got through with him...it was absolutely forbiden to beach a boat for any reason.

Kerry is an empty suit...I actually despise him more than I do Clintooon...something I didn't believe possible.

"I read somewhere that Kerry should have been disciplined for leaving his boat like he did..."

I haven't read that, but in my opinion he should have been court marshalled for what he did.

Joe Klein interview with Kerry in 2002,for the New Yorker magazine:

"Admiral Elmo Zumwalt later joked that he wasn't sure if he should give Kerry the Silver Star or court-martial him for his actions on February 28, 1969. Kerry had ignored standard operating procedure as his squadron ferried troops up the river that day."
"He had talked to me about trying something different," Mike Medeiros, a crew member from San Leandro, California, said. "He said he was tired of just going up the river and getting shot at. He asked me what I thought about turning to attack the enemy positions if we took fire and no one was hurt. I said it might not be a bad idea."

"If he turned his boats toward the shore, Kerry believed, he would transform a long, horizontal target into a narrower, vertical one."
"It would concentrate both of our machine guns directly on the point of fire and surprise the hell out of them," and it would keep the twenty soldiers each boat was carrying astern out of the line of fire, Kerry recalled."
"When the firing began, I gave the order to turn and—phoom!—we just went in and beached and took them by complete surprise, and we routed them ( Kerry's own , the 3 boats routed 20 VC,plus the one he finished off ) and we didn't take a wound."

"As Kerry's boat crashed ashore, a lone Vietcong stood up holding a B-40 rocket-propelled grenade launcher."
"When he first stood up, he froze, because he didn't expect to see us staring him in the face, literally ten yards away." The man was wounded by one of Kerry's crewmates and began to run; Kerry leaped off the boat and chased him."

"... and a Silver Star. The latter, a medal awarded only for significant acts of courage, was the result of a three-boat counterattack Kerry had led against a Vietcong position on a riverbank.
He had chased down, shot, and killed a man that day. The man had been carrying a B-40 rocket-propelled grenade launcher."

Still don't understand why this action qualified Kerry for the Silver Star. Maybe the Kerry camp will enlighten us.

Here's the version from Kerry's own website:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Coastal Division ELEVEN engaged in armed conflict with Viet Cong insurgents in An Xuyen Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 28 February 1969.
Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry was serving as Officer in Charge of Patrol Craft Fast 94 and Officer in Tactical Command of a three-boat mission.
As the force approached the target area on the narrow Dong Cung River, all units came under intense automatic weapons and small arms fire from an entrenched enemy force less than fifty-feet away.
Unhesitatingly, Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry ordered his boat to attack as all units opened fire and beached directly in front of the enemy ambushers. The daring and courageous tactic surprised the enemy and succeeded in routing a score of enemy soldiers.
The PCF gunners captured many enemy weapons in the battle that followed. On a request from U.S. Army advisors ashore, Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry ordered PCFs 94 and 23 further up river to suppress enemy sniper fire.
After proceeding approximately eight hundred yards, the boats again were taken under fire from a heavily foliated area and B-40 rocket exploded close aboard PCF-94;
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 from the VC rocket position, and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy.
Upon sweeping the area an immediate search uncovered an enemy rest and supply area which was destroyed.
The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."