Records on medals spark questions

The military records that Sen. John Kerry posted on his Web site yesterday raise new questions about the actions he took to earn several prestigious war medals and whether he deserved them.

The Navy awarded Mr. Kerry three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in just four months of commanding a gunboat along rivers in Vietnam. It’s an extraordinary record, say many veterans, and one that raises questions on its face.

For example, those military records do not show Mr. Kerry ever missing a day of duty for injuries, there is conflict between some of the accounts and Mr. Kerry’s presidential campaign still refuses to release some records.

“The idea that John Kerry would have put in for three Purple Hearts during only four months in country is just ridiculous,” said Mel Howell from Evansville, Ind., a retired Navy officer who flew helicopters in Vietnam. “Most of us came away with all kinds of scratches like the ones Kerry got but never accepted Purple Hearts for them.”

Upon inspection of the government documents posted on the Massachusetts Democrat’s Web site, other questions arise such as the conflicting descriptions in official records of the injuries Mr. Kerry sustained on March 13, 1969. It was the commendations he earned that day — a Bronze Star and a third Purple Heart — that let Mr. Kerry request a transfer out of Vietnam and into a desk job eight months before his tour expired.

The Personnel Casualty Report from that day says Mr. Kerry “suffered shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks and contusions on his right forearm when a mine detonated close aboard” his boat.

But the citation for the Bronze Star that he was awarded for the same action described “his arm bleeding and in pain,” saying nothing about arm bruises or shrapnel wounds anywhere.

“I don’t want to say it’s a lie, but it isn’t true,” said Charles Kaufman, a retired Air Force captain whose job once was to submit military award requests.

“His Bronze Star medal citation appears to be based on an injury he did not receive,” said Mr. Kaufman, who now lives in Germany. “His arm was not bleeding. If the paperwork had said, ‘Kerry had a bruised arm,’ I wonder if he would have been given this medal for bravery?”

“They don’t quite jibe,” said James W. Doran, national service director of the advocacy group American Veterans. But he did not fault Mr. Kerry.

“Somebody up the command flowered it up,” Mr. Doran said. “They just made it pretty for somebody’s signature.”

Several requests for comment were not returned by the Kerry campaign yesterday.

During Mr. Kerry’s relatively short tour in Vietnam, he racked up a stunning record, based on the documents released by the campaign yesterday.

All of his performance evaluations rated him first or nearly first among his peers, and no evidence suggests he ever missed duty because of illness or injuries. He was credited with killing 20 enemy fighters.

“Intelligent, mature and rich in educational background and experience, Ens Kerry is one of the finest young officers I have ever met and without question one of the most promising,” wrote Capt. Allen Slifer, Mr. Kerry’s commanding superior aboard the USS Gridley before going into combat.

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