I am not versed enough in the details of his discharge scenario, but there's an "elephant in the middle of the room" crying out for clarification. Why in the name of John Paul Jones would an anti-war icon of Kerry's stature, who so openly slandered the military "at all levels of command" and expressed such contempt for government, voluntarily remain in the military reserves through the start of the Carter Administration in 1976? What am I missing here?
I can see you are new to the dance. Prior to the 2004 election, many of us did a lot of research and had plenty of discussion on Kerry's service. Kerry was discharged from active duty on January 3, 1970 and went into the Naval reserves on inactive duty subject to involuntary recall to active duty subject to federal statute. He was required to keep the Navy informed of his mailing address and if he planned to travel or reside in a foreign country for more than 30 days, he had to provide a notice of intent.
Kerry was discharged from the Inactive Reserves to the Standby Reserves-Inactive on July 1, 1972.
Kerry was honorably discharged from the Reserves on February 16, 1978. You can find the document in the link I provided to you.
This is a summary of Kerry's Service
We have most of Kerry's official records except for the medical records and the documentation for the first PH. Some believe that Kerry was given a less than honorable discharge and that Carter gave him an honorable one. I don't believe that because I was a naval officer at the same time Kerry was. I had a regular commission, but I left the service on November 11, 1972 and was transferred into the Inactive Reserves. I didn't receive my honorable discharge until the same date as Kerry in 1978.
I could go into much more detail. I have printed out all of Kerry's records and tracked his service. There are questions about why all of his medal certificates were reissued in 1986 and signed by Lehman. Some of the language was altered. Kerry claims he never threw away his own medals, but I suspect he did and then after being elected to the Senate in 1984 and assuming office in 1985, he requested the new certificates. Presumably replacement medals were also issued.
Kerry is a phony. I just don't have the energy to go back over the same ground again. If Kerry gets the Dem nomination, I will be leading the charge to get all of Kerry's records released. He is hiding something. The supporting documents surrounding the awarding of his first PH are what I want to see. I think he forged the documents.