In this March 2, 2008 video, current Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal (D) touts his service in the Vietnam war.
However, the New York Times reports:
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.
"This must be a Fox News conspiracy. If you didn't listen to Fox news you would not have a twsited and polluted brain and want to play slanderous stuff like that. Get out of your Fox News world for just once."
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Mobi Terminal Grahmbonnet Shadow- a couple of things-
- He didn't say he served in Viet Nam - He didnt even say the Viet Nam WAR- because it t was never technically a WAR- we never even actually declared war.
He aid he served in the Viet Nam ERA - - Bonnet - yes this forum, you and Fox love to spin this kind of stuff- you and your buddies love throwing a little slander around whenever the opportunity raises.
Colleague Says Blumenthal Claims Grew in Time By MICHAEL BARBARO and DAVID M. HALBFINGER Published: May 18, 2010
Former Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut found it puzzling: over time, his friend Attorney General Richard Blumenthal kept revising how he talked about his military service during the Vietnam War. At first, in the 1980s, he was humble. He played it down, Mr. Shays recalled, characterizing it as humdrum desk work. Enlarge This Image
Spencer Platt/Getty Images A former Marine hugged Attorney General Richard Blumenthal after a news conference Tuesday in West Hartford, Conn. Multimedia Over the last few years, however, more sweeping claims crept into Mr. Blumenthal’s descriptions, he said: that Mr. Blumenthal had served in Vietnam and had felt the sting of an ungrateful nation as he returned.“He just kept adding to the story, the more he told it,” Mr. Shays said.
Mr. Shays said he became alarmed enough by the discrepancies that he at times considered mentioning the issue to Mr. Blumenthal, who on Tuesday said he took “full responsibility” for the occasions when he “misspoke” about his military history.
As it turned out, Mr. Blumenthal never served in Vietnam, but over time, his identification with veterans of war became so strong that some of those around him, like Mr. Shays, just assumed he had. He made it a point to attend the funeral of every active soldier from Connecticut killed in the line of duty, and he rearranges his schedule so he can speak at the ceremony for soldiers about to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.
As attorney general, he created a special division focused on veterans’ affairs and has become a national spokesman for veterans’ rights.
“Oh my God, this guy is relentless; he is nonstop when it comes to veterans,” said Michael Pizzuto, a veteran of the first Iraq war, who has spoken with Mr. Blumenthal at parades and news conferences for veterans in Connecticut.
Mr. Blumenthal discussed his past statements about his military service after The New York Times reported Monday night on its Web site that he had falsely said in March 2008 that he had served in Vietnam, and had repeatedly failed to correct media reports that perpetuated the claim.
At a news conference on Tuesday in West Hartford, where he was surrounded by veterans, Mr. Blumenthal, 64, a Democratic candidate for Senate, said he had never intended to mislead the public.
But in interviews, several military historians and social scientists said the Blumenthal story reflected the strained and unsettled relationship some men of his generation have with the Vietnam War. Some of them, driven by guilt or pride, begin to embellish their role, even if they did not serve in the war or played no heroic role, they said.
“There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon of exaggerating military service by people who feel nostalgic because they missed their war,” said Brian McAllister Linn, a professor at Texas A&M University who specializes in military history.
Mr. Shays, a conscientious objector who avoided the Vietnam War, has his own theory about Mr. Blumenthal’s evolving descriptions of his service: “I think that it was a way that he quickly bonded with people I am sure he admired and respected.”
“It’s very seductive,” he added, recalling his own visits with American service members in Iraq before he left Congress after losing re-election in 2008 as a Republican.
Although they are from different political parties, and Mr. Shays received campaign donations when in Congress from Linda McMahon, who is now seeking the Republican Senate nomination in the state, the two men enjoy a friendly relationship: Mr. Shays describes Mr. Blumenthal as a “straight shooter,” and Mr. Blumenthal has praised Mr. Shays’s work on behalf of veterans.
