Actually, you jumped to the conclusion that this was routine and the language "boiler plate".
I won't disagree with you. If I asserted that conclusion as fact, I didn't mean to. But having been in, and having been subjected to the whims of bureuacracy, it's my opinion that there is as likely to be an innocent explanation for the difference in langugae, as there is to be a deliberate "award burnishing" effort.
I do believe, OTOH, and have said so from the start, that the existence of these citations is evidence that Kerry requested replacement medals for the medals he says he didn't throw over the fence.