Kerry's discharge from the Navy

The New York Sun today has an article discussing the mystery around Kerry’s discharge from the Navy. The discharge is odd because it occurs in 1978. Kerry should have been discharged in 1972. The thought of the Sun is that Kerry had been dishonorably discharged in some way, shape or form by 1972, and that after Jimmy Carter signed a broad amnesty in 1977 for draft dodgers, Vietnam protestors, etc, Kerry was able to get a hearing to have his discharge changed from a dishonorable one to an honorable discharge. They use as evidence the fact that all of Kerry’s medals and citations were re-issued to him on a single day in the 1980’s. A dishonorably discharged soldier is stripped of all awards and commendations, and this could explain the re-issue.

I think the Sun is looking for the reason for his discharge in his anti-war activities, but that probably is not where it is at. If memory serves, Kerry had asked for early discharge from the Navy. He had to settle for reserve duty. The problem is, there are no records he ever showed up to fulfill his reserve duty requirements. If anything, I suspect that may be what earned Kerry a dishonorable discharge. If so, that may be the most damning of the ways he could have received a dishonorable discharge. If he was dishonorably discharged, and if it had been because of his anti-war activities, he would be able to dance away from the issue very easily by invoking the name Nixon and “enemy list”. If it were because he failed to fulfill his reserve duty obligations, he becomes a blazing hypocrite after spending a good portion of the summer concerned about Bush’s Guard Duty.