POLITICS: Navy Weighs in on Kerry Medals Debate, page 1

posted on Sep, 18 2004 @ 12:38 PM

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Vice Adm. R.A. Route, the Navy inspector general, weighed in Friday on the debate over Sen. John Kerry's Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. An internal Navy memo concluded procedures were followed properly in the approval of all medals. The Navy review was conducted at the request of Judical Watch, a public interest group, after some challenged Kerry's version of circumstances that led to the awards. Navy officials cite no evidence to continue any "full scale probe."

Navy: Kerry Medals Approved Properly (cnn.com)

"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."

Some veterans have challenged Kerry's version of the circumstances surrounding the incident that led to his Silver Star award for battlefield heroism, as well as his three Purple Heart medals.

The Silver Star was awarded for his actions in pursuit of enemy forces while commander of swift boat unit PCF-94 in Vietnam in February 1969.

Judicial Watch also asked the Navy inspector general to investigate Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam and left active duty.

The group's president, Tom Fitton, called Route's review a "whitewash" and said Judicial Watch would "appeal as appropriate."

"The Navy IG obviously is afraid of the political ramifications of a thorough investigation into a presidential candidate's service record," Fitton said in a statement.

Route concluded that there was no justification for looking further into the decisions to award the medals or the anti-war activities.

"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."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Case closed on Kerry's Vietnam record? At least as far as the US Navy is concerned.

Not to be outdone, more Bush Guard records were released Friday in an effort to close the issue of Bush's Vietnam era service, despite the White House having claimed on several previous occasions that no more records exist. Additional records though have repeatedly been produced at similar opportune moments in the campaign.

Hopefully this week's Navy findings supporting Kerry and additional Bush records (which include a letter from his father) signal a fundamental shift in a highly criticized Presidential campaign where the 30 year old military records of both candidates have dominated the debate.

As an increasing number of critics express disdain for the continued rehashing of Vietnam and "who was where when" debate, another war, the current one in Iraq, is finally making campaign news.

Related News Sources:
Kerry: Bush "Living in a fantasy world" on Iraq (cnn.com)

Related ATSNN Articles:
Bush Warns of Worsening Violence in Iraq

GradyPhilpott

posted on Sep, 18 2004 @ 01:05 PM

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The debate over veteran status and medals should by all means be put to rest, which is not to say that the events of 30-35 years ago do not have some relevance to the present. Of course the Navy is not going to say that there were any procedural errors in the processing of Kerry's medal, because there probably were none. Any dispute, would not be procedural, but rather concerning the conditions under which the medals were earned. The official record, no matter how flawed, will win out in the long run.

The whole CBS flap about the documents were faked, but accurate is the most rediculous thing I've heard since the commercial actor declared, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."

[edit on 04/9/18 by GradyPhilpott]

RANT

posted on Sep, 18 2004 @ 01:22 PM

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Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
The whole CBS flap about the documents were faked, but accurate is the most rediculous thing I've heard since the commercial actor declared, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."

And I support that analogy 100%.

Of course, tempers and doubts will remain on both sides of the issue, but they're practically unresolvable at this point 30 years later as the Inspector General indicates in the Kerry case. The same courtesy applies to Bush.

If either candidate's background is a deal breaker for you, you're "decided" at this point and there's little more to say. Conversely, if the Vietnam debates haven't affected your vote yet, they likely won't.

I hope we're in the home stretch now of getting back into a debate over tomorrow.

[edit on 18-9-2004 by RANT]