Val, I didn't post info from some other source, I know from being an Army officer that you rarely get an honorable discharge when you are released from the service early, like Kerry was released. The most common discharge under those circumstances would be a general discharge but it is possible that Kerry received a dishonorable discharge due to his anticipated activities as an anti-war protestor and leader. That is what we don't know, general or dishonorable discharge, and we will not know because he refuses to sign a simple release that would release all of his military records and therefore, the government is holding back some 100 documents per government released statements.
If you go to Kerry's website and look around you may find his "honorable" discharge document but if it is entirely loaded to the website I am sure you will see it is dated sometime during the Carter administration. That would be 1978 or so but Kerry's full term in the Navy would have been up in 1972 at which time, if he had fulfilled his obligation, he would have automatically received an honorable discharge and papers dated 1972. That doesn't appear to be the case. It appears that somehow Kerry's honorable discharge was part of Carter's amnesty program, which I might add he administered the day of his inauguration. There would be no reason to do this, especially at the presidential level, if he had received an honorable discharge in 1972.
In addition, a dishonorable discharge also revokes any medals and honors received during the person's service period. Kerry threw his medals away and you can't just go and get new medals. When I went to get my medals issued for formal wear for a white tie and tails reception in NYC for the German government I had to present my military documents which allowed the company to prepare my formal medals. Kerry did not have this paperwork, and could not get his medals reissued, and it was not until he was elected to the Senate, after the Carter administration, that Kerry's request for reissuing his medals was honored by the government.
Val, this is history, a chronology of events that Kerry hides by not releasing his military records. I know that you will not agree, and a few here on the thread will want to sympathize with you, but for those who are moderates, independants and undecided, this has to be food for thought. As far as who is irrelevant, well, we will let others decide that.