Kerry's Navy Discharge Questioned

The New York Sun reports that Kerry's discharge is surrounded in mystery:

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.

I'm not sure what to make of the Sun's report and I think the story should be approached with caution.

The blogoshpere has already done a lot of leg work on the story. BeldarBlog has an extremely good post.

PoliPundit, Power Line, Captain's Quaters, and
VodkaPundit have it well covered.

Comments

[Jeff]

The more I see about this guy the more he worries me. I grew up during the war and fully expected to be drafted when I turned 18 (the war ended before that). I remember the violent peace protesters and the traitors who slandered our honorable vets - and how the vets came home without the honor they deserved for their service. Those who trampled upon these men and women who served should be sent to prison, not to the White House.

[jenn]

Kerry hasnt done anything honorable in 20 years.
He is paid to work for the government but has in turn worked against the American people.
I could give a rats ass about what he did in the navy or any other part of vietnam, its what he will do to this country if elected that scares me most.

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