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BK> Kerry's record was investigated thourghly, and found to be
John Kerry's Puzzling Silver Star Citations
By Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer
FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/24/2004
Introduction
Having sowed the wind by carefully crafting his tour of duty in Vietnam as a
campaign gimmick, John Kerry is now reaping the whirlwind. He has seen
virtually everything about his four months in country challenged with provable
eyewitness accounts backed by sworn affidavits: the "wounds" which never
required hospitalization or lost time, for which he finagled three Purple
Hearts; his Bronze Star with a combat "V" for "heroically" rescuing a special
forces soldier who was about to be pulled from the water by a nearby Swift
boat, the man in danger, perhaps, of drowning but not under hostile fire; his
"gallantry" for back-shooting an enemy soldier, for which he was awarded the
Nation's third-highest decoration, the Silver Star.
Now, on the heels of yet another revelation--that Kerry's DD 214 ("Report of
Transfer or Separation"), displayed on his website, shows his Silver Star
embellished with an unauthorized "V" for valor--which makes it facially false
and at variance with official government records (see our article, John Kerry's
Mysterious Combat "V")--it has come to light that his Silver Star award is
fraught with other peculiarities.
In the United States military, the process of awarding a medal begins with
preparation of a form prescribed by official regulations. The current Navy
form (OPNAV 1650/3, "Personal Award Recommendation"), substantively identical
to the one in use during John Kerry's time in Vietnam thirty years ago,
provides that when an award is recommended, attached to that recommendation is
a "proposed citation." A citation, in essence, is a narrative description of
the "service" that the recipient performed to warrant the award. In other
words, the citation explains why the award was made and in what way it was
earned. (The regulations pertaining to Personal Award Recommendations also
reccomend that combat awards be supported by at least two witnesses.)
Here's where it gets puzzling. Lieutenant John Kerry's award for the Silver
Star has--not one citation, but three--an unheard of number for a single award.
Understandably, as we shall see, only Kerry's most recent citation--nearly two
decades older than the first and signed by a Secretary of the Navy who was
years away from that office when Lieutenant Kerry, now Senator Kerry,
originally obtained the award--appears on his website. (Not one of the three
citations, incidentally, refer to the combat "V" that appears on Kerry's
website's DD 214.)
Citation 1
By now, a key incident for which Kerry obtained the Silver Star is well known:
He shot a fleeing enemy soldier in the back, presumably acting, in the words
of the statute, with "gallantry." We have reproduced in its entirety that
portion of the citation which is significantly different from Citations 2 and
3.
COMMANDER
UNITED STATES NAVAL FORCES
VIETNAM
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star
Medal to
JOHN FORBES KERRY
LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE
UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following:
CITATION
" * * * . . . Patrol Craft Fast 23 and 94 moved upstream to investigate an area
from which gunshots were coming. Arriving at the area, Lieutenant (junior
grade) KERRY's craft received a B-40 rocket close aboard. Once again Lieutenant
(junior grade) KERRY ordered his units to charge the enemy positions and
summoned Patrol Craft Fast 43 to the area to provide additional firepower.
Patrol Craft Fast 94 then beached in the center of the enemy positions and an
enemy soldier sprang up from his position not ten feet from Patrol Craft Fast
94 and fled. Without hesitation Lieutenant (junior grade) KERRY leaped ashore,
pursued the man behind a hootch and killed him, capturing a B-40 rocket
launcher with a round in the chamber. Lieutenant (junior grade) KERRY then led
an assault party and conducted a sweep of the area while the Patrol Craft Fast
continued to provide fire support. After the enemy had been completely routed,
all personnel returned to the Patrol Craft Fast to withdraw from the area." * *
* (Emphasis added).
For the President
/s/ E R Zumwalt
E.R. ZUMWALT, Jr.
Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
Commander U.S. Naval
Forces, Vietnam
Citation 2 (Asterisks refer to eliminated repetitive material)
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star
Medal to
Lieutenant (junior grade) John Forbes KERRY
United States Naval Reserve
for service as set forth in the following:
CITATION
* * * On a request from U.S. Army advisors on shore, Lieutenant (junior grade)
KERRY ordered PCF's 94 and 23 further up river to suppress enemy sniper fire.
After proceeding approximately eight hundred yards, the boats were again taken
under fire from a heavily foliated area and a B-40 rocket exploded close aboard
PCF 94. With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets, he
again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his own boat only ten feet from
the VC rocket position, and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of
the enemy. Upon sweeping the area, an immediate search uncovered an enemy rest
and supply area which was destroyed." * * * (Emphasis added).
