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Richard Blumenthal: Vietnam Military Record Under Question: Video

by Amy Judd | May 18, 2010 at 07:24 am

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Richard Blumenthal Under Scrutiny For His Vietnam War Record After New York Times Piece

Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, is currently running for the United States Senate, but there seems to be some discrepancy over what he says is his personal history and what historical records actually reveal.

According to a piece published in the New York Times, Richard Blumenthal was at a ceremony for war veterans when he included this section in his speech:

“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.”

However, according to the NYT piece, General Blumenthal never served in Vietnam and actually had five military deferments so that he did not have to fight overseas in that war. Within the time period 1965 to 1970, Mr. Blumenthal finished his studies at Harvard, went to study in England, got a job as the special assistant to Katharine Graham who was the Washington Post's publisher at the time, and then obtained a job in the White House for President Nixon.

According to the NYT, the only time Blumenthal came close to serving in the military during that time was when he manged to get a place in the Marine Reserve in 1970 so that he would not have to go to Vietnam.

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.

The issue seems not to be so much with the fact that he stayed out of the war (as the paper points out he is not the first politician to do so), but with the way he uses that period of his life to spin a scenario of camaraderie with veterans and how he never seems to completely volunteer the truth that even though he served in the Marine Reserve he never went overseas to Vietnam.

In an interview he gave on Monday he said:

“My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam,”

The New York Times piece contains some examples of other references he has made to Vietnam and ways he has been portrayed in the media. They point out that Blumenthal never tried to correct any mistakes made about him in the media regarding any service in Vietnam, but a video uncovered by the Washington Post does show a speech where he expressly states that he did not serve in Vietnam. The video was taken in March 2010.

In a video taken in March 2008 however (also below), Blumenthal expressly states 'the days when I served in Vietnam'.

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.

Considering the fact that Mr. Blumenthal is now running for the United States Senate this is a matter his camp will have to get under control before they continue his campaign.