It is a federal crime to alter documents, and it is against the UMCJ.
Then I found this at CaptainsQuarterblog... .a poster there has culled out this ..
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.)
(skip ahead)
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.
Who in the Kerry campaign fabricated the combat "V" when they placed the citation on his web site.....none of the three Silver Star citations mention the combat "v"..