SwiftVets.com

[FlyLow]

The United States Navy has launched an official investigation into John Kerry's Vietnam War decorations, saying, "it's the responsibility of all personnel to correct errors in official records."

In a launching a formal probe, the Navy was responding to a referral from the Pentagon's inspector general's office - based on a complaint filed by the Washington-based legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, Fox News reported Friday. In a letter to Judicial Watch, the inspector general's office said: "Concerning our allegations of violations of Uniform Code of Military Justice, we have the responsibility to . . . 'report suspected or alleged violations.' We have informed the secretary of the Navy of the allegations."

For the rest of the story: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/3/110242.shtml
_________________
EX-Helicopter driver & accomplished liar.
Wars fought, revolutions started, uprisings quelled, revivals organized,
assassinations plotted, governments overthrown, lead gospel singing,
tigers tamed, bars emptied, virgins converted, orgies organized.

[FlyLow]

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who has challenged the authenticity of his signature on one of Kerry's war decorations, told Fox that Navy records needed to be "thoroughly researched and the facts established."

Most questions about Kerry's combat record appear to be based on processing errors, Navy sources told the news network.

However, even if the errors were based on inadvertent mistakes, any corrections would force the top Democrat to acknowledge that citations touting his heroism that have been posted to his Web site for months were false - a development that could have devastating political consequences.

"Even if it was the Navy's fault," one source following the story told NewsMax, "surely Sen. Kerry knew the citations were wrong. Why did it take a formal Navy probe for him to correct records he had to know were fraudulent?"

Kerry received five medals during his four months in combat in Vietnam, including a Silver Star with a "Combat V" designation. A Navy source confirmed last week, however, that in the entire history of the Navy, no Silver Star has ever been awarded with "Combat V."

Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan suggested that the Navy probe was a waste of time and money.

"The facts are clear, the Navy awarded John Kerry the Silver Star, a Bronze Star with a Combat V and three Purple Hearts. It is waste of taxpayer's dollars and the Pentagon's time, especially during wartime, to investigate a 35-year-old Navy clerical error," Meehan said in statement.

In 1996, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jeremy Boorda committed suicide after he was accused of wearing medals he hadn't earned.

At the time, Kerry told the Boston Herald that the error was "sufficient to question his leadership position."

"If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value, self-esteem and your sense of how others view you," Kerry told the Boston Globe.
_________________
EX-Helicopter driver & accomplished liar.
Wars fought, revolutions started, uprisings quelled, revivals organized,
assassinations plotted, governments overthrown, lead gospel singing,
tigers tamed, bars emptied, virgins converted, orgies organized.

[Wing Wiper]

If Kerry is forced to remove the "V" device from his Silver Star, it will damage him. Not just damage his credability and campaign, it will damage his ego. He can't take that kind of criticism, he'll really crack, I think. Watch.

[kmf]

I don't think I am the only one to say this, but I hope they strip him of every single decoration that he does not honestly rate.

[Indianbaboon]

i doubt the navy will even look at the PHs

even tho precedent and tradition is on the side of reopening everything and taking back medals that aren't deserved, it'd be just way too controversial a move to pull during an election.

the silver star, the bronze star, and the 19 amendments, prolly fair game.

[the0point]

Anyone catch the pre-emptive spin in Meehan's statement?...clerical error. This means they are already ADMITTING to the descrepancy. Originally they denied any problems. Now it's a clerical error. The article was right. If Kerry knew the citations had errors and did not correct them this is highly damaging. I see another Swift Boat ad....John Kerry KNEW his medal citations were incorrect, and he used them to further his career and ego... Fade out...end of Kerry campaign...

[NortonPete]

Here's an account of what it takes currently to get a Silver Star.

AP

An 18-Year-Old Army Private Earns Silver Star for Fighting off Rebel Ambush

By Jim Krane Associated Press Writer
Published: Sep 3, 2004



BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An 18-year-old private earned the first Silver Star medal awarded to a soldier from the 1st Cavalry Division serving in Iraq, after he helped fight off a deadly guerrilla ambush in May that killed two of his companions and wounded five.

Pfc. Christopher Fernandez, of Tucson, Ariz. received the Silver Star from the division's commander, Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, on Aug. 13. The Silver Star, the military's third-highest combat medal, is given for uncommon valor in combat.

Fernandez, a Humvee machine gunner, is credited with holding a band of insurgents at bay while his companiols gathered wounded and dead soldiers from a vehicle disabled by a roadside bombing. The ambush took place May 5 in west Baghdad.

One soldier that carried the dead and wounded to safety, 33-year-old Sgt. Timothy Buttz of Bloomington, Minn., was decorated with the Army's Bronze Star medal, with a special commendation for valor.

"After the (bomb) went off, I noticed their Humvee was taking fire, that's when I started shooting back," said Fernandez, a quiet, lanky man who wears glasses.

Fernandez ran out of ammunition for his M-249 machine gun. He sprinted to the disabled Humvee and grabbed a damaged M-240 heavy machine gun and dashed back to his position to continue firing. The M-240's protective hand guards had been blown off and Fernandez said he burned his hands in about 10 minutes of sustained shooting.

"I knew I had to do something. I could've gotten myself killed to do it," said Fernandez, interviewed at 1st Cavalry headquarters near Baghdad International Airport.

The two soldiers who died in the attack were 19-year-old Pfc. Bradley Kritzer, of Irvona, Penn.; and 18-year-old Spc. James Marshall, of Tulsa, Okla. Buttz said the two were unconscious in the back of the disabled Humvee, along with two of the wounded soldiers.

"I moved them from their Humvee to mine," Buttz said.

Buttz also destroyed the vehicle's sensitive radios before abandoning the damaged Humvee and driving back to their base. Kritzer and Marshall died en route, he said.

Some 32,000 soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division are currently serving in Baghdad. Since March 2003, 124 Silver Stars and 399 Bronze Stars for valor have been awarded in the Iraq conflict, according to Pentagon figures.