Navy Says Kerry's Service Awards OK'd

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Navy Says Kerry's Service Awards OK'd
19
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 3:56pm
Here's the orginial link: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040917_1894.html

WASHINGTON Sept. 17, 2004 — The Navy's chief investigator concluded Friday that procedures were followed properly in the approval of Sen. John Kerry's Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals, according to an internal Navy memo.

Vice Adm. R.A. Route, the Navy inspector general, conducted the review of Kerry's Vietnam-ear military service awards at the request of Judicial Watch, a public interest group. The group has also asked for the release of additional records documenting the Democratic presidential candidate's military service.

Judicial Watch had requested in August that the Navy open an investigation of the matter, but Route said in an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press that he saw no reason for a full-scale probe.

"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.

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."

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Mon, 09-20-2004 - 10:53am
<>

You people just wont give up for anything will you. The military investigated and found these awards were properly given. They are not going to say they have to be warented just because papers are filed properly. Do you know what is involved in a military investigation? Cause some how I don't think looking at papers and saying "yep these were filed properly, they must be true" constitutes an investigation. Yet that's exactly what your statement implies.

As for what Kerry did when he returned, I have no problem with that. He faught against something he did not agree with. I watched alot about this and do not see that he did anything illegal, he merely spoke up, which is an American freedom. I do understand that what he said was very upsetting and angering to many Vets, but it was a big part of the turning point in our military. He could have said nothing or candy coated the situation, but that wont get action. Yes some of the things he said were used in POW propiganda, but that was only after cuting out many portions of the speech to make it sound the way the Vietnamese wanted. Had he never said these things the Vietnamese would have used any number of other forms of Propiganda, that's how they work.

Venus

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
Mon, 09-20-2004 - 11:00am
<>

Seems the Vietnamese and the Republicans have much in common.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Mon, 09-20-2004 - 11:05am
<>

Kerry did not lie to Congress. First off they (congress)requested he speak about this issue, second when he spoke he began by saying that he was speaking on behalf of soldiers who testified a couple months prior. Later when asked if he was admitting that he was involved he said that because he was involved in free fire zones, which are against the Ganeva convention, then yes he was also guilty. You can try to say he should be prosecuted because of this confession, but then the military would have to prosecute every soldier that was involved in these free fire zones. They aren't going to do that now are they? That would just be shooting themselves in the foot.

Venus

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
And also remember there were a lot of other vets shown on the anti-war march with Kerry but Kerry was one of the main speakers. They showed video footage on a Kerry story I saw on MSNBC once when they were featuring them (the next night they did Bush). XOXO.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Treason is always relevant. OJ couldn't convince a criminal jury of his guilt, yet was convicted by a civil jury. Kerry couldn't convince a 70's era court of his treason, yet he's managed to convince quite a few 21st century public opinion court members.

It's rightly cost him his shot at the presidency.

Attacks on Bush to supposedly support Kerry are not working.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Sure, treason is always relevant. But the military didn't consider it treason.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-1999
Tue, 09-21-2004 - 12:15am
It's "treason" only to the lunatic fringe.

dablacksox


Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Tue, 09-21-2004 - 10:38am
You are right.

The attacks that the Kerry camp have launched against Bush have come back to haunt them, and hurt Kerry a little in the process.

McAullife should learn a lesson, and perhaps shut his mouth because every time he opens it, Kerry falls in the polls. I know......Maybe it is a conspiracy with the Clintons behind it, since McAullife is their man, and they really dont want Kerry to win, because then Hillary can't run until at least 2012. (sorry....got carried away there)

I think the one lesson that MIGHT be learned from this campaign, if the candidates and the parties are paying attention is that people are starting to get really sick of the negative campaigning and would much rather have honest talk about real issues. It seems the more negative a campaign gets, the more it suffers in the polls...at least in this election.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Tue, 09-21-2004 - 10:39am
I think that if the public opinion about Vietnam were slightly different, then they may have pursued something.... who knows.....it was a borderline call on the treason thing anyway....Kerry danced on that line like a tightrope walker.

Pages