[sevry]

Hyland: CINCPAC probably edited the Zumwalt Silver Star citation to make it fit on to one page and to clean it up a bit to fit the existing format.

Was this done in any other case? I've seen various websites of those awarded Silver and Bronze Stars. They only have the one document. Does anyone know how many received two citations, two certificates, for the same medal? at the time.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Actually, Kerry has THREE different "official" versions of his Silver Star citation: One signed by Zumwalt (one star admiral in charge of the naval forces in Vietnam in 1972), one signed by Admiral Hyland (Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor who served in 1972-1973 time frame) and the last one by Sec. of Navy John Lehman (who was SecNAV between 1983 and 1988.)

So, since the citations themselves DO NOT get changed arbitrarily, and of course, Kerry threw his (or somebody's else's) MEDALS (not the citations!) over the WH fence ...

We have no idea why Kerry demanded his official citations be changed some 14 years after he left the service. Then again, we have no idea why John Kerry demanded his official discharge papers be changed some thirty YEARS after he left active duty. Other than to make John Kerry's Vietnam war record look more impressive, that is.

However, we do know that the change happened as soon as he (Kerry) became a Senator. As soon as Kerry had the power to demand a change in his old records - but while the Pentagon SHOULD HAVE been fighting the Cold War and the war in Afghanistan and the Soviet's spying in submarines and crypto-technology!

[kabar]

Was this done in any other case? I've seen various websites of those awarded Silver and Bronze Stars. They only have the one document. Does anyone know how many received two citations, two certificates, for the same medal? at the time.,/i>

I don't quite understand your question. Kerry received a Silver and a Bronze star. Normally, the nominations are passed through an approval process using a standard form. The Silver star was signed by Zumwalt, the area commander and passed up to Hyland as CINCPAC for final approval. There is only one reasonable explanation for Lehman's signature on a citation since he was SECNAV at least 12 years after Kerry received his medal. It was for a replacement medal. The Bronze star only had two signatures, Zumwalt and Lehman. As I speculated, Zumwalt was probably the approval authority and Lehman for the replacement medal.

Normally, there is a certificate accompanying the medal plus a one page summary suitable for framing next to the certificate. Some editing at the approval level may take place for various reasons, e.g., grammar, lenght, etc.