Sen. John Kerry's military service records, released by his presidential campaign Wednesday, reflect a talented young naval officer who regularly impressed his superiors and received glowing reviews.

The campaign finished posting the service records Wednesday on the Internet after initially resisting requests for full disclosure of the files. 

During his service in Vietnam directing a swift boat in the Mekong Delta, Kerry was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts for wounds to his arms, legs and buttocks.

The military records became an issue in the presidential campaign after Kerry said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that they were available to anyone who wanted to visit his campaign headquarters. But his aides refused to make the documents available and Republicans criticized Kerry for saying one thing and doing another.

"A top notch officer in every measurable trait," wrote Capt. Allen Slifer of Kerry's service on the USS Gridley on June 8, 1967. "Intelligent, mature and rich in educational background and experience, ENS Kerry is one of the finest young officers I have ever met and without question one of the most promising."

In another evaluation, Lt. Cmdr. George Elliott praised Kerry effusively on Dec. 18, 1969. "In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed," Elliott wrote. "LTJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group."

Elliott also noted that Kerry had taken it upon himself to learn to speak Vietnamese.

Throughout his campaign, Kerry has relied on many of the veterans he served with in Vietnam to accompany him before voters, confirming his bravery and service to the country.

Prior to the Iowa caucuses, Jim Rassmann, a retired sheriff's deputy from Oregon, dramatically told of the day that a wounded Kerry turned back their boat, fished Rassmann out of the water, and saved his life - all while under heavy fire.

Kerry earned the Bronze Star for his actions that day on the Bay Hap River.

He was awarded the Silver Star "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepedity in action" during an operation on the Ca Mau Peninsula.

It was there that several swift boats came under heavy small-arms fire from the river banks, according to the account written by Vice Adm. E.R. Zumwalt Jr.

Kerry ordered the units to turn to the beach and charge the Viet Cong positions. When an enemy soldier began to flee, Kerry leapt to shore and pursued him behind a hut, killing him. In the process, he captured a B-40 rocket launcher with a round in the chamber.

Kerry then led an assault party that swept the area and routed the enemy, the citation said. Altogether, 10 Viet Cong were killed and one was wounded, with no American casualties.

Republican officials, who have made Kerry's forthrightness an issue in the campaign, criticized him for telling "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert on Sunday that his military records were available at his campaign headquarters when they were not.

"How dumb does he think the voters are?" Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said Wednesday on CNN. "You can't say something like that on television and not follow through."

Gillespie said Republicans have never taken issue with Kerry's military service, and Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt declined to comment Wednesday.

President Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam, and did not see combat. He released his military records in February in an effort to rebut allegations by some Democrats that he was absent without leave for about a year.

Michael Meehan, a spokesman for Kerry, said the campaign had requested the senator's military records from the Navy and had posted everything it received.

"It's impossible for us to know if the Navy has in its possession more documents than they have sent to us," Meehan said.