And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day

William Shakespeare, Henry V, circa 1699

By Clifford F. Thies

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, has been caught in a lie. He said he served “in” Vietnam, when he did not. He says he meant to say “during,” and that he did not intend to mislead people as to whether he was a combat veteran.

I, like Blumenthal, was “during” but not “in.” Being a tad younger, I was not subject to Selective Service. I did not have to go through the process of seeking deferments, which he did five times, because of college enrollment or whatever. I notice that a lot of members of one or the other political party criticize members of the opposite party who sought deferments, but excuse members of their own party. Not me. They were merely doing what was allowed by the law.

Being a Republican and opposing the government making life and death decisions for law-abiding persons, I supported the replacement of Selective Service first by the Lottery and later by the voluntary military. Instead of the government deciding who would be drafted and who deferred based on its idea of each person’s expendability, upon the change to the Lottery, each person was given a draft number according to his birth day. My draft number was 365. But, as I was born in a leap year, I wasn’t as lucky as that might appear.

In 1973, President Nixon signed the All-Volunteer Military Act and, on the day he signed the act, I signed up for Army ROTC. Two years later, I took my commission. But, as things turned out, sometime before I graduated from Infantry Officer Basic School, the war was “Vietnamized.” I served in places like Texas and Germany, not Viet Nam.

Roll the clock forward a few years. The first time I was recognized for my military service was at a Pow-Wow. The Chief said his tribe was proud of its warrior heritage. He said his two sons were among the greatest warriors in the world, one a Marine and the other an Army Ranger. Then he invited all the warriors in the audience to join the warriors of his tribe in a war dance. First, he called for the combat veterans, then all who had served or were serving on active duty or in the Guard or the Reserves. I wondered what I was doing among the combat veterans. You see, I had held my manhood cheap for avoiding serving “in” Viet Nam. And, more than that, I had been judgmental of others who had avoided serving “during” Viet Nam, differentiating between degrees of avoiding.

Blumenthal certainly deserves to be criticized for his embellishing his military service. In these days of resume enhancement, cheating in school, marital infidelity, corporate scandal and political corruption, we must take a stand against all forms and degrees of dishonesty. But, the punishment must fit the crime.

Conversely, in these days of a voluntary military, all who wear the uniform should be recognized for their freely-made decision to stand between us and the enemies of our country. Nobody can, today, question their manhood.

Dr. Thies, now a professor of economics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia, was a Captain in the US Army. He is also one of the original members of the Libertarian Defense Caucus from the 1970s.