This should be the document. It is dated 16 February 1978 and is signed by W. Graham Claytor the Secretary of the Navy under President Carter. This is John Kerry's honorable discharge but he was discharged from the Navy before 1972 so the question becomes, "what kind of discharge did John Kerry get when he left the service prior to 1972". We don't know because this is one of the records John Kerry refuses to release by signing US Standard Form 180 which would allow the release of all of his military records but it certainly was not an honorable discharge because, if it was honorable, there would have been no need to apply and receive this honorable discharge in 1978. So what happened? What happened is John Kerry got either a general discharge or a dishonorable discharge or something less than honorable which is not surprising because he essentially quit the Navy before his legal contract period was up. The window of opportunity for the redemption of John Kerry occurred when Jimmy Carter became president. President Carter's first act, on inauguration day, was to sign Executive Order 4483 which was a general amnesty for draft dodgers, war protestors, and those with less than honorable discharges, among other societal miscreants. The Executive Order outlined a procedure for an appeal, on a case by case basis, before a Board of Officers (which is referenced on the discharge document). A satisfactory appeal would result in an improvement of discharge status or an honorable discharge. Also on the discharge document is the "Authority of Reference" which cites "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163". These sections of the Code refer to the grounds for involuntary separation from the service. So it appears that Kerry either involuntarily separated from the service himself by resigning his commission prior to 1972 or was involuntarily separated from the service by the Navy for cause prior to 1972 and in either case the separation was "less than honorable". But again, these documents have not been released by Kerry so we are not sure precisely what kind of involuntary separation took place. That is what the document tells me. Whats more important is that John Kerry and his campaign refuses to discuss the issue of discharge separation and refuses to release somewhere around 100 military documents. He portrays himself as a hero but does not want his past scrutinized. This is dishonest.
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