If memory serves, medals are accompanied by "certificates" signed by some higher military official. There was much debate as to whether or not the signatures on these certificates were correct or not - given the names, the dates they were in office, what office they held and whether in view of all of the forgoing, they would have been the person who would have naturally signed the certificates. Since Kerry has so far refused to release all his military records to the public, other documents which otherwise would be available to answer the questions raised cannot be viewed hence all the speculation which still cannot be answered at this time.
If you have the time and patience to slog through all the 700+ comments on this thread, you will get a taste of the nature of the discussion that took place here several months ago and to which I referred.
There is a distinction between the medal citation and the certificate. The citation is on letterhead paper and gives a synopsis describing the action justifying the award, usually one page long, and signed by the approving authority. The certficate has some graphics and is suitable for framing. Usually, there are two or three sentences describing the action. It is also signed. Kerry released his purple heart certificates. He has not, to my knowledge, released his Silver and Bornze Star certificates, just the citations.
I took part in some of the earlier discussions on this thread and numerous others. I have printed out all the citations, certficates, officer evaluation forms, and other service related materials provided by Kerry. All of the names, dates, etc. check out in terms of their accuracy. They are authentic military documents.
I know more than I wanted to know about this poseur. You are correct, the release of his complete military records is a must. The Swift Boat vets led by John O'Neill have been calling for their release at every opportunity. The RNC is reluctant to get into that fight, at least overtly.