[icecold]

What Mr. Lipscomb noticed (and I overlooked when I first read the document) was the date of the posted discharge, Feb. 16, 1978. This was six years after Kerry's six-year (1966-1972) commitment to the Navy ended. The anti-war detractor of our military did not re-up for another six-year term in 1972, so why the delay of his discharge? The only logical conclusion is that the 1978 honorable discharge was a second discharge given to replace an earlier undesirable discharge under less-than-honorable conditions, as unfit for military service.

[bushisdamanin04]

No, as a commissioned officer, he could leave active duty, never participate in guards or reserves, and still maintain his commission - meaning there would be no discharge. While it is possible that Kerry resigned his commission in '72 and received a less than honorable discharge, it is also possible (and even likely) that for some reason he waited until '78 to resign his commission. If he had not resigned (or lost) his commission in '78, he would still hold his commission today and would never have been discharged, despite his active duty having ended in '72.