Posted on 10/13/2004 12:54:03 AM PDT by politicket
Edited on 10/13/2004 1:07:27 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Excerpt:
Mystery Surrounds Kerry's Navy Discharge
BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB - Special to the Sun
October 13, 2004
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/3107
An official Navy document on Senator Kerry's campaign Web site listed as Mr. Kerry's "Honorable Discharge from the Reserves" opens a door on a well kept secret about his military service.
The document is a form cover letter in the name of the Carter administration's secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Claytor. It describes Mr. Kerry's discharge as being subsequent to the review of "a board of officers." This in it self is unusual. There is nothing about an ordinary honorable discharge action in the Navy that requires a review by a board of officers.
According to the secretary of the Navy's document, the "authority of reference" this board was using in considering Mr. Kerry's record was "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163. "This section refers to the grounds for involuntary separation from the service. What was being reviewed, then, was Mr. Kerry's involuntary separation from the service. And it couldn't have been an honorable discharge, or there would have been no point in any review at all. The review was likely held to improve Mr. Kerry's status of discharge from a less than honorable discharge to an honorable discharge.
A Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, was asked whether Mr. Kerry had ever been a victim of an attempt to deny him an honorable discharge. There has been no response to that inquiry.
The document is dated February 16, 1978. But Mr. Kerry's military commitment began with his six-year enlistment contract with the Navy on February 18, 1966. His commitment should have terminated in 1972. It is highly unlikely that either the man who at that time was a Vietnam Veterans Against the War leader, John Kerry, requested or the Navy accepted an additional six year reserve commitment. And the Claytor document indicates proceedings to reverse a less than honorable discharge that took place sometime prior to February 1978.
The most routine time for Mr. Kerry's discharge would have been at the end of his six-year obligation, in 1972. But how was it most likely to have come about?
That speaks volumes all by itself.
While I hope this fries his backside, should this hit the MSM, I think he could try to spin the less-than-honorable-discharge as dirty tricks by the Nixon Whitehouse. He could say that they were trying to dig up dirt on him.
It may have been mentioned before, but have you noticed that the talking point from the Bush camp is a curt "President Bush received an HONORABLE DISCHARGE. Think they have known about this for a while? I do......
Agreed. And as another two-branch Vet (USAR, USAF) - neither of my DD-214s reflect anything about a "board...."
However, it may not be as deep as some hope. As I recall from my officer days, an "officer" will only be issued an Honorable Discharge. For a General or Other Than Honorable D or Dismissal for the good of the Service, a board action, at a minimum, is required. One "officer" (using the term very loosely) I knew of had his pilot wings "pulled" by one board and rather than face a dismissal board, he opted to resign his commission and was released early with an HD.
A Bad Conduct or Dishonorable will require a Special or General Court Martial and from what I've seen and found searching various discharge rules, the sentence will have a reduction in grade (normally to E-1) preceding either the BCD or DD.
Seems to me that as JFake was gaining prominence in the early 70s, any court martial action towards him whould have received much play. Board actions (from what I've seen and found can be very low-key. Just MHO there, though.
I guess only time and a signed SF-180 will ever clear it all up.
Somebody on FR had picked this up several weeks ago when comparing documents and discharge dates. They made speculation that this was Jimmy Carter's doing (since Kerry wasn't even in DC at the time), and fellow FReepers jumped on the guy for it.
It's telling that Wade is clamming up.
I don't think anybody in Kerry's circle knows the truth about it.
A Flight Eval Board where one could lose your wings really had nothing to do with any other board if memory serves me correctly. A "Board" to issue a discharge, although different in the various Services, seems to me to be a completely different "horse". To say the least it is highly unusual....and as I said before; "Something is Rotten in Denmark"...
That makes a lot of sense about his missing medals and then a re-issue. Good job!
Has anyone read Tour Of Duty? What does Kerry's biographer have to say about his discharge, if anything?
Remember, Tour Of Duty proved that the third Purple Heart and the Cambodia stories were frauds!(Rice cache and Christmas at base)
He did comment on Kerry's service when the SBVT ads came out, and it was very odd for him to do (I remember seeing it on television).
Now he is pulling the "I don't recall" card.
Oh, he can recall all right, but since they've been colleagues for 25 years, he isn't going to say squat because when Kerry loses, he'll have to go right back to the Senate.
They aren't allowed to post negative news on Dems.
See that little black and white ad at the top of their page? It's a paid advertisement from DNC. They have basically been paying DU to do the internet polls and emailing on the debates and such, as well as censoring news. Hell, the threat from Chad Clanton never showed up, and only this morning the Christ comment by Edwards made it (though it is early and the mod is probably sleeping).
Actually, the charges are far more serious than the evidence. Kerry needs to answer the questions - did he receive a dishonorable discharge that was changed by Jimmy Carter when Kerry was Lt. Gov. of Mass?
Oh Navy Chief - where are you? Please shed some light here on the research you did and where you think this is going!
Great job!!
Hmmmm.
Maybe he was dishonorably discharged after four months in country and used the phony 3 purple hearts as cover?
Hey, hey ... ho, ho ... Kerry: sign the one-eight-oh!
LEHMAN!
Lehman said he never signed Kerry's paperwork when he was Navy Chief under Reagan.
He has no problem talking about that.
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