Excellent summary. LtCol Buzz did not mention that the fact that Kerry's medals were re-issued which indicates that he got a Bad Conduct Discharge that rescinded them.
GREAT comment!!
Having many Navy friends, having worked on Navy contracts for 22 years of my career, I've been hearing them say this and wondered when someone would pick it up.
The "I threw them over the fence" was always a cover for the fact he had "lost" them, another way.
And Carter did us no favor with his blanket pardon but the subsequent discharge papers are still a mystery.
From the Buzz Patterson points, this one sticks out:
Finally, and most bizarre of all of Kerry's military records so far released is a DD 215, "Correction to DD Form 214," initiated for John Forbes Kerry on March 12, 2001. Among other things, the new form changes Kerry's official US Navy separation date to March 1, 1970! As noted earlier, he wasn't eligible for discharge until July, 1972, and was so. Why, then, the new document in 2001? Why, 29 years later, is there the need to correct or change the record?
I firmly believe that we need to inundate the MSM, Fox News, and the others that were suggested in the early comments to this thread, and try by sheer numbers of emails and telephone calls, to get this information out and center stage. We can make out own October surprise if enough of us got active on this topic alone.