34 - "Then why does this Navy document refer to his "Honorable Discharge Certificate" and dated Feb. 16, 1978? It indicates an Honorable discharge although the DD214 hasn't been produced for viewing..... http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/Honorable_Discharge_From_Reserve.pdf
His other two DD214s dated 15-12-66 and 03-01-70 are available here: http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/DD214.pdf"
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Guys - Please Note, Officer's DD-214's are not discharges, but Releases from Active Duty. Discharge normally comes separately at some later date. Deport, your first link, is a letter, saying there is a discharge certificate attached - (note the - Enclosure in the header of the letter), which is the actual discharge, not the letter of notification, which you have linked.
Polybius - when I was in the Reserves and Active too, back in the 60's-70's, I was always told (though I never looked it up) that my conduct in civilian life, while in the reserves (not on active duty) could get me court martialed, and I had to live up to the UCMJ, even though not on active duty, if I brought discredit to the military.
I also remember that General discharges and Other than Honorable (which I recommended for several), could be upgraded to honorable after a suitable period of good performance in civilian life.
thanks.
Note how many times I've had to explain the difference between "discharge" and "release from active duty" on this thread. :-)
Polybius - when I was in the Reserves and Active too, back in the 60's-70's, I was always told (though I never looked it up) that my conduct in civilian life, while in the reserves (not on active duty) could get me court martialed, and I had to live up to the UCMJ, even though not on active duty, if I brought discredit to the military.
AndyJackson and I beat that topic to death on the thread I linked:
Kerry Deceives News Media About His Navy Discharge on JohnKerry.com
It seems that, while in the Ready Reserve or Inactive Reserve you can only be prosecuted under the UCMJ for actions committed while on Active Duty for Training or as result of prior actions committed while on Active Duty.
In the latter case, you could be recalled to Active Duty for such prosecution.
Now, with that in mind, remember that Kerry, in Congressional testimony, accused himself of war crimes during his Vietnam tour......."prior actions committed while on Active Duty".
Oooooops.
So, theoretically, the Navy would have been within it's legal rights under UCMJ to recall Kerry to Active Duty for court-matial for those war crimes. Kerry would have then had to plead that he was merely a liar and not a war criminal.
However, that would trigger the policy cited in this SECNAVINST that stated that a servicemember in a Reserve component may receieve:
"......a general discharge as an inactive duty reservist based upon “civilian misconduct found to have had an adverse impact on the overall effectiveness of the military, including military morale and efficiency."
or
".....an other than honorable (formerly undesirable) discharge as an inactive duty reservist based upon “civilian misconduct found to have affected directly the performance of military duties."