ABikerSailor
Diamond Member
During the height of the Vietnam War, Romney avoided military service by seeking and receiving four military draft deferments, some for university study and others for serving as a minister of religion in France.
But during his political career, Romney has flip-flopped on whether he actually wanted to serve in Vietnam. In 2007, Romney a supporter of the war in Vietnam during the late-1960s said he had wished he had served:
I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.
But the AP notes that this isnt what Romney said back in 1994 during his campaign to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate:
But the frustration he recalled in 2007 does not match a sentiment he shared as a Massachusetts Senate candidate in 1994, when he told The Boston Herald, I was not planning on signing up for the military.
It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft, Romney told the newspaper.
But in seeking 4 deferments, Romney did in fact take actions to remove himself from the draft. In 1970, Romney eventually became eligible but by that point, the United States had begun reducing the number of troops in Vietnam and as the AP reports, Romneys relatively high lottery number 300 out of 365 was not called.
While Romneys lack of military service record raises questions (President Obama also did not serve in the military but was not of draft-age at the time of the Vietnam War), a recent Gallup poll found that veterans favor Romney over Obama 58 percent to 34 percent.
Greatness in a people, I believe, is measured by the extent to which they will give themselves to something bigger than themselves, Romney said in a Memorial Day speech last week in San Diego.
Did Mitt Romney 'Long' To Serve In Vietnam? | ThinkProgress
He supported the Vietnam war, then went and got 4 deferments so that he wouldn't have to go.
He said he had no desire to serve in Vietnam back in '94 and did nothing to remove himself from the draft pool, yet he got 4 deferments.
He then says later (while running for president) that he wishes he'd been there? This should be an insult to any military member who has served this country during conflict.
Why do veterans support Romney? When he was eligible to serve this country, he bailed out of it. What kind of CIC would he be? Because unlike Obama, he actually was eligible, Obama was only a kid.