Good points. He may have been shrewd enough to push for three frivolous based PHs and in so doing he frustrated his fellows.
The angle that he had people in important places apply pressure, his commanding officer threw in the towel and tossed him out of the unit, seems more plausible.
It is interesting that the Kennedy's Joe Jr. and John were pressured by their father and their own rivalry to get war medals, to become war heros. Kerry having been exposed to the Kennedy clan, must have at some point heard from others of the exploits of the war hero Kennedy. We can speculate that he also heard that alot of the hero story was 'a good show' and a boost to office seekers. So he may have learned to aspire to hero status.
Like I've said previously, his lack of backup for his medals is not the issue, it his self-promotion as a hero that is suspect. No hero openly pats themselves on the back for their courage.
Good point. But sKerry is guilty of far more than patting himself on the back over his Vietnam record. He has shoved it down our throats--giving one of the hardest sells this country has ever seen--for more than a year. I always found his super hard sell to be suspicious in and of itself.