But Kerry tells the admiral he earned the Silver Star, and gets it in the ceremony we see above..... But the real citation was actually disapproved (worst case), postponed while they asked for supporting details (nominal case) or "accidentally" lost (best case) in the Pentagon
Based on my personal experience, I didn't receive my NCM with Combat V until almost a year later at my next post. I suspect the same thing happened with Kerry. I don't know who would be the approving authority for the Silver Star, the third highest combat award in the Navy. If CINPAC had to approve, it is not unusual for them to edit the citation. I seriously doubt that SECNAV had to be the approval authority. Usually, they don't present the medal until the paperwork has been approved. I believe Lehman was just providing replacment medals or the original medals, if that is what Kerry claimed. There is probably some administrative requirement that SECNAV approve any reissue of the medals. Changing Hyland's citation language, however slight,is odd.
What we need is the original nomination form with the write-up for the award to see who was in the approval chain. The Bronze Star is a little more straightforward with only two citations, but it would be odd indeed if they both came to Lehman at the same time, unless Kerry requested replacement/reissue at the same time.
I am sure Kerry could have purchased replicas, but he has so much hubris and arrogance that he wanted the Navy to supply him with the real McCoy. Again, without going down into the weeds about the different wording of the citations, the real story is why Lehman signed the citiations and whether Kerry intiated a request for them. If so, that request should be in his miliary record.