Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Sun 10/31/2004 View Sat 10/30/2004 View Fri 10/29/2004 View Thu 10/28/2004 View Wed 10/27/2004 View Tue 10/26/2004 View Mon 10/25/2004
1
2004-10-31 Home Front: Politix
Kerry’s Other than Honorable Discharge
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by AzCat 2004-10-31 9:20:59 AM|| || Front Page|| [11129 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Question is, is this rumor true:

The SwiftVets have a person who will publicly back this accusation, a person who was in authority to either restore the discharge (and knew it to be originally OTH for traitorous behavior), or who issued the original one, or who was responsible for the re-issue of the medals that were stripped from Kerry.

If they have such a person, combined with the evidence out there, then it would be very damning:

Kerry would be exposed as a traitor, and somone who "gamed the system" to get the discharge and medals that he wanted, then used those results in his campaign in an effoprt to decieve voters of the true nature of his service.

I hope that if this is true, it comes to light today. Now. And that the SV's (or whomever - but NOT the Bush campaign) run a commercial about it all over the place.
Posted by OldSpook 2004-10-31 11:22:36 AM||   2004-10-31 11:22:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 If it was an OTH, the chances of getting it upgraded were pretty good back then.
Posted by Pappy 2004-10-31 11:44:16 AM||   2004-10-31 11:44:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 too little, too late. Kerry's support is antiBush, not proKerry, and this won't change it. It would, however, be nice to confirm this after the election just to demonstrate the MSM's absolute willful abdication of fairness and independent judgement in not investigating Kerry's record. Drive another nail in their coffin
Posted by Frank G  2004-10-31 11:59:37 AM||   2004-10-31 11:59:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Agree on the MSM Frank but I do disagree on the potential impact. There are a bunch of swing states out there that look like dead heats and if this story were to break, even as late as tomorrow evening, it could swing a few dozen votes here and there and that might well be enough to change the outcome of this election.
Posted by AzCat 2004-10-31 12:42:35 PM||   2004-10-31 12:42:35 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I think Hawaii's large military population would find this interesting, as just one example which could translate into EV's...
Posted by .com 2004-10-31 12:54:54 PM||   2004-10-31 12:54:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I sort of agree with Frank.

If the OTH discharge is true, it should have come out years ago to prevent this turkey from inhabiting the Senate all these years.
Posted by mhw 2004-10-31 12:59:29 PM||   2004-10-31 12:59:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Frank's right, it might help a little but not an election winner.... way too late, even if it's true.

