Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief (John Lehman)

Sun Times ^ | August 28, 2004 | Thomas Lipscomb

[Grampa Dave]

Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

August 28, 2004

BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland, which themselves differ. The new material added in the Lehman citation reads in part: "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (jg) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself...."

Asked how the citation could have been executed over his signature without his knowledge, Lehman said: "I have no idea. I can only imagine they were signed by an autopen." The autopen is a device often used in the routine execution of executive documents in government.

Kerry senior adviser Michael Meehan could not be reached for comment on Kerry's records.

Thomas Lipscomb is chairman of the Center for the Digital Future in New York

[LuckyHat]

I'M JOHN KERRY, AND I'M REPORTING FOR A LONG OVERDUE BUTT-KICKING.

(go easy on my best buddy Teddy, he was drunk and never knows what he is doing anyway)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

1 posted on 08/28/2004 7:30:49 AM PDT by Grampa Dave

317 posted on 08/28/2004 9:04:31 AM PDT by Mo1

Pretty fast moving story!

[Graymatter]

>>Drudge has the story up

**chestnuts roasting on an open fire...** dum-dee-dee-dum

[OldFriend]

The media gave Lehmann lots of credibility during the 9/11 Commission hearings and they can't just discount the man now.

They have NO choice.

[Cboldt]

Please look again at the final sentence of the "Silver star" citations... after you do, you may wish to request that the Moderators remove this post, by hitting the "Abuse" button on yourself. This is too important for confusion.

I prefer to leave my comments in the open, but thanks for the suggestion. Still waiting for more evidence on this one.

What is your conclusion regarding the difference in that final sentence?

[mabelkitty]

He ran for the Senate in 1984, and lied about his medals.
As soon as he got to Washington, he made sure to get his replacement medals in case this issue cropped up again he could prove he had them.

[hinckley buzzard]

"The only conclusion is that Kerry padded the citation and got some Navy underling to get is signed via autopen"

Bingo. It's all beginning to unravel.

[Jim Noble]

Senators and Representatives are not subject to impeachment.

[pepperhead]

Next question is that do they send you a new citation or do they just send you a medal. Anyone?

[txrangerette]

Senator Frist & Speaker Hastert
picked Lehman for the Commission.

[independentmind]

My HTML skills are rusty so I can't link, but here's the address:

http://www.davidlimbaugh.com/oneill01.htm

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

U.S. Navy ping. (Interesting, no?)

[Cooter]

4 bronze stars - one for each month.

That's not how they're awarded. See my previous post.

My comment was meant to make fun of the notion that [according to Kerry] his 4 months on the swift boats is all that mattered.

[norton]

The amount of erroneous information and contradictory reporting on this thing is either kill its impact off or simply die out in a war of forms - each side claiming to hold the grail and settling for a stand off.

Unless of course Kerry is persuaded to check into a nice remote hospital so hillary can step in, demand the GWB resign for being AWOL, and make her timely run for the office. [Ala post 235]

Viz;
There are no devices on a BS other than the "V" where appropriate.
The campaign devices go on the campaign ribbon, reasonably enough.
It's true that there is no "V" on a SS.
Any medal awarded multiple times gets a cluster on the ribbon rather than wearing a second of third ribbon. I presume Navy uses same oak leaf as do other branches.
A form requesting or issuing a replacement medal or citation would reasonably include the word 'replacement' somewhere in the body.
A request for copies of a citation, or replacement of a lost citation, would generate a photo copy of the original. As stated above, if it had to be regenerated it should so state.
There might be marginal notes added later but not as additional "original text".
For that matter, we've lost track of which form said what, who signed which one, which action each represents, etc. If you muddy the waters enough no one can see (or prove) anything!
It was common to forge orders for all sorts of reasons and some citations were awarded without 'proper scrutiny'.
Politicized officers frequently paid a visit to a recently contested piece of ground then received their SS or BSwV based on a glowing report of valor and disregard for personal safety (safety perhaps, but they sure did care about promotability).

For my part I don't care who owned the ribbons/medals JFK2 tossed - he tossed little bits of cloth that represented every Vietnam and Vietnam era veteran and that's enough for me.
I don't care that some political sycophant or one of this own staff added "walks on water" to one of his documents (apart from the individual act of fraud)- but it does show that the man is driven by some force that reminds me more of Darth Vader (in a Kennedy suit) than of any president in our history.

Like my one time roommate who had an entire college career forged in order to gain a USAF commission - Kerry needs to be stripped of his buttons and run out of town. Unfortunately, unless it is done via an election, that opens the door for a third and fourth clinton term.

I shall not rant again all day.

[mystery-ak]

I don't know....unless Lehman *thought* really hard about his appearance on Fox....I don't get it either.

[M-cubed]

Thank you for the great synopsis!!!...Clear and concise!..You should be a reporter if you arn't one!

[Jim Noble]

Nope, the RATS are stuck with this dud. Ballots are already being printed in many states, and it would be too late for any replacement. GOP controls the state legislature in more than half the states.

But this is a Clinton we are talking about.

Blue states will allow the switch, most red states won't.

She will sue to allow votes for Kerry to be counted for her (as Mondale did in MN).

The USSC will be very, very reluctant to get involved.

[ken5050]

I've written here several time that I have no doubt that the Swifties already have kerry's complete file...hey, if Berger can walk out of the Nat Archives with TSdocs in his shorts, it ain't rocket science to copy Kerry's military records..Thousands of vets loathe him...they probably made hundreds of copies...and just walked oiut. Next, it Kerry won't authorize the relese, then copies will start coming "over the transom" of the major media..and we know they LOVE whistleblowers, right?..The Swifties have Kerry by the gonads, and they're squeezing...

[Condor51]

MSM = Main Stream Media.

As in NY Times, LA Times, ABC, CBS, Tome, Newsweek, etc., you know the 'old' media who can no longer control what gets reported to us peasants.

[shield]

I'm just lovin' the implosion of Kerry's campaign....YES