SwiftVets.com

[shawa]

Blumenthal served during that era but never left stateside.
He is well ahead in the polls to take Sen Dodd's seat but when the NY Times outs the lie, I think he's toast.

NY Times story
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776)

[BuffaloJack]

I can't condemn anyone who served. If he enlisted during the war period then he expected that there would be a chance of being on the receiving end of enemy fire. The fact that he never got shipped to Vietnam is just the luck of the draw. I can condemn him for spinning yarns about being in country though but at least he was available, unlike many others.
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71)

[Me#1You#10]

I would normally concur with your assessment BJ...save for the following quotes attributed to Blumenthal...

[TEWSPilot]

They also posted his FIVE DEFERMENTS...the totality of his Vietnam heroics...TOAST.
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[Me#1You#10]

Perhaps it should also warrant noting (as I believe was Shawa's intent in posting this in the SVPT forum) that today's extreme umbrage of the NY Times at Blumenthal's both active and passive inflation of his military service record would have been most welcome back in 2004.

I'm also quite curious as to the motivation behind the NY Times' kneecapping of Blumenthal's candidacy. Surely SOMETHING more than the rather lackluster NY Times' track-record on over-inflated military experience is afoot. While I'm ignorant about the CT race, it appears that the Times may well be supporting another candidacy.

[Me#1You#10]

Looking into this a bit further, the only other viable Dem candidate at the moment is Merrick Alpert, a relative unknown who has polled only around 6% of Dem primary voters. It seems unlikely that the Times would be schilling for Alpert...but who knows at this point.

One thing fersure, the CT Dem nomination process has, for all intents and purposes, begun anew. I can't imagine Blumenthal's candidacy surviving this...though it appears he's going to try. Press conference today at 2 P.M.

[zinfella]

[TEWSPilot]

Do you suppose one of the Wall Streeters has finally had enough beatings at the hands of hypocritical Leftists and "dropped a dime" on him?

....just for comparison, "Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (reported deaths + injuries) -- 1/750,000"......ShaZAM!!!
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[Leeman]

I am from CT & heard blumenthal say things like that a few years ago , when our local American Legion post dedicated a vet monument on our town green. However I had no idea that he did not serve in Viet nam at that time.

My humble opinion is that it will not hurt him that much, there are a lot of freeloaders here in CT. Their only concern is to keep the freebies flowing.
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Leeman

"We are all Ghost now"
"But once we were men"

from an unsigned diary recovered from Cabanatuan Camp

[shawa]

I imagine his statement will be that he is sorry that there was a ‘misunderstanding’ that he served in Vietnam but he was only stressing that ‘his heart was with’ those who DID serve and came home to such abuse (which I do believe as he has been very active about veteran’s issues).
However, a lie is a lie and certainly diminishes his character. Very sad that he didn’t correct this when it would have only been reported in a local paper, and wouldn’t have gotten much attention. Now the NYT makes it a big issue with a brutal report on his lie as well as how he used every means he could to avoid joining the military.

And yes, I do wonder at their motive in exposing him, Me#1.
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776)

[shawa]

His opponent who is also a veteran issued this statement:

Merrick Alpert Calls Blumenthal "a coward"and "a liar"

"As a citizen and as a candidate, it's shocking to see someone who has tried to craft this image of themselves as a fighter, as someone who is willing to always step up to tell the truth, to see him lie about serving in Vietnam," Alpert said during a brief phone conversation tonight.

"He was a coward to go and get five deferments and he's clearly a liar for standing up for his own political benefit years later...It's disgraceful behavior from someone who is clearly not qualified to serve in the U.S. Senate."

courant.com
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776)

[Me#1You#10]

[shawa]

Video at youtube
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776)

[TEWSPilot]

A couple of commenters on Michelle Malkin’s blog nailed it down:

“Wonder if Mr. Blumenthal thinks Jane Fonda served in Viet Nam too.”

“Well, Jane did serve on an anti-aircraft crew in the NVA… No doubt about her ’service.’…”
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[Me#1You#10]