Rockntractor
07-30-2011, 11:02 PM
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July 30, 2011
Secrecy Surrounds Silver Star Medal Revocation
By Gary Larson
Are Senator John F. Kerry's medals also in danger of being revoked? Don't count on it.
"San Diego -- In a highly unusual move, the Navy secretary has stripped a Silver Star awarded to a retired captain and Vietnam swift boat veteran who is serving a federal prison sentence after admitting to child pornography." -- Navy Times, July 25, 2011
Except for a few intrepid news and opinion outlets, plus Navy Times, a respected military newspaper, a cone of liberal silence descended around shocking news that a Silver Star medal for gallantry was yanked from a high-ranking Navy officer back in August 2010. No why is given; it is shrouded in the mist of military bureaucracy.
What is clear: so far, the revocation of the third-highest honor in the pantheon of military medals is unrelated to the conviction of retired Navy Capt. Wade Sanders for possessing horrid child pornography. He is serving a 37-month sentence in a federal prison for that felony crime, perpetrated in 2008, also largely unknown until now.
Military medals for gallantry are not lightly revoked. Recipients are entitled to recognition due for their heroic self-sacrificing deeds as portrayed in medal citations. Medals are a way for a grateful nation to thank its real-life heroes for risking their lives in uniform. Knowingly false reporting for medal consideration is a court-martial offense.
All the more reason higher grades of medals, leaving out "good conduct" stuff, ought to be based on facts, not fancy, nor on exaggerated tales of faux bravery. Fudging facts is off-limits. I know. As additional duty back in the sixties, I wrote medal citations from after-action reports. To be frank, at times I doubted the total veracity of walk-on-water heroics in those field reports. Sometimes, albeit rarely, I requested additional info from commanders. Some were irked by that. "Damn headquarter types," grumbled one light bird, rebuffing my request as unpatriotic, or something dastardly.
Revoking Sanders' Silver Star is no small or laughing matter. It is all the more noteworthy because he introduced his fellow swift boat vet and Navy pal John F. Kerry at the 2004 Democrat National Convention in Boston. That was when Kerry portrayed himself as a national hero "reporting for duty," with a smart salute. Sanders served as Kerry's point man, and he proved to be a tenacious attack dog. Sanders tired his best to "take down" the noble, ultimately successful efforts of the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth.
Read More>
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/kerrys_attack_dog_stripped_of_silver_star.html
Strange in many ways.
July 30, 2011
Secrecy Surrounds Silver Star Medal Revocation
By Gary Larson
Are Senator John F. Kerry's medals also in danger of being revoked? Don't count on it.
"San Diego -- In a highly unusual move, the Navy secretary has stripped a Silver Star awarded to a retired captain and Vietnam swift boat veteran who is serving a federal prison sentence after admitting to child pornography." -- Navy Times, July 25, 2011
Except for a few intrepid news and opinion outlets, plus Navy Times, a respected military newspaper, a cone of liberal silence descended around shocking news that a Silver Star medal for gallantry was yanked from a high-ranking Navy officer back in August 2010. No why is given; it is shrouded in the mist of military bureaucracy.
What is clear: so far, the revocation of the third-highest honor in the pantheon of military medals is unrelated to the conviction of retired Navy Capt. Wade Sanders for possessing horrid child pornography. He is serving a 37-month sentence in a federal prison for that felony crime, perpetrated in 2008, also largely unknown until now.
Military medals for gallantry are not lightly revoked. Recipients are entitled to recognition due for their heroic self-sacrificing deeds as portrayed in medal citations. Medals are a way for a grateful nation to thank its real-life heroes for risking their lives in uniform. Knowingly false reporting for medal consideration is a court-martial offense.
All the more reason higher grades of medals, leaving out "good conduct" stuff, ought to be based on facts, not fancy, nor on exaggerated tales of faux bravery. Fudging facts is off-limits. I know. As additional duty back in the sixties, I wrote medal citations from after-action reports. To be frank, at times I doubted the total veracity of walk-on-water heroics in those field reports. Sometimes, albeit rarely, I requested additional info from commanders. Some were irked by that. "Damn headquarter types," grumbled one light bird, rebuffing my request as unpatriotic, or something dastardly.
Revoking Sanders' Silver Star is no small or laughing matter. It is all the more noteworthy because he introduced his fellow swift boat vet and Navy pal John F. Kerry at the 2004 Democrat National Convention in Boston. That was when Kerry portrayed himself as a national hero "reporting for duty," with a smart salute. Sanders served as Kerry's point man, and he proved to be a tenacious attack dog. Sanders tired his best to "take down" the noble, ultimately successful efforts of the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth.
Read More>
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/kerrys_attack_dog_stripped_of_silver_star.html
Strange in many ways.