Although if it is true it might be a term killer.
Posted by Shipman 2004-10-31 1:28:40 PM||   2004-10-31 1:28:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 
Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-10-31 1:29:09 PM|| [http://www.smileycentral.com/?lang=en]  2004-10-31 1:29:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 You can't 'strip' a person of service awards they have earned. They can demote you but once you earn an award it's always yours. I would love it if there was evidence that Kerry got a BD or OTHD but I haven't seen or heard anything to convince me of this. And yes I am a Bush supporter and I already voted for him.
Posted by Cyber Sarge  2004-10-31 2:41:15 PM||   2004-10-31 2:41:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 I'm not so certain , Sarge. If a person gets a dishonorable or less than honorable discharge I'm pretty sure honors and medals are revoked. I could be wrong, but that is what I was taught back in the 60's.
Posted by Deacon Blues  2004-10-31 4:00:33 PM||   2004-10-31 4:00:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 I'm not so certain , Sarge. If a person gets a dishonorable or less than honorable discharge I'm pretty sure honors and medals are revoked. I could be wrong, but that is what I was taught back in the 60's.
Posted by Deacon Blues  2004-10-31 4:01:24 PM||   2004-10-31 4:01:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 CS, I think I just read on Beldar Blog (maybe Captains Quarters) that Deacon is correct. That is why Kerry had his discharge redone after Jimmah came into office. Then, when sKerry became a Senator, he got his medals back.
Posted by Brett_the_Quarkian 2004-10-31 4:13:31 PM||   2004-10-31 4:13:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 I am noit 100% sure, more like 99% that once you are awarded a medal they don't take it away from you. Usually the Article 15 paperwork will read that you are reduced to such and such rank and forfietture of pay and allowances. I say article 15 because I don't think they can cover up a Courts martial for this long. I knew of a E-4 that was awarded a Comedation medal one month and then busted for dealing drugs the next. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years hard labor, reduction to E-1, forfieture of all pay/allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. Never mentioned that they took his Comandation Medal away or any other awards. Also knew of a O-4 convicted of assault with intent. Convicted and sentenced but no mention of revoking awards. Both were very guilty. I imagine if the awards were the reason for the DD or OTHD then they would be revoked. Otherwise you get to keep the shiny medal things.
Posted by Cyber Sarge  2004-10-31 4:56:30 PM||   2004-10-31 4:56:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 4 MORE YEARS !!!! 4 MORE YEARS KILLING TERRORISTS !!
Posted by borgboy 2004-10-31 4:58:07 PM||   2004-10-31 4:58:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 sniff, sniff...what's that sniffing sound? Bush snorting coke? No...it's the American public sniffing that unmistakable smell of desperation in the Kerry campaign.
Posted by 2b 2004-10-31 6:22:47 PM||   2004-10-31 6:22:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 oh darn, meant to post that under Heinz Jr calling bush a cokehead. ah.well..joke is lost.
Posted by 2b 2004-10-31 6:24:04 PM||   2004-10-31 6:24:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Actually the regulation says "character of service", meaning there are circumstances that can be grounds for revocation of medals. If the case for OTHD are true, they should not have a bearing on the medals since they were awarded for actions in combat. The OTHD would have been for his meetings in Paris.
Posted by TopMac 2004-10-31 8:17:13 PM||   2004-10-31 8:17:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 Cybersarge, thats the difference bertwen an Article 15 and a discharge. The grade of the discharge can affect medals. Surely you've heard the old saying that one "Aw Sh*t" cancels 100 "Attaboys".
Posted by OldSpook 2004-10-31 10:11:09 PM||   2004-10-31 10:11:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 sKerry has some explaining to do, that's for sure. If he was truly dishonorably discharged, or discharged under other than honorable conditions, he just lost even that small 20+% of the military vote he was hoping to get. Unfortunately, it's too late for a lot of folks, because they've either already voted (just another example why that's a stupid idea), or they had to vote by absentee, and their votes are already in the mail.
CyberSarge - an Article 15 is non-judicial punishment. Got one myself for beating the crap out of another airman back in 1966. It doesn't affect anything, and disappears as soon as you leave that duty station. A court-martial is another matter entirely. The findings of a court martial stay with you forever, even if you're acquitted. That's probably why Kerry has no intention of letting anyone see his Navy records - several truckloads of dirt would come to light. Kerry's ability to show the world an "honorable discharge" is another reason to wish to beat the crap out of a former peanut-brained president. I have more respect for any of the people that refused to go into the service for legitimate reasons than I do for the folks that ran away to Canada, and even they rate several ladder-lengths above John notFonda sKerry.
Posted by Old Patriot  2004-10-31 10:31:44 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm]  2004-10-31 10:31:44 PM|| Front Page Top

00:18 Ulomoper Craising7175
00:24 Chereling Jeling6799
11:00 Joe
14:44 Anonymous
17:03 Sentinel
23:54 A Game 2 Play
23:50 Urako
23:47 TROLL
23:43 Bomb-a-rama
23:36 Pre-Emptive Strikes
23:34 Spine.shank
23:26 Spineshank
23:25 Spineshank
23:24 Spineshank
23:22 Spineshank
23:18 Rafael
22:56 Spineshank
22:55 RWV
22:55 Bomb-a-rama
22:53 OldSpook
22:51 Allah
22:46 Spineshank
22:43 Spineshank
22:42 Spineshank









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com