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Re: False Military Service Claims

I served three tours in Vietnam, so I figure I have a dog in this fight.

In my opinion, anyone who served in the armed forces in any capacity between 1964 and 1973 can legitimately claim to be a Vietnam War veteran. That privilege is granted to veterans of the two world wars and the Korean conflict, so why not Vietnam era veterans? It matters not whether you served in Georgia, Germany or Vietnam, or whether you had a combat or support MOS. Whatever job you did, wherever you did it, contributed in some way to the war effort. Only about 10 percent of U.S. Army personnel who physically served in the Republic of Vietnam actually served in direct combat action. The vast majority served in support functions -- clerks, cooks, mechanics, and every other function required to run an army. The individual soldier in those days had little or no say in what MOS he served. I requested to be a Special Forces medic, but was selected to be an airborne rifleman. The needs of the army came first. Once you were assigned an MOS, served for awhile and learned the ropes, you might get a little wiggle room in your choice of jobs (I tried my hand as a helicopter crewman for awhile), but for the most part you went where the army sent you and did what you were ordered and trained to do. If you did that, then as far as I am concerned you are a brother in arms.

Military service is military service. Military service in time of war makes you a veteran of that war. That's what the National Defense Service ribbon (which all 1964-1973 veterans are authorized to wear) means.

The mistake that that politician made was to say that he served *in* Vietnam. In my opinion, he would have been correct if he had said instead that he was a Vietnam War veteran.

That's what I think, for what it's worth.

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