Plot Thickens After Checking Records (Kerry Silver Star V Device Questioned by Chi. Sun-Times)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | Friday, August 27, 2004 | Thomas Lipscomb

[kristinn]

In the midst of the controversy between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and Kerry campaign representatives about Kerry's service in Vietnam, new questions have arisen.

The Kerry campaign has repeatedly stated that the official naval records prove the truth of Kerry's assertions about his service.

But the official records on Kerry's Web site only add to the confusion. The DD214 form, an official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com, includes a "Silver Star with combat V."

But according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star."

Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either.

Fake claims not uncommon

B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran himself, received the highest award the Army gives to a civilian, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, for his book Stolen Valor. Burkett pored through thousands of military service records, uncovering phony claims of awards and fake claims of military service. "I've run across several claims for Silver Stars with combat V's, but they were all in fake records," he said.

Burkett recently filed a complaint that led last month to the sentencing of Navy Capt. Roger D. Edwards to 115 days in the brig for falsification of his records.

Kerry's Web site also lists two different citations for the Silver Star. One was issued by the commander in chief of the Pacific Command (CINCPAC), Adm. John Hyland. The other, issued by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman during the Reagan administration, contained some revisions and additional language. "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (j.g.) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself... ."

One award, three citations

But a third citation exists that appears to be the earliest. And it is not on the Kerry campaign Web site. It was issued by Vice Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, commander of U.S. naval forces in Vietnam. This citation lacks the language in the Hyland citation or that added by the Lehman version, but includes another 170 words in a detailed description of Kerry's attack on a Viet Cong ambush, his killing of an enemy soldier carrying a loaded rocket launcher, as well as military equipment captured and a body count of dead enemy.

Maj. Anthony Milavic, a retired Marine Vietnam veteran, calls the issuance of three citations for the same medal "bizarre." Milavic hosts Milinet, an Internet forum popular with the military community that is intended "to provide a forum in military/political affairs."

Normally in the case of a lost citation, Milavec points out, the awardee simply asked for a copy to be sent to him from his service personnel records office where it remains on file. "I have never heard of multi-citations from three different people for the same medal award," he said. Nor has Burkett: "It is even stranger to have three different descriptions of the awardee's conduct in the citations for the same award."

So far, there are also two varying citations for Kerry's Bronze Star, one by Zumwalt and the other by Lehman as secretary of the Navy, both posted on johnkerry.com.

Kerry's Web site also carries a DD215 form revising his DD214, issued March 12, 2001, which adds four bronze campaign stars to his Vietnam service medal. The campaign stars are issued for participation in any of the 17 Department of Defense named campaigns that extended from 1962 to the cease-fire in 1973.

However, according to the Navy spokesman, Kerry should only have two campaign stars: one for "Counteroffensive, Phase VI," and one for "Tet69, Counteroffensive."

94 pages of records unreleased?

Reporting by the Washington Post's Michael Dobbs points out that although the Kerry campaign insists that it has released Kerry's full military records, the Post was only able to get six pages of records under its Freedom of Information Act request out of the "at least a hundred pages" a Naval Personnel Office spokesman called the "full file."

What could that more than 100 pages contain? Questions have been raised about President Bush's drill attendance in the reserves, but Bush received his honorable discharge on schedule. Kerry, who should have been discharged from the Navy about the same time -- July 1, 1972 -- wasn't given the discharge he has on his campaign Web site until July 13, 1978. What delayed the discharge for six years? This raises serious questions about Kerry's performance while in the reserves that are far more potentially damaging than those raised against Bush.

Experts point out that even the official military records get screwed up. Milavic is trying to get mistakes in his own DD214 file corrected. In his opinion, "these entries are not prima facie evidence of lying or unethical behavior on the part of Kerry or anyone else with screwed-up DD214s."

Burkett, who has spent years working with the FBI, Department of Justice and all of the military services uncovering fraudulent files in the official records, is less charitable: "The multiple citations and variations in the official record are reason for suspicion in itself, even disregarding the current swift boat veterans' controversy."

[Vermonter]

You're correct, sorry

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks, this is incredible:

"But the official records on Kerry's Web site only add to the confusion. The DD214 form, an official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com, includes a "Silver Star with combat V."

But according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star."

Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either.

[new cruelty]

Opps, I actually bumped the duplicated thread BEFORE I bumped this thread.

[Grampa Dave]

Does anyone know of a single time that Kerry hasn't lied to Americans since he got back from Nam?

[Peach]

I've read this story a few times in different venues and have to believe it's true. So many lies. We would need a spreadsheet.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From post #63.......

It was there earlier. I opened it.

They have removed the story.

Now how about that!!!!

Once again.......

[catpuppy]

He actually won the Silver Star before he didn't win the Silver Star. His three different citations for the same award prove it. Okay ... maybe the abundance of citations is a puzzler but he bled for his country. Okay .. it wasn't much blood but it was blood. Okay ... maybe he didn't really bleed like, you know, real blood but he was wounded. Well, perhaps he wasn't really like, you know, wounded but he was bandaged. Okay ... maybe those were bandaids and not bandages but really like, you know, what's the difference? Don't you know Bush lied?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Perhaps this......

