by roamingfirehydrant | October 18, 2012 · 6:34 pm
I ordinarily would not give Whoopi Goldberg any space here, but after she said on The View that Mormons arent allowed to serve in the military, I figured it would be a good thing to set the record straight.
Allahpundit at HotAir points to this article on the 18,000+ Mormons in military service, particularly the Utah National Guard. The article also touches on the allowances made by the service academies for missionary service. In short, they are allowed to resign from the service academy after their sophomore year then re-apply after their missionary service is complete.
In many ways, going on an LDS mission is a benefit to the cadet, Van Winkle [of the Air Force Academy's Public Affairs office] said. When he returns to the Academy, hes had greater life experience, seen a little bit more of the world, increased his communication skills, matured and is fully committed to returning as a cadet to the Air Force Academy by making the choice to return.
Possibly Whoopi confused Mormons with Quakers, though President Nixon was a Quaker and served in the Navy during WW2. Or, more likely, she just wanted to slam Mitt Romney for lack of service, as if Obama had any to brag about.
I ordinarily would not give Whoopi Goldberg any space here, but after she said on The View that Mormons arent allowed to serve in the military, I figured it would be a good thing to set the record straight.
Allahpundit at HotAir points to this article on the 18,000+ Mormons in military service, particularly the Utah National Guard. The article also touches on the allowances made by the service academies for missionary service. In short, they are allowed to resign from the service academy after their sophomore year then re-apply after their missionary service is complete.
In many ways, going on an LDS mission is a benefit to the cadet, Van Winkle [of the Air Force Academy's Public Affairs office] said. When he returns to the Academy, hes had greater life experience, seen a little bit more of the world, increased his communication skills, matured and is fully committed to returning as a cadet to the Air Force Academy by making the choice to return.
Possibly Whoopi confused Mormons with Quakers, though President Nixon was a Quaker and served in the Navy during WW2. Or, more likely, she just wanted to slam Mitt Romney for lack of service, as if Obama had any to brag about.