Embarrassed by Your College Transcript?

[Updated]

Too many Freshman D's a reason to forfeit the presidency of the United States? Is that your problem, Bunky?

On May 20, Kerry signed a document called Standard Form 180, authorizing the Navy to send an ''undeleted" copy of his ''complete military service record and medical record" to the [Boston] Globe. Asked why he delayed signing the form for so long, Kerry said in a written response:

''The call for me to sign a 180 form came from the same partisan operatives who were lying about my record on a daily basis on the Web and in the right-wing media. Even though the media was discrediting them, they continued to lie. I felt strongly that we shouldn't kowtow to them and their attempts to drag their lies out."

One of those D's in logic, Long John?

Yet, the Globe doesn't seem interested in missing documentation:

The file does not provide new documents about various combat actions. It contains mostly a repetition of Kerry's citations for the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. ....

For example, Kerry received his first Purple Heart for action on Dec. 2, 1968. Kerry told historian Douglas Brinkley that ''I never saw where the piece of shrapnel had come from."

Kerry's critics have questioned whether the wound came from enemy fire, and his former commanding officer said the wound resembled a ''scratch." The file includes a previously reported reference to Kerry being treated for the wound and that he was awarded the Purple Heart, but it does not address the details of the combat that night. No after-action report for the incident has been found.

Update:

According to this blog, it is a simple matter to control what is released via Form 180. For instance you are given a choice of:


___ An UNDELETED Report of Separation is requested for the year(s) This normally will be a copy of the full separation document including such sensitive items as the character of separation, authority for separation, reason for separation....

___ A DELETED Report of Separation is requested for the year(s)
The following information will be deleted from the copy sent: authority for separation, reason for separation....

It appears that the war hero checked the second option above.

And, according to John O'Neil--again via Blogs for Bush--Kerry didn't authorize the Boston Globe to have access to those records at the National Personnel Records Center:

We called for Kerry to execute a form which would permit anyone to examine his full and unexpulgated military records at the Navy Department and the National Personnel Records Center. Instead he executed a form permitting his hometown paper to obtain the records [only] currently at the Navy Department. The Navy Department previously indicated its records did not include various materials. This is hardly what we called for.