Thomas Lipscomb in the New York Sun (who broke the story on John Kerry’s attendance at a VVAW meeting where the assassination of U.S. government officials was discussed) reports on the mystery surrounding John Kerry’s Navy discharge.
An official Navy document on Senator Kerry’s campaign Web site listed as Mr. Kerry’s “Honorable Discharge from the Reserves” opens a door on a well kept secret about his military service.
The document is a form cover letter in the name of the Carter administration’s secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Claytor. It describes Mr. Kerry’s discharge as being subsequent to the review of “a board of officers.” This in it self is unusual. There is nothing about an ordinary honorable discharge action in the Navy that requires a review by a board of officers.
According to the secretary of the Navy’s document, the “authority of reference” this board was using in considering Mr. Kerry’s record was “Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163. “This section refers to the grounds for involuntary separation from the service. What was being reviewed, then, was Mr. Kerry’s involuntary separation from the service. And it couldn’t have been an honorable discharge, or there would have been no point in any review at all. The review was likely held to improve Mr. Kerry’s status of discharge from a less than honorable discharge to an honorable discharge.
A Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, was asked whether Mr. Kerry had ever been a victim of an attempt to deny him an honorable discharge. There has been no response to that inquiry.
[Full Story]Of course Kerry could put this issue to rest by authorizing the release of the rest of his service records, an action he has steadfastly resisted to date…
Update: PoliPundit has more background info on story.
A change in discharge status might also explain the “new” medal citations “signed” by John Lehman in the 1980’s for Mr. Kerry’s Silver Star and Bronze Star. The scenario is that Kerry was stripped of his medals by the less than honorable discharge and then had them reinstated/reissued with the new citations when his discharge status was upgraded to honorable.
anyone who receives anything other than an honorable discharge can petition the military for a review and change of status. Whether it be for the good of the service, general, medical or less than honorable. The only one that I am not certain can be changed is dishonorable.
Be tht as it may Kerry seems to have everything fall in his lap at the most opportune time. Release the records JK..SIGN THE FORM. He seems to be ok so far “explaining away’ everything else. Why not this?
As far as Kerry releasing his records, you’re forgetting an important point: All those records were microfilmed on the same self-detructing film that was used for Bush’s military records.
My take on Mr. Lipscomb’s article includes quotes from and links to the relevant statutes (which are otherwise somewhat hard to locate, having been superseded in a 1994 recodification of Title 10).
Comment edited.
The original spewed lameness was courtesy of someone at:
Lambert, Edwards & Associates, Inc.
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Somebody didn’t get his rabies shot.
Cheney Vows To Attack U.S. If Kerry Elected
GREENSBORO, NC
there are at least two amongst us that require serious meds
Uh, I fear Dick Cheney. I don’t feel confident at all given Kerry’s track record in the senate that he would be capable of defeating such a threat. I fear far more that he would simply capitulate.
Of course, I guess that would lead to a Cheney led country, which is, well, sort-of what we have now?
Debra: They are already on serious meds, the kind found in dark alleys.
TOC….hee hee. True.
Must be sad to have to obtain a twinkle in the eye via alternative methods. Me? I have one naturally.
What’s the deal with the “woof woof” crap any way and am I the only one that doesn’t get it?
The Kerry campaign is freaking out again over Kerry’s military and anti-military history (he hasn’t changed much, he fought in the war, then fought against the war LOL). A new controversy involves the airing of the movie “Stolen Valor” the true story of Kerry’s anti-war — some say treasonous — activities. Read these stories on NewsMax:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/13/102323.shtml?j=549452&e=COPmagazine@aol.com&l=143149_HTML&u=10557964
– Deb – you have to be a dyed in the wool, full metal jacket scraggly haired feminist, with coke bottle thick glasses, an aversion to water, and a fashion sense taken from a LandsEnd camping catalog to truly appriciate the effervescent qualities of the “woof woof” reference… *chuckle*
The question of whether or not someone who aspires to be commander-in-chief ever received a less-than-honorable discharge from the armed forces is certainly relevant, IMHO.
If the MSM won’t ask the question, I suggest that we do. Spend a few minutes and a dollar or two calling the national Kerry campaign HQ or the DNC, and ask this question: “Has Senator Kerry ever received a less-than-honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Navy Reserve?”
A “no” answer puts this to rest immediately. Anything else would be quite telling.
Hunter…I guess I have a lot to learn!
~sheesh~ that woman..er..person..er…thing you described…..Trust me I ain’t it!!
All I can say is “whew!!”
I am politically informed and pride myself on a lot of things but that while woof woof thing had me feeling a bit ..uh…left behind
kerry’s discharge appears to be on a standard Navy form
NAVPERS 1926/2 (rev. 3-77). It would be interesting to find out if this form was EVER used for a standard honorable discharge. ALso what is the most common use of this form.
It is possible that Kerry did receive a less than honorable discharge based on FBI surveillance files of his activities since technically he was still a reserve officer when he attended assassination-plot meetings and met with North Vietnamese officials in Paris, not to mention his making unsubstantiated allegations against the military. It also seems logical that it would be the Carter Administration secretary of defense who would allow Kerry to have a retro-active honorable discharge.
I hate all that Kerry is and stands for as much as you do, but this story is most certainly a red herring. What the Sun describes is the normal process of being administratively discharged after being on the rolls of the Inactive Reserve. Sorry folks, there really is nothing to see here.
Lets be careful to attack Kerry on what we KNOW rather on what we WISH were the case.
The simple solution is to sign the 180 release. If he has anything to hide shouldn’t we as the republic he seeks to lead know what that is and then make a judgement on it?
I definitely agree that Kerry should release his records by signing the DD Form 180. I do wonder what lurks there. I would imagine that its less than complementary. But then its pretty obvious that Kerry is less than complementary.
If Nixon and or Carter were involved, perhaps this can be uncovered by going into the presidential files. Has anyone tried that?
Much speculation could be avoided by simply asking the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and/or the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers for Kerry’s records.
They’re public records, and should be available to anyone who wants to see them.
Kerry became a Massachusetts attorney in 1976, and I know from experience that applications to practice law or take the bar exam specifically ask for detailed information (and documentation) about military discharges.
Has anyone heard that Clinton is the one who changed Kerry’s discharge to Honorable?
I don’t know but this question (among many others) should be answered before we vote.