Kerry - Bad Conduct Discharge, 1970, Maybe, 1971?

It is indeed unfortunate that a man who would be President so distrusts the American public and his own background that he hides material information in his military records in the hope of hornswoggling the electorate, of tricking us into believing he is one thing when, in fact, he may be another.

Kerry is asking American voters to assess his fitness to serve as CinC based on his brief record in-country. But, he refuses to release his total military record, about 12 years, so that we can judge the totality for ourselves. It is not that he is asking us to weigh the pieces of his record differently, he is saying, “You can’t see it, you have no right to see, you have to take my word!” Always remember that Benedict Arnold had a wonderful combat record and reputation as a patriot until he turned traitor and tried to betray the cause by turning West Point over to the British enemy.

In an earlier posting, I suggested that Kerry had a major blemish on his military record and had applied for and been granted a pardon under President Jimmy Carter’s January 21,1977, Proclamation 4483 which granted “... a full, complete and unconditional pardon to: (1) all persons who may have committed any offense between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder; and (2) all persons heretofore convicted, irrespective of the date of conviction, of any offense committed between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, restoring to them full political, civil and other rights.”

And that, further, the Office of the Pardon Attorney, United States Department of Justice, as a matter of public record, might be able to prove or disprove this thesis. This hypothesis remains open.

Note again, that Kerry’s refusal to be honest with America, his refusal to trust the judgment of Americans to evaluate his total military record and draw our own conclusions, forces us to guess what is in his past, a stain so terrible that he chooses to lie to America rather than reveal the truth. And, what he hides and why, weighs in determining today if he is fit to be President or fit to be Senator.

Maybe Kerry wasn’t actually court martialed. There is another possibility, a variant. It is that Kerry was issued a bad conduct discharge, was booted out of the USNR and was unable to reverse the BCD until Carter took over in January, 1977. Kerry has remorselessly bombarded us with repetitions of his 4.5 months of Viet Namese heroism as proof that he is fit to be CinC. Even former President Clinton, from what might have been his death bed, is said to have warned Kerry to move on, presumably, before Kerry is forced to tell the truth.

A subset of the bad conduct discharge would be a bad “spin” code on an honorable discharge. It, too, would be a blemish that would have to be kept hidden. A Google search on “bad paper discharge” and “special program number” suggest a couple of possibilities about why Kerry is lying while talking only about his time in-country.

The Attorney General of the State of Illinois posts, “Defending Your Rights, Veterans Rights: The Legal Rights of Illinois Veterans” (http://www.ag.state.il.us/rights/vetsrights/ch01.html) that is especially informative. According to this site, there are basically two types of discharge, first, “other than dishonorable,” I.e., “Honorable Discharge, General Discharge (under honorable conditions), Hardship Discharge and Medical Discharge “ and, second, "Bad Paper" discharges i.e., Dishonorable, Bad Conduct, Undesirable, and "other than honorable".

According to another site (http://www.socialistworker.org/2003 1/437/437_05_LaborAgainstWar.shtml), “In the Vietnam era alone, 375,000 men and women received a variety of discharges, all coded less than honorable. There was no hearing, no trial, no review. They were just given this bad paper and turned loose on the street.”

Even those separated under “other than dishonorable” conditions could carry a bad mark. At some point, perhaps as early as 1953, the Department of Defense began to code the DD 214 of a terminating serviceman with a number that was designed to let the military recruiting officer handling the individual’s request to re-up, to immediately be able to characterize his past tour of duty.

There are some surprisingly rich sites that explain the intricacies of a DD 214 . One such site is: "http://www.dallassecurity.com/Published_Articles/Proof_of_Military_Service/proof_of_military_service.html." It describes the Special Program Number (SPN) or “spin” number used on DD 214s that could brand the vet for life.

One source (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt comments.cgi?entry_id=3280) claims “ but there was no official ‘recall’ or notice to vets, [but it is] estimated about 200,000 vets had honorable discharges with bad spin numbers, and who did not know it.” My analysis did not determine whether this 200,000 was in addition to the 375,000 veterans mentioned above or inclusive.

