June 22, 2005
Senator Kerry of Massachusetts recently granted three reporters broad access to his Navy service records, according to documents obtained by The New York Sun.The privacy waivers signed by Mr. Kerry authorized the release of "a single, one time copy of the complete military service record and medical record of John F. Kerry" to Glen Johnson of the Associated Press, Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe, and Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times.
The waivers, executed on a National Archives form known as Standard Form 180, also permitted release of "an undeleted report" of any discharges ever granted to Mr. Kerry. The undeleted reports would include the "character" of any discharge, the form indicates.
Last year, when Mr. Kerry was the Democratic nominee for president, some of the senator's critics speculated that a six-year gap in his service record indicated that he was disciplined or discharged less than honorably after leading antiwar protests in the 1970s. A spokesman for Mr. Kerry, David Wade, adamantly denied that the senator was ever punished by the military or discharged less than honorably.
The journalists who reviewed the records the Navy released said there was no indication of any discharge beyond the honorable one Mr. Kerry received in 1978.
One of Mr. Kerry's most steadfast critics, Houston attorney John O'Neill, said yesterday that the latest information from the Navy did not address the issue of whether Mr. Kerry's record might have been purged. "The real question was, was other material in there and was anything expunged?" Mr. O'Neill said.
The Navy provided the copies of the privacy waivers to the Sun in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.Mr. Kerry first promised to make public his full Navy record more than a year ago. Mr. Kerry signed the waivers for the wire service and the Globe on May 20. The form for the Times was signed June 6.
A spokesman for Mr. Kerry rebuffed a request from the Sun for access to the service and medical files released to the other three news organizations.
Would the release of the presidentÂ’s service records to three reporters known to be friendly to the Bush be reckoned as full disclosure by the Democrats? I didnÂ’t think so. So why should a similar release by Kerry be seen as one?
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22 June 2005
Kerry's records should halt the hate campaign
Yet another political fantasy is playing itself out these days across the country on right-wing blogs and conservative radio and television. Now that Sen. John Kerry has released his full military files, his detractors can't handle the truth they tell. In response, the partisans are churning out more of the same deception and misdirection that they employed to such good effect during last year's presidential campaign.
But the records are clear. As those of us who served with Kerry in Vietnam already knew and have often acknowledged in public, the senator served honorably and with distinction. The records prove what Kerry said all along. There were no hidden bombshells, no contradictory revelations, as the right wing's conspiracy theorists so often alleged.
What the records show is an intelligent man who led his subordinates with courage and honor, which his superiors acknowledged through his evaluations and citations for valor. There's no denying it: Naval records, eyewitness reports, Navy investigations and even his detractors' own words 35 years ago support what Kerry and his previously released records have always maintained.
The release of these files should have put an end to our country's bitter return to the days of Vietnam. If nothing else, Kerry's detractors should have been humbled by their repudiation in the official records. But no, the partisan smear operatives just can't let go of their hate. They are hard at work inventing new fantasies and spreading new lies and innuendoes, trying once again to mislead the public. They now claim that Kerry still hasn't released the complete records, despite the fact that the Navy has said unequivocally that he has. For these people, the facts are simply inconvenient and irrelevant.
Those who supported and parroted the lies spread during the campaign -- in particular those who were part of the same unit but never served with Kerry -- should examine their motivations. At the very least, they should think about their commitment to honesty.
Jim Rassmann, a retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, lives in Florence. He served with the Army's 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1968-69.
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1123
Posted by: Nameless Whores For Rich Democrat Elitists at Thu Jun 23 18:02:36 2005 (RuQC1)
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