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To: LindyBill who wrote (80956)	10/26/2004 9:50:44 PM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (6) of 793866

Edit: Link info edited after posting. LB, Sit down and take a deep breath. I learned something over the past few hours. LB, you have known me for many years. I tell you this with full assurance that I believe every word I am writing. I trust my source 110%. As a former Army Remington Raider you may understand the details of this better then me. The earlier internet statements that John Kerry got a dishonorable discharge (DD) were wrong. You and I both recognized that then and we both commented about it not being true in our opinions. The reason I gave was that a DD can only be imposed by a General Court-martial and I did not believe Kerry could have hidden that because it is a felony conviction. Your argument was he got a General Discharge. I agreed. I do know a General Discharge is under honorable conditions. Having been a Company Commander and "A" Team Commander, I know that is a fact. The approving authority for General Discharges was (and may still be) a Battalion Commander in training companies and Brigade or Division Commander in line units. My experience with General Discharges is that they are awarded to soldiers who have extreme personal or family problems, but their service has been honorable so the General Discharge gets them out early to handle their problem. Ditto for trainees. They try hard but are obviously unsuited and they agree to take a General Discharge. General Discharges are for the good of the service and the good of the individual. We were both wrong about Kerry getting a General Discharge. We were both right about Kerry not getting a DD. According to the info I was given today, Kerry got what neither of us considered. My source informed me that Kerry got an Undesirable Discharge under other than honorable conditions. An undesirable is awarded by a board of Officer action. The board finds the individual unfit for military service. It is the administrative equivalent of a DD without the felony conviction. A person so discharged does lose all military benefits. My source confirms Kerry received this discharge between 1971-1972. President Carter issued the amnesty in 1977, Kerry's case was one of thousands reviewed and he was awarded an honorable discharge on 16 Feb 1978. That was twelve years after he enlisted in the US Navy Reserves for a six year commitment. I learned there is a group of very senior Retired US Navy Officers who are attempting to put this in a format acceptable to the American public and the press. The difficulty they are having is due to all incidental records of those pardoned by Carter having been destroyed. None of the Kerry military documents released are from the 71-72 time frame. I would also point out that others have noted that Kerry's was discharged pursuant to the recommendation of a board of Officers. The bloggers have covered that in much detail already. I was not sure how to take that before today. I do know that I have several discharges all honorable and none required a board of Officers to award it to me. I am now convinced that Kerry needed a board's approval because he had a bad discharge to contend with. That also explains imo why he was credited with six extra years in the inactive US Navy Reserves before he finally got an honorable discharge. In the interest of full disclosure, I have discussed these details today with several other retired service members who have at least some knowledge of the details. All agreed with what I have just written, at least the parts they are familiar with. Also you can view the records Kerry has released at his own website. www.johnkerry.com On the left, under "get informed" click on John Kerry. On the right, click on service. At the top right right, click on Official Naval Records. Click on acceptance of discharge to verify the date. Click on Honorable discharge from Reserve to verify the board of Officers. I invite anyone to prove I am wrong. I invite John Kerry to prove I am wrong by releasing his hidden military records from 1971-1972. unclewest

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