Brinkley(Kerry's hagiographer) names the people who received a medal for that incident. Alston didn't.The Boston GLobe photo of the crew involved in the Silver Star incident does NOT include Alston. Go to the site I listed and scroll on thru..The story is total bunk.
He still could have received a medal and been unable due to recovery from his wounds to be with his crewmates.
Is there any way to put in a FOIA to see if there is paperwork for a medal for Alston? That would be separate from his military records.
The local newspapers probably had something about it at the time.
If what you say is true and he didn't receive any medal, there is a story there, that's for sure. His wound sounds worse than any of Kerry's three, and if he didn't get anything for it, why would I not be surprised?