For the President,
/s/ John J Hyland
JOHN J. HYLAND
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Commander in Chief,
U.S. Pacific Fleet
Citation 3
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Washington
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the
SILVER STAR MEDAL to
LIEUTENANT (JUNIOR GRADE) JOHN F. KERRY
UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE
For service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
* * * After proceeding approximately eight hundred yards, the boats
were again taken under fire from a heavily foliated area and a B-40 rocket
exploded close aboard PCF 94: with utter disregard for his own safety and the
enemy rockets, he again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only
ten feet from the VC rocket position, and personally led a landing party ashore
in pursuit of the enemy. Upon sweeping the area an immediate search uncovered
an enemy rest and supply area which was destroyed. * * * (Emphasis added).
For the President,
/s/ John Lehman
Secretary of the Navy
All three citations are undated.
Citation alterations
According to Citation 1--apparently prepared soon after the February 28, 1969
episode it describes and laced with the accolades "expertly," "without
hesitation," "devotion to duty," "courage under fire" and "outstanding
leadership"--three PCFs came under fire, returned it, and embarked indigenous
troops onto the shore. Kerry's boat and another then moved upstream, where
"Kerry's craft received a B-40 rocket close aboard" (i.e., it missed). He
beached the boat and "an enemy soldier sprang up from his position . . . and
fled" (i.e., turned and ran). Kerry "pursued the man behind a hootch and killed
him" (i.e., Kerry chased a man running away, lugging a rocket launcher), and
apparently shot him in the back--although we can't know because there was no
witness, let alone the recommended two. (Incidentally, no one else in that
episode was awarded a Silver Star).
Although Citation 2 also is undated, we can still ascertain when it was issued.
Kerry's first citation was for action on February 28, 1969, so Citation 2 had
to be issued some time after that, but probably not immediately. Citation 2
was signed by Admiral John J. Hyland, as Commander in Chief of the Pacific
Fleet, who no longer served in that capacity after December 5, 1970. Thus,
Kerry's second citation had to have been issued some time between February 29,
1969 (following Citation 1) and December 5, 1970 (when Hyland was no longer
CINCPAC). Significantly, Kerry left Vietnam in "early 1969" (his website's
timeline) and was separated from service on March 1, 1970. This means that it
is likely Citation 2 was issued some time in the almost two years after his
departure from Vietnam but before late 1970--when he was back in the United
States.
Describing the February 28, 1969 incident, Citation 2--considerably shorter
than Citation 1, but including the accolades "utter disregard for his own
safety," "daring and courageous" and "extraordinary daring and personal
courage"--presents a very different picture because of a significant omission.
This time, it seems, Kerry "led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy.
Upon sweeping the area, an immediate search uncovered an enemy rest and supply
area which was destroyed." Vanished is the enemy soldier of Citation 1,
springing up from ten feet away, carrying a rocket launcher, turning, running
behind a hut, and being back-shot by Kerry. Indeed, in Citation 2's version,
there were no enemy soldiers jumping out of spider holes. Most important, gone
is any implication that the current presidential candidate shot an unarmed
enemy soldier in the back.
Citation 2 raises two important and intriguing questions. First, why would
Kerry bother to have a second citation issued? The obvious answer is that he
wanted to expunge from the record that he had shot a fleeing enemy soldier in
the back. Another possible explanation, speculative though plausible, is found
in the relative ranks held by Admirals Zumwalt and Hyland at that time.
Zumwalt had "only" three stars, Hyland four. The politically ambitious Kerry,
in a ploy (see below) that he may have repeated later in his career, could well
have sought to upgrade his citation from three stars to four (especially since,
at that time, it was questionable whether a three-star admiral had the
authority to issue a Silver Star).
The other important and intriguing question is how a lieutenant (junior grade),
far down on the totem pole and then separated from service, could have induced
an active duty four-star admiral, not only to reissue a citation for the
Nation's third-highest award, but to rewrite it by sanitizing Kerry's killing
of a fleeing enemy soldier. Unfortunately, Admiral Hyland is dead, so we can't
ask him. But there is someone else we can ask: the senior senator from
Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy. Why Kennedy? Because at the time the sanitized
Citation 2 was issued, Kerry and Kennedy were pals. For example, there is a
photograph of the two taking a stroll together on April 21, 1971, not long
after Citation 2 was issued. The photo's caption reads: "Senator Ted Kennedy
and John Kerry discuss the Supreme Court injunction against Vietnam veterans
sleeping on the Mall and whether the vets ought to risk violating it.
Washington, D.C., April 21, 1971." (The photo is at
www.vietnamwar.com/JohnKerrySilverStar.htm).
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