One of Kerry's commanding officers turned him down for one of his purple hearts. Others said there had been no combat. It supposedly looked like the kind of wound you'd get if you shot into a rock and got hit by a flying fragment. That CO moved on and Kerry asked the replacement for the purple heart. He got it.
The silver star was "earned" by beaching the swift boat (against regulations) and drilling an unarmed, wounded enemy in the head. The silver star was recommended by the ranking officer, Lt. John F. Kerry, on behalf of himself. It's legal though.
from the vietnam vet site, the injuries for the purple heart can EASILY be reproduced for the camera to show ho pathetically minor they were AND that he recomended himself for ALL his medals during his four months.