XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics, alt.politics.democrats.d   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: gayrightistsx@freedyn.de   
      
   In article    
   "Trumpistan!"  wrote:   
   >   
   > In a front-page article in today's New York Sun entitled "Mystery   
   > Surrounds Kerry's Navy Discharge," reporter Thomas Lipscomb asserts that   
   > in all probability, Sen. John F. Kerry originally received a less-than-   
   > honorable discharge from the United States Naval Reserve — a discharge   
   > that was only upgraded to honorable after President Carter's 1977   
   > executive order proclaiming a presidential amnesty for Vietnam War   
   > resisters.   
   >   
   > My purpose in this post is to provide links to and more extended quotes   
   > from the documents that Mr. Lipscomb's article references for those who   
   > are interested in assessing this assertion, and of course my own   
   > admittedly tentative take on these issues.  [Update: Be sure to read   
   > through to my 5:25pm update below for a speculative, innocuous scenario   
   > possibly involving section 1163(a) — Beldar.]   
   > I.  The Claytor document   
   > Mr. Lipscomb's assertion begins with this document from John Kerry's   
   > website, described there as Kerry's "Honorable Discharge From Reserve."   
   > Dated February 16, 1978, and issued in the name of Carter administration   
   > Secretary of the Navy W. Graham Claytor, it provides:   
   >   
   > Subj:	Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Naval Reserve   
   > Ref:	(a) Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1162   
   > (b) Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1163   
   > (c) BUPERSMAN 3830380   
   > Encl:	(1) Honorable Discharge Certificate   
   > 1.  By direction of the President, and pursuant to reference (a), you are   
   > hereby honorably discharged from the U.S. Naval Reserve effective this   
   > date.   
   >   
   > 2.  This action is taken in accordance with the approved recommendations   
   > of a board of officers convened under authority of reference (b) to   
   > examine the official records of officers of the Naval Reserve on inactive   
   > duty and determine whether they should be retained on the records of the   
   > Reserve Component or separated from the naval service pursuant to   
   > Secretarial Instructions promulgated in reference (c).   
   >   
   > 3.  The Navy Department at this time expresses its appreciation of your   
   > past services and trusts that you will continue your interest in the naval   
   > service.   
   >   
   > There's another 1978 document on the Kerry website, labeled "Acceptance of   
   > Discharge Naval Reserve," that as best I can tell simply reflects Sen.   
   > Kerry's acceptance of the Claytor letter.   
   >   
   > II. Former sections 1162 and 1163 of   
   > Title 10  of the United States Code   
   > As part of a reorganization of the relevant portions of Title 10, sections   
   > 1162 and 1163 were repealed effective December 1, 1994, and because their   
   > text no longer appears in the current United States Code, they're somewhat   
   > hard to locate.  However, with some digging using Lexis/Nexis, one can   
   > determine that as in effect from 1956 through 1994, 10 U.S.C. § 1162 read:   
   >   
   > (a) Subject to the other provisions of this title, reserve commissioned   
   > officers may be discharged at the pleasure of the President.  Other   
   > Reserves may be discharged under regulations prescribed by the Secretary   
   > concerned.   
   >   
   > (b) Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a   
   > Reserve who becomes a regular or ordained minister of religion is entitled   
   > upon his request to a discharge from his reserve enlistment or   
   > appointment.   
   >   
   > Since Kerry was not a regular or ordained minister, section 1162(b) can't   
   > have applied.  Rather, the first sentence of section 1162(a), pertaining   
   > to "reserve commissioned officers," was what the first numbered paragraph   
   > in the Claytor document must be referencing, and stands for nothing more   
   > than the unremarkable proposition that the President has authority to   
   > discharge reserve commissioned officers.   
   >   
   > Where things get interesting, however, is the second numbered paragraph of   
   > the Claytor document quoted above, and in particular its reference to the   
   > "approved recommendations of a board of officers convened under authority   
   > of [section 1163] to examine the official records of officers of the Naval   
   > Reserve on inactive duty and determine whether they should be retained on   
   > the records of the Reserve Component or separated from the naval service   
   > ...."  As in effect from 1956 through 1994, 10 U.S.C. § 1163 read:   
   >   
   > (a) An officer of a reserve component who has at least three years of   
   > service as a commissioned officer may not be separated from that component   
   > without his consent except under an approved recommendation of a board of   
      
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