Politicians have always shown deference to veterans, but for Mr. Blumenthal, it seemed to be a calling. Colleagues said he relished marching in Veterans Day parades and visiting veterans halls, where he would chat about their tours of duty.
Far from hiding his military résumé, as some who did not see combat might do, he highlighted it. The biographical page of his Senate campaign Web site prominently displays a photo of a young Mr. Blumenthal, in his crisp blue and white uniform.
In Hartford and in Washington, Mr. Blumenthal’s advocacy for veterans’ rights is unyielding. He has lobbied the General Assembly to grant unemployment benefits to the spouses of military personnel, and advocated for the creation of a Hispanic affairs advocate within the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs.
The father of a Marine, he frequently speaks about the experience of attending the funerals of local service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The ceremonies are a powerful combination of wrenching grief and soaring pride,” he said in 2006.
In 2007, when he set up the veterans advocacy division of the attorney general’s office, he declared, “My office will fight for those who fought for us.”
In interviews, several veterans from around the state said the office had helped them penetrate the thick bureaucracy of the state’s benefits system, and applied a personal touch.
When Paul Kingman, a Navy veteran who lost feeling in his feet after chemotherapy, called Mr. Blumenthal’s office in 2007, he was trying to get a hearing for disability payments from the Social Security Administration. So it came as a surprise when Mr. Blumenthal himself got on the line.
“He’s a nice guy; he was cordial,” Mr. Kingman, 50, said from his home in Naugatuck. “Busy people like him, with all the rest going on in the state, I was surprised he’d have time for little old me.”
A week after his conversation with Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Kingman learned that his hearing, which he had been trying to get for nearly four years, had been scheduled.
“I don’t know who he talked to, but next thing you know, I had a hearing,” said Mr. Kingman, who at the time was living on $200 a month and food stamps. “He stood up for me.”
Cecelia Louis had a similar story: after five years trying to obtain health care from the Connecticut Veterans Affairs Department for her 78-year-old husband, a Korean War veteran, she reached out to the attorney general’s office, which resolved the issue in a matter of weeks.
“He realizes, especially now with all the veterans coming home with great needs, how important this is,” she said.
Mr. Shays also spoke with affection and admiration for Mr. Blumenthal, whom he called “a person of high integrity.” That is why the former congressman regrets not speaking up before.
A few weeks ago, Mr. Shays attended a ceremony with Mr. Blumenthal in Bridgeport, to honor workers killed during an accident. When it was his turn to speak, Mr. Blumenthal at one point brought up the subject of his military service and lamented that when “we returned from Vietnam” Americans had spit on soldiers, Mr. Shays recalled. “He is the kind of person I cared enough about that I wish I had nipped this in the bud when it was fomenting,” Mr. Shays said.
Shadow- either you dont hear so good or your reading comprehension could use improvement- or most probably maybe you just dont know what he actually said ? But you want to post your ' crap quota ' for the day . ( Your daily spin ).
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
He said he served in Vietnam when he in fact didn't. The article was written quoting a friend of Blumenthal so where's the spin. He lied to get veterans votes and he got caught. But telling lies seems to go along with the liberal way of getting elected to office, say anything to get elected true or not.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Richard Blumenthal Claimed Vietnam Service But Never Went; Calls NYT Report 'Outrageous Distortion' AP/Huffington Post First Posted: 05-18-10 10:40 AM | Updated: 05-18-10 11:00 PM UPDATE: Richard Blumenthal defended himself against charges that he repeatedly made misleading comments about his military service during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Details here.
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal is defending himself against a report he misstated his military service in Vietnam.
Blumenthal's campaign called a New York Times report which includes video of him at a 2008 event saying he had served "in Vietnam" an "outrageous distortion" on his record.
Here's an excerpt from the Times report:
"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.
Hillary tried the same bullcrap........................
