Kerry: even worse than the Swift Vets say?

The New York Sun has an article about Kerry's discharge from the Naval Reserve in 1972, and some evidence that may explain Kerry's refusal to sign the standard form 180 to release his military records. It seems the discharge was reviewed by a "board of officers", which is an unusual procedure entirely unnecessary for a normal honorable discharge.

The alternatives to an honorable discharge aren't pretty, and Kerry's anti-war activities would certainly have provided grounds if anyone chose to make an issue of them. One scenario that seems to fit the facts would be Kerry being dishonorably discharged in 1972 (at the end of his first 6 year committment), and then gaining the benefit of Carter's executive order in 1978 to review his discharge and return it to honorable status.

And when you are dishonorably discharged, your medals (if any) are canceled. Which would explain why Kerry had them all reissued in 1985, shortly after joining the Senate.

So why is Kerry, the self-proclaimed war hero, refusing to release his records?

Hat Tip: GeekWithA.45.

UPDATE: PowerLine has some less unpleasant explanations, and BeldarBlog has an in-depth analysis.