Would any of this pardon information have any bearing at all on his revised medal citations? For example, would he have been required to have an honorable discharge or a clean record before making the request?
The reason I'm asking is that he could have done it much sooner, but he didn't.
Or perhaps he did it as soon as he got to the Senate and it is only a time issue.
In a court-martial, defendants that are found guilty can be stripped of rank and medals. It is a possibilty in this case (if Kerry was court-martialed), so your question is a good one. It also explains why Kerry was back after his Silver Star during the Reagan Administration.
There are too many questions, and only Kerry knows the truth until the records are made public.