September 18, 2004

Kerry Medals 'properly approved' per navy
Posted by McQ

This should put to rest some of the debate about Kerry's medals, at least whether they were "properly approved". Per the Navy Inspector General:

"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed," Route wrote in the memo sent Friday to Navy Secretary Gordon England.

"In particular, the senior officers who awarded the medals were properly delegated authority to do so. In addition, we found that they correctly followed the procedures in place at the time for approving these awards."

What this means is they were properly submitted and those that needed to sign off on them did and those that awarded the medals had the authority to do so.

What it doesn't do is answer whether the events or "wounds" which lead to the medals warranted the medal or not. It also doesn't identify, in the case of the first Purple Heart, who signed off on the award (since his first commander under whom the "wound" occurred says he refused to do so).

But in terms of the legitimacy of the awards, the Navy is saying they were legitmately awarded and properly approved. That is all it is saying.

"Conducting any additional review regarding events that took place over 30 years ago would not be productive," he wrote. "The passage of time would make reconstruction of the facts and circumstances unreliable, and would not allow the information gathered to be considered in the context of the time in which the events took place.

"Our review also considered the fact that Senator Kerry's post-active duty activities were public and that military and civilian officials were aware of his actions at the time. For these reasons, I have determined that Senator Kerry's awards were properly approved and will take no further action in this matter."

So endeth this part of the medal's saga.

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Comments

Why should we trust
a behind-closed-doors/internal
USN probe of the Kerry medals flap
anymore than we would
the internal CBS probe of RAthERGATE!?

Kerry must sign the 180 form and release
ALL of his military records
so we can judge for ourselves.

DITTO his medical records,
and his billionaire wife's taxes.

Posted by: dan at September 18, 2004 10:06 AM

You should trust this one because it simply says the medals were technically correct, i.e. those who were authorized to submit the awards did, those who were supposed to sign them did and the awards, in a technical sense, are legitimate.

As I said, that doesn't mean they were warranted. That's an entirely different argument.

Additionally this in no way addresses the issue of Kerry signing a SF 180.

Posted by: McQ at September 18, 2004 10:27 AM

So why were there 3 different citations for Kerry's silver star?

Posted by: qoolalex at September 18, 2004 12:23 PM

I think that (the three citations) is outside the scope of the investigation. Per the article, the investigation had to do with whether the medals had been properly authorized.

Posted by: McQ at September 18, 2004 12:36 PM

I get the feeling this investigation wasn't concluded, but rather cut off abruptly. Just my $.02 though.

Posted by: Chris at September 18, 2004 12:53 PM

the USN Sec who signed the memo
is a poltical appointee of Bush.

Maybe they just want to avoid any charge of using the USN for political purposes?

This is but another reason why ALL the Kerry USN stuff MUST be released so that WE the PEOPLE can decide for ourselves.

Posted by: dan at September 18, 2004 01:14 PM

The format of Silver Star citations has changed over time, just as the format of other official documents has.

If you were issued your Social Security card twenty years ago, and due to the loss or age (deterioration) of that document you now need a replacement copy, you will not get one that looks the same as the original; you will get one in the current format.

Likewise if you need to replace your driver's license before it's due for renewal, but the format has changed since the last renewal.

If Kerry had simply asked, twice over the years, for a new copy of his Silver Star citation, we would now see three copies in the files — the original, plus the two newer-format reissues.

These are not claiming that three separate awards were made; these are stating, on three separate occasions, that the one award was made on the original date.   Each time, the latest format was used.   This accounts for the changed wording.

Posted by: Raven at September 19, 2004 01:42 AM

Another example:   I have had several occasions over the years to get copies of my birth certificate.

The first time, it was a simple photocopy of the original file document, with a notary seal impression.

The second time, the same, but printed on fancy "award"-type paper with colored scrollwork border.

The third was not a photocopy, but a laser-printed computer printout from a file — with a superfluous apostrophe added in the middle of my mother's maiden name, which I presume was a typo during data entry in the course of a system conversion.   I had to write back and get it corrected.

Perhaps by present standards this proves that I was never born.

Posted by: Raven at September 19, 2004 01:50 AM

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Posted by: igor at October 2, 2004 11:46 AM