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Dick Cheney had five or six deferments, all for different reasons. Too bad they transplanted a heart into him, he was doing so well for so long without one.
Many, many people got deferments during the Viet Nam War. Among them are Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Michael Bloomberg, George W. Bush, Richard Carpenter, Howard Dean, Bobby Fischer, Steve Forbes, Arlo Guthrie, George Hamilton, Stephen King, Joe Namath, John Stossel, Garry Trudeau, and Steve Wozniak. Getting a military deferment doesn't exactly make you a bad person. People have reasons for requesting deferments, and governments have reasons for granting them. None of these people were draft dodgers; none of them broke the law. Somebody needs to lighten up.
You don't get drafted when you are already serving as a fighter pilot. George W. flew F-102s during the war, in the National Guard, he didn't serve in theater, most didn't.
Vietnam was by far a volunteer war anyway, unlike the draftee war of WWII.
Rush Limbaugh was 4-F because of a cyst on his spine I believe. I remember the draft well very well.
There were missionary deferments, but there were some notable Mormons in the Vietnam War as Mormonism is not pacifistic so far as I know. (The Community of Christ, then called something like "The Reorganized Church of LDS", I believe is something of a "peace church" but they're different and based in Missouri)
Yes. Perhaps, if a person is a pacifist he should serve in some other mode than actual fighting, but doing missionary work for your particular church is really a lame excuse. It should not be allowed. Legal or not, it is unethical, but judging the history of the faith, that may not be a pressing concern.
Only a scumbag like Mitt Romney would protest in favor of the Vietnam war and the draft and then hide in France when it came time for him to serve his country in the war that he supported. Romney may have used his Mormon mission as a convenient excuse, but there are many other Mormons that did their duty and served honorably.
You can't criticize all Mormons based on the actions of a few like Mitt Romney.
Only a scumbag like Mitt Romney would protest in favor of the Vietnam war and the draft and then hide in France when it came time for him to serve his country in the war that he supported.
I find this to be one of the most disgusting things about the man.
Freakin' hypocritical coward.
And things haven't changed much - just listen to all his hawkish rhetoric, especially about Iran. He sounds like he is just itching for conflict, again at no personal risk to himself or to his own kids. And the more he sells his soul to someone like Sheldon Adelson, the more likely the possibility of going to war with Iran if he's elected.
And instead of "other people's money," it will be a case of "other people's kids."
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Romney may have used his Mormon mission as a convenient excuse, but there are many other Mormons that did their duty and served honorably.
You can't criticize all Mormons based on the actions of a few like Mitt Romney.
You don't get drafted when you are already serving as a fighter pilot. George W. flew F-102s during the war, in the National Guard, he didn't serve in theater, most didn't.
Vietnam was by far a volunteer war anyway, unlike the draftee war of WWII.
Rush Limbaugh was 4-F because of a cyst on his spine I believe. I remember the draft well very well.
GW (Dumbya) Bush got preferential treatment to get into the NG unit that was scheduled to go to Viet Nam after all the Boy Scouts and Grandma's Knitting Circles had been sent. (Bush family had the political power to make sure no Bush would go to Nam) Bush also was "grounded" further ensuring he would never go to war by going AWOL instead of taking his flight physical.
Cheney "had other priorities than military service"
John ******** - avoid the draft with 'teaching' deferments (Who knew that "A s h c r o f t" can't get past the CD automatic sensors)
Carl Rove - avoid the draft with a number of 'deferments'
After the 2008 election I thought for sure that we had finally moved away from fighting the Vietnam War all over again. I guess I was wrong.
Well, we're close, at least as far as Presidential candidates go. The draft ended 39 years ago, so if you add that to 18 (years of age) + 4 years (until the next election in 2016) you get 61 years of age. Most Presidential candidates slip in under that number.
And, of course, some will have served, or will have just gotten lucky (ie, no deferrals of any sort), so it may well not come up again.
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George W Bush was already in the military.
