Candidate’s Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History

[beachmom]

Source: New York Times

At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/nyregion/18blumenthal.html?hp

---

His campaign is pushing back hard on the story, but to say the least, this is not good. Lying about serving in Vietnam?

More info from the Atlantic's @marcambinder: Blumenthal's campaign calls Times piece "full of inaccuracies" and a "hit job." They're preparing a detailed response

[cliffordu]

1. What an asshole.

[PM Martin]

2. Arghhhhhhhhhh!

You mean that God D**M SOB Monkey trainer could be a Senator now?
:wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf:v

[beachmom]

4. Well, and Dodd stepped down because he couldn't win and this guy could.

Which goes to show there is no such thing as a sure thing in politics.

[PM Martin]

5. And McMahon's steroid problems don't matter?

:wtf:

[old mark]

8. Not too many honest politicians, either......nt

[bluestateguy]

3. Thank goodnes this is coming out now, and not in September or October

I am assuming we can count on Democratic primary voters to finish him off in August.

[beachmom]

6. The deadline is Friday so it is kind of cutting it close for other Dems

to get into the race.

[gratuitous]

7. Nitwit

It's only okay to lie about a military record if you're a Republican! Whatever happens to this guy is totally deserved.

[Frank Booth]

9. I hope there's a good backup candidate.

Because this guy's never going to be elected as Senator. Nor should he be.

[Javaman]

10. ahh when assholery crosses the isle.

honestly, did this dick head think someone wouldn't check?

what a colossal idiot. He should go stand in line with the tea baggers.

[swag]

11. Douchebag.

[Nye Bevan]

12. Disgusting. A horrible insult to those who really did serve bravely.

It's one thing to dodge the draft. Many did. But to dodge the draft and then *lie* about serving? I just hope there's another strong Democratic candidate for the seat.

[Canuckistanian]

13. Maybe he meant "Vietnam" as a metaphor

As in "the days that I served in Harvard were just like Vietnam. Those guys who harassed me for being an asshole were just like the Viet Cong.

Let's not be hasty here.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Yep....it appears that he didn't serve in Vietnam.......

Too bad. He was a shoo in before this revelation. :spank:

He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.
snip
An aide pointed out that in a different appearance this year, Mr. Blumenthal was forthright about not having gone to war. In a Senate debate in March, he responded to a question about Iran and the use of military force by saying, “Although I did not serve in Vietnam, I have seen firsthand the effects of military action, and no one wants it to be the first resort, nor do we want to mortgage the country’s future with a deficit that is ballooning out of control.”
snip

Mr. Blumenthal has made veterans’ issues a centerpiece of his public life and his Senate campaign, but even those who have worked closely with him have gotten the misimpression that he served in Vietnam.

In an interview, Jean Risley, the chairwoman of the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial Inc., recalled listening to an emotional Mr. Blumenthal offering remarks at the dedication of the memorial. She remembered him describing the indignities that he and other veterans faced when they returned from Vietnam.

“It was a sad moment,” she recalled. “He said, ‘When we came back, we were spat on; we couldn’t wear our uniforms.’ It looked like he was sad to me when he said it.”




Mr. Blumenthal landed in the Fourth Civil Affairs Group in Washington, whose members included the well-connected in Washington.

At the time, the unit was not associated with the kind of hardship of traditional fighting units, according to Marine reports from the period and interviews with about a half-dozen men who served in the unit during the Vietnam years.

In the 1970s, for example, the unit’s members were dispatched to undertake projects like refurbishing tent decks and showers at a campground for underprivileged Washington children, as well as collecting and distributing toys and games as part of regular Toys for Tots drives.

Robert Cole, a retired lieutenant colonel who did active duty overseas in the 1950s and later joined the unit as a reservist, recalled the young men who joined the unit in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Ooh boy! :grr:

[happygoluckytoyou]

15. MAYBE HE HAS DELUSIONS OF SERVING and should join a 12-step program

[Mike K]

21. For one thing --

this liar has included in his sham one of the most common deceptions ever pronounced by the phony Vietnam veterans (of which there were many), that being the absolutely false tale of being spat upon when returning home. This never happened to anyone. It is a myth created by and disseminated by phony vets and it has been thoroughly investigated by a sociology professor, Jerry Lembke, who wrote a book about it, The Spitting Image. It was also investigated by the FBI who traced and interviewed the strands of assertions and found them all to be completely without basis. Nobody ever spat on a returning veteran, Marine or Army.

Also, I can't speak for today's Marine Corps, but in my time (1950s) reserves were held in contempt by regular Marines. When they came to Camp LeJeune for their annual two week training farce they were barred from the "slop chutes" (beer halls) and all other base facilities and were generally harrassed. Although they wore the uniform they were thought of as impostors, so this Blumenthal fellow has quite a resume as a fake.

I'm glad he's been outed.

[ronnie624]

22. Good post.

The myth about spitting on returning veterans has been discussed here before. Here are some interesting items:

<http://mediamatters.org/research/200702010008>

<http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=350>

[FarCenter]

16. Video of his lips moving while he lies

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/17/ct-sen_blumenthal_touts_vietnam_service_in_2008.html

[daleo]

17. Well, Reagan claimed he flew bombing missions over Germany

But he was given a pass.

It doesn't make it right, but just shows IOKIYAAR.

[guruoo]

18. From his bio: "He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve."

http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?a=2178&q=295440

[saigon68]

25. He was in the toys for tots

[Doctor_J]

19. Smirk: I've raised daughters and I've been to war

why do these lying liars have to lie about something so grave?

Wait. I see this guy worked for Nixon. That explains alot.

[Iowa]

20. Staggering stupidity? Calculated dishonesty? Or mental stability issues? Wow...

Does no one screen potential U.S. Senators?

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Anyone else amazed that working for the Wash. Post was "in the national health, safety and interest"

That summer, Mr. Blumenthal’s draft classification changed from 2-S, an educational deferment, to 2-A, an occupational deferment — a rare exemption from military service for men who contended that it was in the “national health, safety and interest” for them to remain in their civilian jobs. At the time, he was working as a special assistant to Ms. Graham, whose son Donald he had befriended at Harvard.

I'm astounded that anyone would have had the nerve to make such a claim, or allow it.

[conservdem]

24. k