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Tarnished Silver?
Washington Times ^ | 8-19-04 | Jennifer Harper

Posted on 08/19/2004 3:07:21 AM PDT by Jay Howard Smith

Uneven military service records have proved toxic to John Kerry's campaign for president, prompting him to post his full military record on his Web site (www.johnkerry.com) for critics to peruse.

But one sharp-eyed Washington Times reader -- a former B-52 pilot and U.S. Air Force colonel -- isn't buying Mr. Kerry's pre-emptive strike.

(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: johnlehman; kerry; militaryrecord
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1 posted on 08/19/2004 3:07:21 AM PDT by Jay Howard Smith
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To: Jay Howard Smith

Jay, when you except -- if you exceprt -- could you do us all the favor of summarizing the key points and facts in the article? It would be a great boon to us all!


2 posted on 08/19/2004 3:12:52 AM PDT by bvw
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To: bvw

This is the rest of it:

"I looked at that Web site and the first thing I looked at was Kerry's Silver Star citation. Guess what? It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted.
"How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not be in office for 12 years? This was NOT just a case of providing a new copy of a citation for the office to replace one that was lost (destroyed/thrown over a wall). This effort by Lehman & Kerry actually changed Kerry's official Navy record, sometime in the 80s," he continued.
"What other portions of his record did Kerry have Lehman sanitize or spiffy up? Evidently, Kerry did not think his original Silver Star made him look 'heroic' enough, so he provided 'suggested' words for a new certificate. This certainly calls Kerry's entire Navy record into question."


3 posted on 08/19/2004 3:17:15 AM PDT by Peach (The Clinton's pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: Jay Howard Smith
"I looked at that Web site and the first thing I looked at was Kerry's Silver Star citation. Guess what? It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted.

"How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not be in office for 12 years? This was NOT just a case of providing a new copy of a citation for the office to replace one that was lost (destroyed/thrown over a wall). This effort by Lehman & Kerry actually changed Kerry's official Navy record, sometime in the 80s," he continued.

"What other portions of his record did Kerry have Lehman sanitize or spiffy up? Evidently, Kerry did not think his original Silver Star made him look 'heroic' enough, so he provided 'suggested' words for a new certificate. This certainly calls Kerry's entire Navy record into question."

............

This is pretty damning.

4 posted on 08/19/2004 3:18:56 AM PDT by Elkiejg (Clintons, Democrats, NAA CP & ACLU have ruined America)
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To: Peach

Two great minds!!!!


5 posted on 08/19/2004 3:19:14 AM PDT by Elkiejg (Clintons, Democrats, NAA CP & ACLU have ruined America)
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To: Peach

You're a peach, Peach!


6 posted on 08/19/2004 3:19:28 AM PDT by bvw
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To: bvw

Uneven military service records have proved toxic to John Kerry's campaign for president, prompting him to post his full military record on his Web site (www.johnkerry.com) for critics to peruse.
But one sharp-eyed Washington Times reader -- a former B-52 pilot and U.S. Air Force colonel -- isn't buying Mr. Kerry's pre-emptive strike.
"I looked at that Web site and the first thing I looked at was Kerry's Silver Star citation. Guess what? It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted.
"How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not be in office for 12 years? This was NOT just a case of providing a new copy of a citation for the office to replace one that was lost (destroyed/thrown over a wall). This effort by Lehman & Kerry actually changed Kerry's official Navy record, sometime in the 80s," he continued.
"What other portions of his record did Kerry have Lehman sanitize or spiffy up? Evidently, Kerry did not think his original Silver Star made him look 'heroic' enough, so he provided 'suggested' words for a new certificate. This certainly calls Kerry's entire Navy record into question."


7 posted on 08/19/2004 3:20:51 AM PDT by counterpunch (The CouNTeRPuNcH Collection - www.counterpunch.us)
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To: Elkiejg; bvw

LOL

Anything to help the cause.


8 posted on 08/19/2004 3:21:49 AM PDT by Peach (The Clinton's pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: Peach

1981-1987 was during the Reagan Administration, so one would assume Lehman was/is a Republican. Wouldn't it be nice to hear the story behind this change?

He was, according to MSNBC, Bush's top choice to run CIA as late as July 6, 2004.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5380703


9 posted on 08/19/2004 3:24:01 AM PDT by TN4Liberty (Bill Clinton is proof you to have to be poor to be white trash,)
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To: TN4Liberty

And then Bush looked into Lehman's background and didn't like what he found. Happens all the time.


