When John Kerry was running for President in 2004 a big part of his marketing strategy involved promoting himself as a war hero. With medals to prove his reported reported heroism, attacking Kerry seemed unseemly for opponents who had not served in a combat zone. It took the campaign of the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, a group of fellow combat veterans who served with Kerry, to raise serious questions about his official story.
A critical part of Kerry’s defense was the testimony of Wade Sanders, a fellow Vietnam veteran and Silver Star honoree who served with Kerry. Sanders was aggressive in his denunciation of Kerry’s Swiftboat attackers, denouncing them as comparable to Nazis.
Kerry’s credibility took a big hit today with the news from the Navy Times that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has revoked Sanders’ Silver Star. A statement by Mabus spokesperson Pamele Kunze read in part as follows.
“Had the subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself been known to the Secretary of the Navy in 1992, those facts would have prevented the award of the Silver Star,” Kunze said.
The revocation of Sanders’ Silver Star is apparently unrelated to Sanders’ 2008 conviction for possession and distribution of child pornography, for which he is now serving a 37 month sentence. He is due to be released from prison in March of 2012.
[...] John Kerry Truth Commission has reported for duty and issued its first major ruling [...]