Posted on 09/05/2004 7:29:43 AM PDT by Tacis
The record is puzzling. Why would Kerry claim hero status and then refuse to allow us to see his record and allow every reader to confirm his claims? Why, even in war time, does Kerry’ service in the USNR appear to stretch from 1966 to 1978, 12 years? How does one explain the strange irregularities (multiple citations for his Silver Star) and inconsistencies in the Kerry military records that are available? Why does the 6 year (plus six month?) USNR obligation begun by Kerry in 2/66 appear to end in 1/70 again, in time of war, even though available records seem to indicate that the terminal date of his reserve obligation was 17 Feb 1972? Why are the documents that should be available, not there? The answers to all these question may be linked and surprisingly obvious. My thesis would be very easy to disprove (if it is false) by simply releasing Kerry’s entire military record.
Even if you include a lot of puffery and self-promotion, Kerry’s in-country record in late 1968 and early 1969 was exceptional and one to be admired and honored. But, for reasons we do not yet understand, in roughly late 1969, Kerry turned bad.
In late 1969, Kerry asked for an early release from “active duty”even though he had re-upped to serve on active duty until August, 1970. He said he wished to enter the democrat party primary, held in September, 1970 in Massachusetts, to be a candidate for Congress for the Third District. He was detached from active duty effective 4:00 PM, 2 January 1970 and specifically reminded the he assumed “... The status of a member of the Naval Reserve on inactive duty.”
The paper trail of available Navy records disappears for almost 8 years. In March, 1970, Kerry drops out of the Congressional primary in favor of the notorious Father Drinan, Dean of Boston College Law School (where Kerry later attended law school, 1973-1976). From early, 1970 through the Summer of 1973, Kerry takes part in activities involving war protests, meeting in Paris with Viet Cong representatives and the leadership of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. These activities, some of which may have been legal, were of very questionable patriotism for an honest citizen of the US but certainly inappropriate for a US Naval officer.
That’s pretty much fact. Now, the thesis that explains the rest of the mysteries. I believe that Kerry was court martialed in the early 70s or otherwise terminated from the USNR under conditions other than honorable. Whatever actually happened represented a stain on Kerry’s record that might not have been taken lightly even by voters in Massachusetts.
Then, on January 21,1977, Democrat President Jimmy Carter (POTUS - January 20,1977 - January 20,1981) gave a blanket pardon, in Proclamation 4483, to certain offenders as follows:
“Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, do hereby grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to: (1) all persons who may have committed any offense between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder; and (2) all persons heretofore convicted, irrespective of the date of conviction, of any offense committed between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, restoring to them full political, civil and other rights.”
Thus, if my thesis is correct, Kerry’s offense must have occurred between 2 January 1970 and March 28, 1973. My thesis suggests that during 1977, Kerry made application for full pardon under the administrative procedures promulgated by the Office of the Pardon Attorney, Department of Justice. He almost certainly sought and received the support of Massachusetts Senator Kennedy who had much clout in the Carter administration. Kennedy may have been responsible for suggesting that the records of such a fine young man be embellished by Citations from the Secretary of the Navy, rather than a mere admiral, and in other details not yet known.
In my hypothesis, Kerry’s request for full pardon was granted. Kerry applied for his military records to be corrected accordingly, and applied for an honorable discharge. The Secretary of the Navy wrote to Kerry on Feb 16 1978, enclosing an Honorable Discharge Certificate and stating:
“This action is taken in accordance with the approved recommendations of a board of officers convened ... to examine the official records of officers of the Naval Reserve on inactive duty and determine whether they should be retained on the rolls of the Reserve Component or separated from the naval service pursuant to Secretarial instructions promulgated in reference [c].”
The reference, “[c],”is to “BUPERSMAN 3830300.” A Google search did not provide any information regarding the text of this provision. But, this might explain why he was discharged 12 long years after enlistment.
This hypothesis explains the inconsistencies in Kerry’s record and makes it clear why he acts like a three card Monte dealer in insisting that we watch his time in Nam very carefully and not pay attention to what happened afterward. It is exactly the position Benedict Arnold took with respect to what happened at West Point and afterward.
Proofs? Well, no. Certainly, the official USNR file on Kerry would quickly prove or disprove my thesis. Kerry refuses to sign a Standard Form 180 authorizing the Navy to release it, suggesting that Kerry has much more to lose by showing his records than by continuing to conceal material information. Kennedy? Not likely that his office would say anything that might negatively effect Kerry even though it might be in the nation’s best interest. It is, after all, Kennedy. The US Navy? It is unlikely that the Navy would, of its own volition, risk alienating a sitting US Senator and a man who might be the next CinC. Kerry’s first wife, Julia Thorne, who went to Paris with Kerry when he met with the Viet Cong, and her brother, David H. Thorne, certainly might be able to add facts but, would the old timey, ultra-left wing, liberal media even ask them?
But, there is a another possibility. Many aspects of the Presidential Pardon/Clemency process are matters of public record, in the Department of Justice. If Jimmy Carter pardoned Kerry, there should be a public record that Kerry shouldn’t be able to conceal. An applicant appears to be told in the application process:
"A record of each Certificate of Pardon will be maintained in the Office of the Pardon Attorney as an official record, together with your application form and any other documents compiled in the course of processing your request. The Pardon Attorney may disclose the contents of such files to anyone when the disclosure is required by law or the ends of justice. In particular, public record documents that may be compiled in the course of processing an application, such as the judgment order from the criminal case for which pardon is sought, trial or sentencing transcripts, court opinions, and newspaper articles, are generally made available upon request by third-parties (including representatives of the news media) pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, unless such disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the petitioner's personal privacy. In addition, unsolicited Congressional correspondence is treated in the same manner. On the other hand, non-public documents that may be compiled in the course of processing an application, such as the application form itself, are not generally available under the Freedom of Information Act."
The DoJ procedures indicate:
"Publicly available information for which a FOIA request is not required:
Publicly available information: Executive clemency statistics from the administration of President McKinley to the present; rules governing the pardon attorney and petitions for executive clemency published at 28 C.F.R. §§ 0.35-36 and § 1.1 et seq.; forms for applying for executive clemency; publication: Civil Disabilities of Convicted Felons: A State-by-State Survey (October 1996); copies of clemency warrants and proclamations for persons who have been granted executive clemency; description of clemency procedures contained in United States Attorney's Manual at § 1-2.110 et seq.; whether an individual has applied for executive clemency and action on such application."
Thus, I would urge any individual or member of the media with an interest in learning the truth about Kerry’s total military record to contact/visit the Office of the Pardon Attorney, Department of Justice and inquire whether there are any records for John Forbes Kerry. Check variations of Kerry’s name (intentional misfiling?), things like “John Kerry Forbes.” Kerry’s Social Security Number appears to be shown, unredacted, on a 17 Dec 1970 document in his file but his Military ID number is not known. Finally, don’t limit inquiries to actions under Proclamation 4483, President Carter may have taken some clemency action because key party members may have required him to. Finally, From a reading of the above, it appears that certain information should be available on a “walk in” basis and other information must be requested via FOIA application.
"The offices of record are :
FOIA Contact:
Samuel T. Morison, Attorney Advisor Office of the Pardon Attorney 4th Floor, 500 First Street, N.W. Department of Justice Washington, DC 20530-0001 (202) 616-6070
Conventional Reading Room:
United States Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney 4th Floor, 500 First Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530"
Several observations: It is indeed unfortunate that a man who would be President, so distrusts the American public and his own background that he hides material information in his military records in the hope of hornswoggling the electorate, of tricking us into believing he is one thing when, in fact, he may be another. Second, the above process should have long ago been followed by the media. It is also unfortunate that most of the traditional media are far too interested in electing Kerry to bother with doing any fact finding or reporting of information that might dissuade the electorate or present the truth.
Proof? Again, no, no proof, but as long as Kerry in his arrogance, refuses to trust Americans, we have the right to make assumptions about his dishonesty, mendacity and refusal to be candid and to assume that he uses similar duplicity with respect to other matters, as well. The above represents my current best guess about why Kerry is being dishonest and what he is hiding.