From this thread:

BODIES IN CLERIC'S COURT (At least 25 Bodies found in basement in Al Sader's court!)

To: kaehurowing

Isn't this the guy John Kerry called the "legitimate voice" of Iraq?

That would be an exaggeration, if sadly only a slight one. The U.S. (Coalition Provisional Authority, before the transfer of sovereignty) closed down Al Sadr's newspaper on the grounds that it repeatedly violated the single proviso place on journalistic freedom in Iraq: agitating for violence against the Coalition and/or Iraqi leaders.

In an NPR interview, Kerry claimed this was wrong because Sadr was "a legitimate voice".

65 posted on 08/27/2004 12:31:23 PM PDT by Stultis

[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

Isn't this the guy John Kerry called the "legitimate voice" of Iraq?

[Republican Red]

From another thread. An article by Kate O'Beirne on kerry's comments on Adm Boorda's suicide:

Veterans said yesterday that although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing a "V" combat pin, they couldn't see how this could drive Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda to suicide.

“Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood,” said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam.

Citing uncertainty of whether Boorda deliberately wore the pins improperly, Kerry added: “If he made a mistake, in my judgment it wasn't worth his life, so I'm very sad about it.” And let us consult the Boston Globe for the same day:

“The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment,” said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a "V" pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.

“In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought,” Kerry said.

link to thread

[nopardons]

Thanks for the ping! My files runneth over...LOL

Has Kerry told the truth about ANYTHING at all? So many lies,so little time to publish all of them before the election.Phew...........

[Grampa Dave]

Read what moi Kerry had to say about Admiral Borda who killed himself for a V on a ribbon he hadn't earned.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201190/posts

Kerry on Boorda
NRO's Kerry Spot Blog ^ | 08/27/04 | Kate O’Beirne (via Jim Gerahty)


Posted on 08/27/2004 1:25:11 PM PDT by TonyInOhio


KERRY ON BOORDA [08/27 03:53 PM]

The current dispute over Kerry’s medals is a good time to recall the tragic suicide of the Navy's Admiral Mike Boorda in 1996.

Kate O’Beirne summarized it well:

“In 1996, a left-wing news service raised questions about two small "V" clips that the chief of Naval operations wore over two of the medals on his chest full of them. The clips are awarded for valor under fire, and there was some doubt about whether Boorda's two tours in Vietnam aboard combat ships qualified him for the awards, although the Washington Post reported that a 1965 Navy manual appeared to support Boorda's right to wear the clips. Unlike Kerry, the awards did not provide grounds for Boorda to shorten his tours of duty. Hours before he was scheduled to meet with Newsweek reporters to discuss the controversy, the admiral went to his home at the Navy Yard and shot himself in the chest. The CNO had been in command of the Navy during a troubled period and his leadership was being criticized by its senior officers. Still, among the notes he left was one to "the sailors" expressing his fear that the controversy over his decorations might harm the Navy. Boorda had lied about his age to join the Navy and was the first CNO to rise through the enlisted ranks.”

What did John Kerry have to say at the time about the matter? Let us consult the Boston Herald of May 18, 1996:

Veterans said yesterday that although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing a "V" combat pin, they couldn't see how this could drive Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda to suicide.

“Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood,” said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam.

Citing uncertainty of whether Boorda deliberately wore the pins improperly, Kerry added: “If he made a mistake, in my judgment it wasn't worth his life, so I'm very sad about it.” And let us consult the Boston Globe for the same day:

“The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment,” said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a "V" pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.

“In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought,” Kerry said.

“If you wind up being less than what you’re pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you.”

Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: “When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily.” Kerry‘s records refer to a "Silver Star with combat V." The Chicago Sun-Times has reported a U.S. Navy spokesman said, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star." Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either.

If John Kerry has been touting a “V” that the Navy says he does not deserve, these quotes are going to be flung back in his face.

[nopardons]

Great catch! Now,let's get this news out there!

[Pikachu_Dad]

"and Kerry's reaction; I don't think this is a Kerry rope-a-dope."

I do, remember these are Liberals... they get everything backwards. Kerry is just confused about which who is supposed to be the dope.

[Grampa Dave]

I'm sure the Swift Vets and other veteran groups against Kerry the Serial Liar will get the word out if he had an unearned V on his ribbon.

[nopardons]

I hope so.Kerry's lies are so many,that people are going to roll their eyes,whenever he speaks now.How are we supposed to keep up? LOL

[MeekOneGOP]

This idjit needs to release HIS MILITARY RECORDS!

Help the Kerry Campaign With Its paperwork!
Email Them a Standard Form 180 Now!

---

Click here to donate to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!

[Grampa Dave]

I told a neighborhood liberal that I was going rent a Cray computer to keep up the exposed lies of his boy Kerry and to store the lies before his liars deleted them. He just stared at me.

[sonofatpatcher2]

--------------------------------
To print out and wear as a Campaign Button, go HERE. Feel free to reuse this anywhere you wish...
Donate to Swift Boat Vets for the Truth HERE.

[Grampa Dave]

Now I wished that we had stored everything on Kerry's website from the time he started running last year to when he started removing stuff.

[Southack]

Wow!

5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires