Posted on 09/03/2004 2:36:51 AM PDT by kattracks
this kind of stuff will blow right past the heads of the Sheeples.
bttttttttt
Navy Challenging Kerry's Medals
The United States Navy is challenging the authenticity of Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam War medals, in a development that could prove to be the most damaging yet to the embattled Democrat's presidential campaign.
A Navy spokesman is calling Kerry's Silver Star citation with Combat V "incorrect" as it appears on his campaign Web site, explaining in an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Thomas Lipscomb that the Navy has never issued a Combat V at any time for the Silver Star.
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The Navy also is questioning the listing on Kerrys Web site of four bronze campaign stars for his service in Vietnam. The official naval record credits Kerry with just two Vietnam campaigns.
"That is sufficient for the wearing of the Vietnam Service Medal for one campaign bearing one campaign star for the additional campaign not four," reports Lipscomb in today's New York Sun.
Kerry's campaign has repeatedly cited the Navy as the ultimate authority on the candidate's war record, saying the Navy wouldn't have awarded him medals he didn't deserve.
But with the Navy now publicly challenging Kerry's decorations, that defense has been rendered inoperative.
Noting that Kerry has refused to authorize the release of his full military records, the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch called on Kerry this week to remove any questionable citations from his Web site pending a formal investigation by the Navy.
"It is to your best interest to have your record in good order," Gen. Thomas Wilkerson, the president of the U.S. Naval Institute, told Lipscomb. "If it is wrong, you are accountable. And if you use it to advance your career, it is even more important.
Oh boy - can you hear the whines from the RATS as this picks up steam???? Question to you military folks -- if the Navy has all of Kerry's records, why can't they release them?
More disappearing pages to follow at sKerry's website
Audio: Schwing....
Person_1: What was that?
Person_2: The sound of John Kerry's stories about his medals hitting rock bottom.
Person_1: Oh... They sounded a lot like ribbons.
Person_2: Back then, they were interchangeable.
They can't release them because of the Privacy Act. Kerry would have to sign a release form.
Thanks terp -- but one would think the records belong to the Navy and could be seen -- but there I go again being logical!
For example you probable have medical records that your doctor holds for you at his office. These records actual belong to him but he can't release them to the public because this would violate your privacy. The same principle applies to Kerry's service and medical records.
Well, to be fair, I just looked at the awards & decorations part of my own DD 214 and it's a run-on mishmash of acronyms and abbreviations that's pretty confusing. So it's possible Kerry just didn't know what his own DD 214 said.
But all I was concerned with was that I received an Honorable Discharge and that the dates for my enlistment were correct so that I would receive the correct retirement pay. I just didn't want to waste time having the Personnel Department make the corrections.
This may have been the case with Kerry but once he decided to run for public office he most certainly should have had the DD 214 corrected and he knows it.
I have one question about the unauthorized combat "V".
Did Kerry ever wear the ribbon with the "V" installed?????
Do we have any photos of him wearing all his ribbons on his uniform?
Note to Brinkley: Hope the loss of whatever reputation you had left was worth it.
Thanks again Terp - I hadn't tought of it in the light and you are correct.
Oh come on. There is not, and to my knowledge never has been a V to a Silver Star. How can his record be exaggerated by an award that did not exist? Kerry didn't type the DD214 himself. Otherwise he might have typoed in a Navy Cross or something.
Doesn't the military tell recipients of these medals/citations that it's the service member himself/herself who is responsible for checking the accuracy of the paperwork and ensuring any inaccuracies are corrected?
KERRY ON BOORDA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201190/posts Every member discharged from the service is asked to review their DD214 for accuracy. It's your last chance to get the record straight.
Yes, and you have no idea how tired military members get with the services ducking their responsibility for getting the paperwork right. After a while, most military members just shrug and say "if they're happy, I'm happy."
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