Perhaps, the most extraordinary finding in this brief research project was in a site that is a dictionary of military slang and terms from the Viet Nam era, http://www.twobittraining.com/CAP/glossary.htm. That site defines “bad conduct discharge” as follows, “ Also known as a BCD, "bad paper" or a Boston College Degree. This is what the Marine Corps did to guys convicted at court martials for mid-level felonies like theft, fraud, drug abuse and assault. It's one step below a dishonorable discharge. Boston College is, of course, where Kerry went to law school, 1973 -76 and from which he got a Boston College diploma.

We know Kerry was issued a DD 214 in March 1970 even though his military obligation wasn’t supposed to end until March, 1972, a total of about 6 years (there is an issue of whether his agreed upon total obligation was 6 or 6.5 years). It may be they “turned him loose.” We also know that Kerry received a discharge in March, 1978 but have not seen any associated DD 214.

Here’s my hypothesis. Kerry did not turn bad without reason. Just as Benedict Arnold turned bad when he did not receive the recognition he felt he deserved, so to, I believe, did Kerry respond to some slight, real or imagined by the Navy. His true record will show, I believe, some action/inaction by the Navy (passed over for promotion/assignment?), then his request to be released to run for Congress, the 3/70 DD 214 and transfer to the inactive reserve, and then, in 1970, 1971 or 1972, a bad conduct discharge (or “Big Chicken Dinner” as one respondent described it). Maybe, it was a bad “spin” number, but then that would not explain the seemingly strange dates and 12 year period of military service.

There would also be a DD 214 associated with a bad conduct discharge, one we have not yet seen. Note that Nixon was in the White House and he and his staff might not have appreciated Kerry’s anti-war efforts. The ultra liberal media would have us believe that Nixon could be vindictive. This scenario might also suggest that, since Kerry had been discharged, he was no longer an officer in the US Naval Reserve when he went to Paris to collaborate with representatives of the Viet Cong. It may still have been treason in the broad sense, but not in the technical sense because he may not have held a military commission.

Whether Kerry’s BCD was covered by Carter’s blanket pardon or not, Kerry’s pull with Kennedy and the democrat administration that took office in January, 1977 ought to have been enough to get him pardoned under some catch-all provision. There should be records. If my thesis is correct, Kerry’s military file should also include a completed Form DD 149, “Application for Correction of Military Record Under the Provisions of Title 10, U. S. Code, Section 1552” and Form DD 293, “Application for the Review of Discharge or Dismissal From the Armed Forces of the United States.” The submission of Form DD 293 requires, as a precondition, that applicants “obtain copies their military personnel records by submitting a Standard Form (SF) 180, Request Pertaining to Military Records...” Note that these specific forms found on today’s internet were not the same versions that would have been used in the period 1970 through 1978.

Thus, if the above be correct, we can hypothesize some of the documents that would have to be in Kerry’s official military record (and in his own personal files) but continue to be hidden from the eyes of objective observers, and their approximate dates. There would be a bad conduct discharge letter (1970-71) and related DD 214 (and, perhaps, some documents related to the termination process, but no Certificate of Honorable Discharge), a DD 293 (1977), a SF-180 (prior to the date of the DD 293), a DD 149 (maybe, 1977) and a transmittal letter responding to the SF-180 and correspondence related to the resolution of the DD 149 and 293 applications. There would have to be a DD 214 associated with the Navy letter of Feb 18 1978 honorably discharging Kerry from the Navy and a copy of the Honorable Discharge Certificate, mentioned in the Navy letter but not included on Kerry’s site. There should also be a request from Kerry for the specific documents (and only those documents) transmitted Navy National Personnel Records Center letter of 24 May 1986. There also has to be a form/request to which the Correction to DD Form 214 dated 3/12/2001 (authorizing, in part, 4 bronze stars on Kerry’s Viet Nam Service Medal) was issued as a response.

It is a crying shame and a disgrace that a man who would be President and has based a portion of his claim of qualification on his military service, refuses to allow American voters to judge that service in toto. His deception and lack of candor forces us to guess what might be in that record, a terrible stain that makes in safer for him to risk the accusations of mendacity rather than the certain damage of honesty. Sure, he could have been a spy in Paris, informing on the Viet Cong or on all his friends in the VVAW and the other anti-war folks he dealt with. But, even proof of that would give us insights into the character of the man who would be President. Kerry has the opportunity to confirm to us his bravery, service to nation and integrity. When he fails to take that opportunity, he proves himself to be a worthless (no offense, Teresa) liar. Question his patriotism? Hell, yes!! Benedict Arnold was a heroic patriot until he turned bad and became a traitor.

