Vietnam service claimed by Blumenthal is challenged

If Richard Blumenthal only claimed to be a Vietnam Era Veteran, then he did nothing wrong when talking about how anyone in the military at the time was treated. If he claimed he was a Combat Vietnam Veteran, then there is a problem even if only said the wrong words without clearing it up right away as soon as the words left his mouth. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the military during the Vietnam War who never set foot out of the states and they are Vietnam Era Veterans.

Vietnam service claimed by Conn. Senate hopeful Blumenthal is challenged

By Chris Cillizza
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The New York Times reported Monday night that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has claimed numerous times that he served in Vietnam, even though he obtained at least five military deferments and avoided ever going to war.

Blumenthal (D) is a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Christopher J. Dodd (D), and he has held a commanding lead in the race since he entered it. But the Times report has the potential to fundamentally reshape the contest in the Nutmeg State.

His campaign manager, Mindy Myers, called the article "an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service." She noted his six years of service in the Marine Corps Reserve and said he "received no special treatment from anyone."

The Times reported that Blumenthal obtained deferments from 1965 to 1970, then joined the Marine Reserve in 1970 and was based in Washington through the end of the war. The newspaper said that the deferments allowed him to finish a degree at Harvard and serve as an assistant to The Washington Post's publisher, Katharine Graham.
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Vietnam service claimed by Blumenthal is challenged

UPDATE

Senate candidate questioned about Corps record

By Susan Haigh - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 18, 2010 14:33:57 EDT

HARTFORD, Conn. — Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal disputed a newspaper report that he once lied about his Vietnam record, a brewing crisis that gave hope to Republicans pursuing control of the Senate.

Blumenthal, who was easily leading a pack of Senate candidates in a recent poll, is planning a Tuesday afternoon news conference at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in West Hartford to respond to the New York Times story, which said Blumenthal said at a 2008 event that he had served “in Vietnam.”

Blumenthal served six months in Parris Island, S.C., and six years in the reserves.

He told the newspaper that he has always tried to make it clear his Marine Reserve service never took him overseas. His campaign called the report an “outrageous distortion” of his record. read more here
Senate candidate questioned about Corps record