Toby Harnden Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC. More about Toby. Contact toby.harnden@telegraph-usa.com. Hillary Clinton: 'I made up sniper fire story because I was tired'
By Toby Harnden World Last updated: March 26th, 2008
22 Comments
Full coverage of the US Elections 2008 Before we draw a line under the Hillary Clinton sniper fire (not) in Bosnia story, it’s worth noting a couple of additional fibs she told in trying to wriggle out of the thing. They’re in my news story here. First, she said that it was the “first time in 12 years” she’d spoken inaccurately about the trip. Well, that’s not true – she did it on at least two other occasions in the past three months. Second, she said it was because she was “sleep-deprived”.Â
Did Ejup Ganic back up Hillary Clinton’s sniper fire story?
But her schedule shows that she had no public engagements the previous day before the set-piece St Patrick’s Day speech she gave in Washington that contained the whopper. She had spent the previous night not in some Days Inn in Ohio but at her home in Embassy Row. And the video shows her in a jaunty, expansive mood. I’d say the former First Lady needs to take a polygraph rather than Ambien. The problem with politicians who get into the habit of lying that they do so effortlessly and casually with the small things as well as the big that eventually you can’t believe anything they say. Another player in the story who spoke up today was Ejup Ganic, acting Bosnian president in 1996. So did he back up Hillary’s account?Â
Er, not exactly. He told Eric Jansson that there wasn’t any sniper fire and none had been anticipated. “We didn’t expect snipers, although we Bosnians were rather comfortable with the situation since for four years we had bullets fired over our heads on a daily basis.”Â
He also noted: “By talking to the First Lady, I was under the impression that she had an agenda for her own advancement and I am not surprised of her desire to win the current elections.” His full email to Eric is worth reading here. Â Chelsea Clinton (16 at the time of the Bosnia visit) was also asked about the sniper fire. She gave an answer so cold and political that she made her mother look, as she protested today “human” (when a politician has to tell people they’re human, that’s usually an indication they’re in some difficulty).Â
A couple of other bad signs for Hillary today. Senator Maria Cantwell, a super-delegate who backs the former First Lady, said she is going to support whoever wins amongst the pledged delegates and that’s almost certain to be Obama.Â
And while the polls in Pennsylvania show her comfortably ahead, there’s a new one out in North Carolina the second biggest contest of the 10 left that puts Obama a pretty staggering 21 points ahead.
If he’s really leading by even half that margin then Hillary has a mountain to climb there.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
And he has the nerve to stand at a VFW Post and refuse to resign? His Senate campaign just ended and he should be forced to leave the Attorney General's office. Can't wait to see the next polls on this race.
When Paul Kingman, a Navy veteran who lost feeling in his feet after chemotherapy, called Mr. Blumenthal’s office in 2007, he was trying to get a hearing for disability payments from the Social Security Administration. So it came as a surprise when Mr. Blumenthal himself got on the line.
“He’s a nice guy; he was cordial,” Mr. Kingman, 50, said from his home in Naugatuck. “Busy people like him, with all the rest going on in the state, I was surprised he’d have time for little old me.”
A week after his conversation with Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Kingman learned that his hearing, which he had been trying to get for nearly four years, had been scheduled.
“I don’t know who he talked to, but next thing you know, I had a hearing,” said Mr. Kingman, who at the time was living on $200 a month and food stamps. “He stood up for me.”
Cecelia Louis had a similar story: after five years trying to obtain health care from the Connecticut Veterans Affairs Department for her 78-year-old husband, a Korean War veteran, she reached out to the attorney general’s office, which resolved the issue in a matter of weeks.
“He realizes, especially now with all the veterans coming home with great needs, how important this is,” she said.
This part of the article is more important to me then his poor phrasing or embellishment. If you see only what he said then you should never vote...because you are missing a lot. And Shadow...no where does it say this guy was his friend. He could easily be politically motivated as well.
Logged
And he has the nerve to stand at a VFW Post and refuse to resign? His Senate campaign just ended and he should be forced to leave the Attorney General's office. Can't wait to see the next polls on this race. 