I am a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong. If Kerry didn’t receive a bad conduct discharge from the Navy, all he has to do is file an SF-180 and make the package available to trustworthy, honest evaluators for publication to and review by all concerned American voters. Then, a list of simple questions and his direct responses. If Kerry’s record proves he wasn’t cashiered, I’ll admit I was wrong and apologize. But, if he refuses, if his record won’t be available for review by all America, if he is as unfit today as the Navy found him to be 30 some years ago, I urge him to step down immediately and resign from both the national ticket and the Senate seat he sometime fills.

While interesting, your hypothesis is entirely groundless and counterproductive. Kerry's fitness reports are available and are, run-of-the-mill sterling with respect to how the Navy was generally rating all of its officers with the exception of the pure dirtbags at the time! Go after Kerry on his after-the-Navy exploits and record of the past two decades. His Vietnam service is a sure loser for us because, (with excepted due respect to the SBVFT) according to his Navy rating superiors, he did his job and did it well!

I suggested that Kerry had a major blemish on his military record and had applied for and been granted a pardon under President Jimmy Carter’s January 21,1977, Proclamation

This pardon is for Selective Service Act violations (the draft). Since Kerry enlisted, Carter's pardon doesn't apply to Kerry.

I saw another post on freerepublic which discussed another pardon Carter issued covering discharges.

Maybe Kerry wasn’t actually court martialed. There is another possibility, a variant. It is that Kerry was issued a bad conduct discharge

I think BCDs were issued only after a court-martial, but I might be wrong. I don't remember whether a General Discharge was only issued after a court-martial. If someone was court-martialed, I believe that he could be discharged with a General, Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharge.

A subset of the bad conduct discharge would be a bad “spin” code on an honorable discharge.

I think spin codes stopped being put on DD214s in the mid-1970s. If you had a DD214 with a spin code, you could apply for it to be removed and your DD214 reissued without it. IIRC, getting the spin code removed was automatically granted. Spin codes went on all Honorable Discharges, so they weren't a subset of BCDs.

We know Kerry was issued a DD 214 in March 1970 even though his military obligation wasn’t supposed to end until March, 1972, a total of about 6 years

Vets from that era have posted on freerepublic (or swiftvets.com forums, I don't recall) that you got a DD214 when you were separated from active staus to go into inactive status. A DD214 is a separation document, not always a discharge document. Discharge is when you've completed all your obligations, including reserve duty. You might get a DD214 whenever your status changed (active duty --> active reserves --> inactive reserves --> full satisfaction of all obligations).

If Kerry had a less-than-honorable discharge and wanted it upgraded, he would have had to apply to the Board for Correction of Naval Records. I did some work for vets getting discharges upgraded in the mid-1970s, but not Navy vets. The BCNR has a site, but info there might be very different from what was current in the 1970s.

I agree that the article here verges on idiotic for the reasons you listed: it's slanderous, dumb and counterproductive.

Just an example of stupid and easily refutable statements:

We know Kerry was issued a DD 214 in March 1970 even though his military obligation wasn’t supposed to end until March, 1972, a total of about 6 years (there is an issue of whether his agreed upon total obligation was 6 or 6.5 years). It may be they “turned him loose.” We also know that Kerry received a discharge in March, 1978 but have not seen any associated DD 214.

A DD-214 is issued whenever a service member significantly changes status. Hence, when Kerry finished OCS, he received a DD-214 releasing him from his enlisted service to accept a commission. When he left active duty, he received another DD-214, and when he completed his service obligation altogether, he would have received yet another DD-214.

Somewhere in my own files I have three similar DD-214s: when I was released from the enlisted reserve to accept a reserve commission, when I completed my two years on active duty, and when I completed my entire service obligation. What's so hard for people to understand about multiple DD-214s?

Kerry would not be eligible for a pardon under Proclamation 4483--any offenses committed by Kerry were against the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not the Military Selective Service Act (which only concerned itself with conscripted induction into the armed forces; once the recruit swore the oath, he was under the UCMJ).

