"Mining bronze from the mine was art."
Have you ever seen an article or book which describes some examples of how that was done? I'm thinking it might be informative to compare how that was typically done with Kerry's MO. My best reconstruction is that what Kerry did with the Bronze Star incident was take a real event (the PCF-3 mine explosion) and substitute some details which made him look heroic (describing the damage to PCF-3 as if it was his own boat that got hit by the mine, attributing his arm and buttocks injuries to the mine, then adding hostile fire to qualify for the PH and BS). How he got others to cover up for him on this is the part I'm still trying to figure out.
>> "Mining bronze from the mine was art."
> Have you ever seen an article or book which describes
> some examples of how that was done?
No, I haven't. Until the SBVFTs began asking pointed
questions, I'd never heard of a case like this (outside
fictional comedies). As an ordinary citizen, most of the
real cases I've heard about (Boorda) involve people
wearing awards not actually issued, or issued but not
authorized at the moment.
As to how it was done - this is just the military
version of embezzelment - embezzelment of honor.
Financial embezzelers seem to be drawn from the ranks
of accountants and bookkeepers, people who discover
that they're being left alone with the money, and that
no one is double checking (or checking at all, until
the accounts go empty).
Here's some pure speculation.
Kerry found himself off-script (on a "PT" boat, as
planned, but in actual combat, oops). Might as well
exploit it for all it's worth.
He took on an unpopular job (writing the reports),
and probably noticed that:
a. those above didn't verify, and
b. peers & those below never looked at the reports
Kerry then accidentally hooked up with a Decorations &
Awards guy (Rassmann), who explained the ropes of D&A.
Motive. Opportunity. Method.
My impression at present is that Kerry didn't start
out trying to get a 3*PH ticket out. He stumbled
into that near the final days. But he was collecting
medals by any necessary means (and as we see with the
"V" device, he kept it up for years afterward).
I really hate to question anyone's medals but the official witness to the Bronze Star incident appears to have been a man named Lambert, who coincidentally also received a Bronze Star for that day's action. He is backing Kerry on the claim of their being under heavy fire.