The 34-Year Old "Typo" (Kerry's unearned Combat "V")

FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | 9/03/04 | Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer

[IamConservative]

A typo? My 12 year old son has more game than that.

[kabar]

I believe that Kerry, like myself, was asked to fill in portions of his DD214. More than likely, Kerry added the combat "V" distinguishing device, more out of ignorance than anything else. The clerk who prepared it and the officer who signed it did not notice the difference. I have come to this conclusion because there was no added benefit for Kerry to do so. The Silver Star is solely a combat medal and does not need such a device. Unlike Boorda, Kerry would not be adding any additional luster to his award.

I doubt if Kerry knew that the Silver Star didn't need a combat "V." His Bronze Star citation specifically authorizes him to wear the "V" device. Knowing Kerry's ego and obsession with his medals, he probably wanted to make sure that everyone knew that his Silver Star was earned in combat.

I just don't agree with the degree of importance some place on it. Again, what benefit accrues to Kerry by adding the combat "V" to a medal that doesn't need one? It is redundant. If Kerry did that with a Bronze Star or Navy Commendation Medal, I would share their concern. To me, it doesn't rise to a federal crime. It just shows the ignorance of Kerry and an oversight by the Navy, which signed the DD214.

[yoe]

..."it's a typo," they say.
...It was a mistake, I didn't realize I had taken some of those papers......Sandy Berger.

Wearing an unauthorized decoration is a severe breach of military protocol...IN FOUR SHORT MONTHS, JOHN KERRY FALSLY DECORATED HIMSELF WITH MEDALS HE DID NOT EARN....
...KERRY IS NO AUDIE MURPHY...HE HARDLY HAD TIME TO FILM HIMSELF...HE GOT OUT AS FAST AS HE COULD AND THEN THE hero TURNED ON HIS MATES AND THE ENTIRE VIETNAM THEATER WITH HIS TESTIMONY...THIS MAN IS A LIAR AND A THIEF, NOT THE SORT OF MAN TO LEAD THIS COUNTRY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

[yoe]

Unlike Boorda, Kerry would not be adding any additional luster to his award.

The Navy has quietly accepted that Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda was entitled to wear combat decorations on his uniform -- the challenged Vietnam War awards that led to his suicide two years ago.

[kabar]

The Navy has quietly accepted that Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda was entitled to wear combat decorations on his uniform -- the challenged Vietnam War awards that led to his suicide two years ago.

If they did, they are wrong. The award citation must specifically state that the combat "V" distinguishing device is authorized. If it isn't in there, it can't be worn. Simple as that and Boorda knew it.

[mcshot]

IIRC it is the 3rd "copy" of Kerry's DD214 signed (not signed) by Lehman that contains the combat V and additional sentence. His explanation is that he lost the originals which he never would have received. Something is terribly amiss and missing here besides the truth.
mc

[kabar]

IIRC it is the 3rd "copy" of Kerry's DD214 signed (not signed) by Lehman that contains the combat V and additional sentence. His explanation is that he lost the originals which he never would have received. Something is terribly amiss and missing here besides the truth.

I think you are confusing Kerry's "third" Silver Star citation. There is no mention of a "V" device in that citation, only the Bronze Star citation, which was exactly the same as the one signed by Zumwalt. Lehman never signed Kerry's DD214, which was prepared when Kerry was released from active duty in 1970.

[mcshot]

I stand corrected and my "recall" has been refreshed. Next time I will think twice and type once. :-)
Thx,
mc

[quietolong]

It was less that 4 months. He didn’t step off the plane right on to his boat. I believe there was some orientation first.

Kerry has not signed the 180 release form. And every posted DD214 that I have seen of his. Uses the wrong type font. Could they be fake? Anyone can type up a form and say it’s there’s ! (why do you think they use a special type font)

[mcshot]

DD214 = silver star citation.

I know/knew better.
mc

[GailA]

Lipscomb said hanoi john's discharge papers look odd......

[A.A. Cunningham]

They can't release them because of the Privacy Act. Kerry would have to sign a release form.

Negative. B.G. Burkett, co-author of the book "Stolen Valor", obtained thousands of military records by simply filing FOIA requests. Cooperation from the individual in question will expedite the process but isn't necessary to obtain the records. Boorda, along with several other flag officers, was exposed by a FOIA request filed by Lt. Col. Roger Charles USMC Ret.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The Navy has quietly accepted that Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda was entitled to wear combat decorations on his uniform -- the challenged Vietnam War awards that led to his suicide two years ago.

Bull S***. You've been drinking the Clinton/Dalton/Zumwalt/Boorda family kool-aide if you're spouting that lie. Boorda was not and is still not entitled to wear the Combat V on either the Navy Commendation Medal or Navy Achievement Medal. So says a unanimous vote by the Board for Correction of Naval Records in June of 1997.

Boorda quit wearing the Combat V on both awards in 1995, over a year before he shot himself. Boorda was also being treated for depression for several years prior to shooting himself. You're a fool if you attempt to blame Boordas' irrational act on his own mistake of wearing two Combat Vs he was not entitled to.