Also, a BCD or dishnorable discharge is the result of a court-martial sentence, and cannot be imposed by a commander in the absence of a court-martial conviction. It is evidence of a felony conviction. There would be recollection of such an event by Kerry's peers and subordinates.

There's plenty of reason to despise Kerry; this one's not gonna hunt.

A couple of points on your theory. First, if Kerry had been court-martialed, it would have come from charges preferred by his commanding officer. Likewise, a BCD would have had to be processed through his CO. If that happened, I would think his CO would have stepped up to speak of this.

I simply cannot fathom an officer being issued a BCD for anything but the most serious of offenses. I saw nothing in your post that referenced any evidence of even a possibility of a BCD. Also, at least back in those days, hardship and medical were not separate discharges, but were either honorable or general under medical or hardship conditions.

Nevertheless, I believe that there are likely serious issues to address in Kerry's unreleased records, which may possibly be unfavorable performance reviews, letters of reprimand, etc. I would like to see those records, but will refrain from making any unsubstantiated assumptions until then.

Kerry gave an anti war speech at his graduation in 1966. During an interview, I believe while protesting in the Mall, he said he had been to Viet Nam in '68 for a stop-over (Da Nang). He told of the horrors of seeing dead Viet Cong all over, along with Vietnamese citizens. He said then, that he realized we were occupiers. Remember, this was 1968. He said in '71, "I wanted to go back and see what was going on but I didn't really want to get involved in the war, " so he volunteered for Swift Boat duty because they were used just for patrol. Two weeks prior, the policy was changed and he became an overnight hero.

3. Counterproductive. There are plenty of things to knock Kerry for that can be documented. Wasting time and bandwidth on Kerry was court martialed/ Kerry was got a bad conduct discharge fantasies doesn't just use up resources better put to good uses, it gives Kerry's supporters in the MSM the chance to dismiss ALL charges against Kerry as unfounded, because some people are making clearly unfounded charges.

Does your line of thinking also apply to the Bush was AWOL charges? Because it sure doesn't seem to apply for the MSM. Bush has released all his records, and still there is the BIG CONSPIRACY.

Lets compare track records of just one thing. Both major candidates for POTUS both served in the military during the same era, for comparible periods of time. Has either one released their military records? If so WHICH ONE? That is the man who HAS PROVED his forthrightness to the country.

As POTUS one of the most important qualities to have is trust. Some people will be partisan no matter what the proof. These are shameful people not worthy of this country. But who has proved his trust worthiness by releasing his records, while another hides behind his.

You are correct that there are many other issues to go after Kerry. But none of them are as important. KERRY IS THE ONE who has made an issue of his service. Kerry is the one who conspired with the VC. Kerry is the one who testified to the Senate, of the memories of Cambodia SEARED, SEARED into his memory. Either evrything he talks about is real, and happened, for which he is a hero. Or he is a little man trying to prop himself up as larger than life because he has a low self esteem. THAT IS NOT THE TYPE OF MAN WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MILITARY, ECONOMY, AND INFLUENTIAL COUNTRY OF THE WORLD.

Make no mistake. This is not a small matter. In the big picture, if he IS NOT what he claims to be, then this is the MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE. It affects our national security, and our national sovereignty. Economics and domestic and foreign issues are small potatoes to this one issue. In fact they all hinge on national security and sovereignty.

Rant off

The March 1970, actually 03 Jan 70 effective date, is the release from active duty. You won't see a DD 214 from the transfer from inactive reserve to standby reserve. That's a mere administrative transfer within the reserve component. Officer really aren't "discharged", because they never "enlisted". Also no DD-214 upon release from the Standby reserve. There should be something, which I haven't seen, indicating resignation of his commission. They don't just "discharge" you, you have to resign your commission.

Total nonsense based on nothing and filled with inaccurate information. This helps no one.

Wrong. You receive a DD 214 when released from active duty.

You are making something up out of whole cloth. Kerry was transferred into the Inactive Standby Reserves on July 1, 1972. The Navy convenes boards to decide who should be retained in the Standby Reserves and who to let go with an honorable discharge. I know from personal experience. I resigned my commission and was released from active duty in 1972. I received my honorable discharge in 1978 dated Feb 16, the same date as Kerry's.

I agree Kerry should authorize release his service records, but not for the reasons cited by you.

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