10 posted on 08/19/2004 3:27:23 AM PDT by Peach (The Clinton's pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: Jay Howard Smith
"I looked at that Web site and the first thing I looked at was Kerry's Silver Star citation. Guess what? It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted. "How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not be in office for 12 years? This was NOT just a case of providing a new copy of a citation for the office to replace one that was lost (destroyed/thrown over a wall). This effort by Lehman & Kerry actually changed Kerry's official Navy record, sometime in the 80s," he continued. "What other portions of his record did Kerry have Lehman sanitize or spiffy up? Evidently, Kerry did not think his original Silver Star made him look 'heroic' enough, so he provided 'suggested' words for a new certificate. This certainly calls Kerry's entire Navy record into question."

Nice job but was it really supposed to go undetected?

11 posted on 08/19/2004 3:34:38 AM PDT by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
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To: 1Old Pro; 4ConservativeJustices; 4integrity; ABG(anybody but Gore); All; AmericanInTokyo; ...
Ping to a "Peach" comment:

"I looked at that Web site and the first thing I looked at was Kerry's Silver Star citation. Guess what? It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted. "How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not be in office for 12 years? This was NOT just a case of providing a new copy of a citation for the office to replace one that was lost (destroyed/thrown over a wall). This effort by Lehman & Kerry actually changed Kerry's official Navy record, sometime in the 80s," he continued.

"What other portions of his record did Kerry have Lehman sanitize or spiffy up? Evidently, Kerry did not think his original Silver Star made him look 'heroic' enough, so he provided 'suggested' words for a new certificate. This certainly calls Kerry's entire Navy record into question."

3 posted on 08/19/2004 3:17:15 AM PDT by Peach

12 posted on 08/19/2004 3:54:02 AM PDT by GOPJ
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To: GOPJ

Good morning.

What I did was quote from the paper and the vet who looked at Kerry's records. Wish I was such a good researcher I'd have noticed that Lehman signed that order!


13 posted on 08/19/2004 3:55:22 AM PDT by Peach (The Clinton's pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: TN4Liberty

You should have mentioned that Lehman is a member of the 9/11 Commission.


14 posted on 08/19/2004 3:57:28 AM PDT by Christopher Lincoln
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To: Jay Howard Smith
Has he really posted his "full military record?"
15 posted on 08/19/2004 3:58:01 AM PDT by BlessedBeGod
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To: GOPJ

I guess it is one of those "TIMING" things, we keep hearing the liberals talk about.

The more I learn about some of these who climbed the ranks of power the more I question their character.


16 posted on 08/19/2004 4:02:18 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: BlessedBeGod; Jay Howard Smith
Has he really posted his "full military record?"

That's what I was wondering- partial records are all I've seen. If correct, it would be a welcome improvement.

17 posted on 08/19/2004 4:03:54 AM PDT by backhoe (1990's? Decade of Frauds. 2000's? Decade of Lunatics...)
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To: BlessedBeGod
Has he really posted his "full military record?"

No. Not all after action reports, including the sampan incident where he added 4 additional enemy casulties. Not all performance reviews. Just a summary by his own physician of medical treatments. No records of who put him up for medals, in particular the 1st purple heart, and the last purple heart/silver star. And many many more things.
18 posted on 08/19/2004 4:10:51 AM PDT by igoramus987
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To: BlessedBeGod
Kerry has not even posted all of the versions of his Siver Star citation. The original one was signed by Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, and it can be found at http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/jkerry/jksilverstar.pdf.

If anybody knows of any other versions of Kerry's Silver Star citation that are floating around, please post a link to them. I have started a collection. LOL
19 posted on 08/19/2004 4:14:14 AM PDT by mconley22
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To: Jay Howard Smith
This multiple citation thing has been known for months. Kerry has one from Zumwalt and one from Lehman (Reagan Administration) for both Bronze and Silver Stars. He has a third from Nyland for the Silver Star.

When asked here, previously, some tried to defend Kerry by saying it was no big deal, that this was always done, that Kerry was 'updating' his records, etc.

Well, the discrepancies are a problem. The very existence of the Lehman citations are a problem. This is just not anything that people seem to have wondered about - except for myself and a few others.

20 posted on 08/19/2004 4:14:27 AM PDT by sevry
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