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Unlike President George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore and most candidates for office, Kerry refuses to allow the Pentagon to release his military records. Speculations are rife, from his Purple Hearts, to criteria about his medals, and why Kerry did not receive an honorable discharge until March 2001, nearly 30 years after his service ended on July 1, 1972.
No explanation has been offered.
Informed guys in the Pentagon believe Kerry originally was discharged in the 1970s with a "general" discharge and used his pro-Clinton votes during the impeachment of Boy Bill to apply political pressure for an upgrade. Obviously, his military records would contain material on his appeal, and might explain the 30-year delay.
From the scant information available, John Kerry signed his enlistment contract with the U.S. Navy on Feb. 18, 1966. He was discharged from "total active duty" on Jan. 3, 1970, with three years and 18 days of active duty. On that date, he was posted to the Naval Reserve Manpower Center in Bainbridge, Md., with "ready reserve" status and required to do 48 drills and 17 days of active duty a year until 1972. That year, on July 1, he was transferred to "standby reserve -- active" and was discharged from the U.S. Naval Reserve on Feb. 16, 1978.
Kerry's friends can and will argue about dates. But here are some irrefutable facts:
Kerry was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy
Kerry was an official of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), a self-styled revolutionary organization giving aid and comfort to our enemies
Kerry was and is a U.S. senator
Kerry was and is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. In May 1970, Kerry, a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, was in Paris on his honeymoon. He met with Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Viet Cong's foreign minister. The next month he joined the Communist-controlled VVAW and helped organize their seditious Winter Soldier hearings in Detroit, along with their march to Washington. These events were designed in rebellion against the U.S. government and to change its policies.
On April 22, 1971, Kerry, still an officer in the U.S. Navy, gave evidence to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of his shame in being an American and told horror stories of the behavior of the U.S. military. Throughout the next six months, Kerry remained active with the VVAW as a leader and a spokesman, appearing on national television to claim that he had been a war criminal and a delegate at meetings with the Viet Cong in Paris.
During this period, Lt. John Kerry attended many VVAW meetings and mass rallies at which the Viet Cong flag was displayed and the U.S. flag desecrated. He also attended a VVAW conference where the assassination of U.S. senators was discussed. He took no action to close that discussion or report it to the FBI, despite the participants' planning murder. He did, however, leave before a vote was taken on how to implement the crime.
It could be argued that, in 1970 and 1971, John Kerry, an officer in the U.S. Navy, violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 104, part 904; and the U.S. Code 18 USC 953, for violating the U.S. Constitution.
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