>>Yes, he was actually in Nam for a year. I don't know what his MOS was.
The Vice-President was in Viet Nam for a year as a news correspondent. I think that it was for Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper. As I remember the story, he once stated that he joined because his father was in a tough re-election campaign and didn't need his son's avoiding service, as did almost all ivy league college boys of his era through a combination of influence, joining National Guards, etc., becoming a campaign issue. How much political influence was used to get him the newespaper position instead of the more common one with infantry or artillery units, for example, has never been explored.
He wasn't a combat soldier and there was a flap a year or so ago about a photo showing him holding a M16 rifle posing in an obviously faked combat position. But, people were killed all over the country, not just in the infantry units in the field, so while he was in the country he was indeed in some danger.
Whether he deserves credit for this service also depends on your viewpoint of whether he should have gone at all to this particular war. So, it's complicated, but nowhere as devious as his current boss's record.
Wm Chaney |