A correspondent on a list I read recently noted the following. Your conjecture and research may hold the answer to his query:
"...Then I looked at this document.
found at: http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/Service_Record.pdf
It shows the various dates Kerry served on active and reserve duty. It was prepared on January 25, 1985. Down at the bottom it shows that it is Enclosure (1) to something. What's the main document? It wasn't prepared by the National Archives Retired Records Section (as was the DD215 on March 12, 2001). It was prepared by the Naval Military Personnel Command, Office of Legal Counsel. Why would a lawyer have to prepare this sort of thing? Very odd."
"Mr. Carter invoked his powers as commander in chief and ordered that the "bad paper" military discharges of hundreds of thousands of deserters, malcontents and nonperformers be mandatorily upgraded, so long as they met one of six easily attained criteria."
http://www.jameswebb.com/Articles/wallstreetjrnl/carterinsult.htm
The following link pertains to the draft and Selective Service:
"Pardons Granted to Evaders of Vietnam War (1977): Carter grants full pardons to the Americans who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War."
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~cgehrm1/pres_site/presidents/jc.html
Was not aware of that one. Thanks.
All the more anti-American actions staining the peranut-gallery president.
Just throwing this out there from a search. I have no background in MIL
http://www.military.com/InstallationGuides/InstallationDetails?lb_installation_code=4330
The Bureau of Navigation was established in 1862 and three years later the office of Detail was placed under it. In 1889, The Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting transferred its enlisted personnel activities to the Bureau of Navigation as well. On 13 May 1942, the command's name changed to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and in 1982 it changed to Naval Military Personnel Command. In 1991, the name changed back to the Bureau of Naval Personnel or "BUPERS" for short. BUPERS is led by the Chief of Naval Personnel. The organizational chart for Navy Personnel Command is as follows: NPC-00, Commander, Navy Personnel Command; NPC-01, Administrative Officer; NPC-02, Comptroller/Resources Management Office; NPC-03, Management & Organizational Services Office; NPC-05, Public Affairs Office; NPC-06, Office of Legal Counsel; NPC-3, Business Operations; NPC-4, Distribution; NPC-6, Personal Readiness & Community Support; NPC-8, Pers Progression, Performance & Security; and NPC-9, Reserve Personnel Management.
Thank you so much for the information!
bump
Aw, don't hold back; tell how you really feel.
Editor's Note:
Please retype to read: Wouldn't it be typical that PEAnuts is involved in this mess.
Uh....OK.
No, it's not true that Kerry served two tours of duty in VN. He served aboard the Gridley which was on assignment in the Pacific that included about five weeks of shore patrol (ferrying officers back and forth from ships to Cam Rahn Bay). This was not a combat tour of duty.
Probably suffering from an occupational disease. Got too close to the core while examining the rods. He's a nukalar kind of a guy, you know.
Is it possible that Bubba Clinton pardoned him instead of Carter. I'm wondering only because the form DD215 that corrected his original DD214, was completed on 3/12/2001.
When Kerry testified in the Senate committee about the meeting in Paris, no one there seemed surprised or shocked by it. IMO, it seemed like his Paris activities were well known to all of the members of the committee, as no one questioned him further about it. Has anyone gone over the rest of the Senate committee's activities?
Was Kerry a member of any Senator's or Congressman's staff at the time of the trip or his testimony? Could he have gone under the auspices of being on an authorized fact finding mission of some sort?
IMO, he was wrong to come back to promote the enemy's talking points, but he might have legal cover on the purpose of his mission there.
"Mr. Carter invoked his powers as commander in chief and ordered that the "bad paper" military discharges of hundreds of thousands of deserters, malcontents and nonperformers be mandatorily upgraded, so long as they met one of six easily attained criteria."
http://www.jameswebb.com/Articles/wallstreetjrnl/carterinsult.htm
GEEZ! This article deserves a thread and title of its own, so many will explore it to its fullest!
If he's a member of the American Legion, he must submit a copy of his DD214 to join.
Just a thought.
Does tour of duty always imply combat?
Thanks.
I do not think there is any question that there is something in Kerry's files and background he does not want the public to see. Hopefully it will come out before the election so that we can be rid of this guy once and for all.
Have you made contact with them (thru their website)?
Thanks! Great stuff!
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