HINT: Recall who was president in 1978, and recall what he did for all the anti-war types that had fled to Canada... It was CARTER and he give them AMNESTY. It isn't too hard to believe that a young Democrat who had been discharged from the Navy under less than honorable condiditons could get his records "corrected" in this environment.
As long as you are asking, look into why some of his awards were re-issued...
These questions will probably never be answered. Military records are protected better than the gold in Ft. Knox. The only way we will ever know the truth is if Kerry fesses up.
actually, all he has to do is sign a Form 180 that John O'Neill will provide for him (no funky submission to an off-beat office will suffice, as Kerry tried post 2004)
And that will never happen.