In response to pressure, Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign late Tuesday began posting on its website about 150 pages of military records of his Vietnam-era service in the U.S. Navy, from certification of his medals to evaluations from commanding officers.
Michael Meehan, a senior Kerry advisor, said the wholesale release on the Internet was being done to silence Kerry's critics.
"We want to make it very clear that Sen. Kerry has nothing to hide, that his record of accomplishment in the military is something he is running on and not running from," Meehan said.
Conservatives have questioned whether the Massachusetts senator was deserving of the three Purple Hearts, or whether he used minor injuries as a way to take an early exit from Vietnam and, eventually, the military to launch his political career.
Kerry, when asked Sunday during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether he would release all of his military records, said: "I have. I've shown them.... People can come and see them at headquarters and take a look at them."
But Tuesday, Republicans accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of waffling on the records issue. They said that the records so far released were incomplete. The Boston Globe also reported that it was turned away when it sought to review previously undisclosed records at Kerry's campaign headquarters, including medical records and evaluations by superior officers.
"John Kerry said his records were available. They were not. The Kerry campaign has said the records are available on their website. They are not," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson said.
"John Kerry needs to stop the word games and set the record straight and make his full and complete military records available to the public immediately."
Meehan said that Kerry had made records available for reporters, historians and biographers who had requested them throughout the campaign.
"The senator has cooperated in such a fashion for 20 years. He's shown reporters many personal records. Many books have been written on his time in the military, which have quoted his military documents," Meehan said.
Aides said Kerry requested a copy of his record from the U.S. Navy last month and received 100 to 200 pages last week. The documents were being compiled and would be fully available on the campaign website by late today, they said.
