Kerry’s Combat “V”
A lot of people are making serious accusations about John Kerry’s DD-214 showing that one of his awards is a Silver Star with Combat “V”, since the Navy doesn’t award the “V” with the Silver Star – ever. Captain’s Quarters blog notes, for example, that “John Lehman denies ever signing the modified citation Kerry’s site has prominently displayed for months, and states categorically that he didn’t write the additional language describing the engagement.” FrontPageMag has two pretty comprehensive pieces on it. Much glee has been take in in a quote by Kerry over the suicide of Admiral Mike Boorda, in 1996. Then Chief of Naval Operations, his wearing of two small Combat “V” clips on medals to which he was not entitled was questioned, and shortly before a planned news conference he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. (From NRO):
What did John Kerry have to say at the time about the matter? Let us consult the Boston Herald of May 18, 1996:
Veterans said yesterday that although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing a “V” combat pin, they couldn’t see how this could drive Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda to suicide.
“Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood,” said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam.
Citing uncertainty of whether Boorda deliberately wore the pins improperly, Kerry added: “If he made a mistake, in my judgment it wasn’t worth his life, so I’m very sad about it.”
And let us consult the Boston Globe for the same day:
“The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment,” said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a “V” pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.
“In a sense, there’s nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought,” Kerry said.
“If you wind up being less than what you’re pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you.”
Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: “When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily.”
My take on the matter? I’m more interested in why there are three different versions of the award (none of which mention a Combat “V”) than what appears to me to be a typo that Kerry didn’t bother to correct. And Lehman? Does he remember everything he signed? Doubtful.
But I’d like to know why Kerry isn’t being asked about this by the press.