It has been 109 days since John F. Kerry signed his form 180 and the public has yet to see "at least a hundred pages" of unreleased documents from Naval Archives.

According to O'Neill, "The Standard Form 180 could release 'the full military and medical records.' Or it could release just a few. It all depends on how it is filled out and where it was sent."

"There is nothing magic about signing a SF 180," said former Naval Judge Advocate General Mark Sullivan. "It is sort of like your checkbook. You can fill out a check for one dollar or a million. It is the same check form."

"And the Globe story says Kerry sent it to the Navy Personnel Command, which is only a limited storage location. So it is not surprising that the Globe then notes that what they received was largely 'duplication' of records previously released. The Navy Personnel Command primarily stores a subset of service records rather than a person's full military records. There is no doubt there are a lot of after-action records missing from what Kerry has released," said Sullivan.

Of particular interest to this blogger is discovering exactly how John Kerry left the military.

There is strong evidence that Senator Kerry did not receive an honorable discharge, and benefited from President Carter's issuance of amnesty for "military resistors".

That is a serious lie of omission for someone who based their campaign on the image of his service in Vietnam.

Frankly, I'd have had more respect for him if turned out to be a soldier of valor and a citizen of conscience. It's a shame that he was neither. The Swift Boat Veterans cast enough reasonable doubt his character as a soldier. Meeting with the enemy in Paris while still in the Naval Reserve would have easily compromised his honorable discharge, and even Kerry knew better than to delve into his past as a protester - especially after his participation (even leadership) in the fabricated lies of the Winter Soldier Investigation.

While we are on topic, this article should not go unread either.

Cao's Blog is still hosting the Tuesday Blogburst to see Kerry's 180 released to the public in full.

Posted by Michael at September 6, 2005 11:02 PM