you must mean the bronze star. Silver Star awarded for herism in combant.
I believe it was in reference to the fact that Kerry did display a “V” device on “his” Silver Star. Yes, it is the Nation’s third highest award for valor in combat. Yes, the “V” device is displayed on the Bronze Star and other, lower medals that can be awarded for NON-Combat incidents, such as life-saving or such, to indicate the award is combat-related. But I believe that it came out in the 2004 campaign that Kerry had put the “V” on the Silver Star, which just goes to show how much it all meant to him. And he never did sign the SF 180 to release his records.