A tribute to leading American figures who had served our country.

[MrFun]

A hearty thank you to all those who served America:
Who Has Served America:

Democrats:
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army
journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V,
Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star &Bronze Star,Vietnam.
Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign
ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
Stars,and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and
Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star &DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Republicans -- and these are the guys sending people to war:
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven (7) deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max
Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got
assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for
U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from
duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non- combat role
making movies.
* Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit,
Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL
for 8 years as quarterback.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.

[Ecthy]

I see the political right wing features more people clever enough to trick out of military service

[MrFun]

But remember, liberals are weak on defense and security!!

[Apocalypse]

Michael Savage wants to pull troops out of Iraq so I don't know why you are bringing him up.

[Cyclotron]

I am personally ashamed that knowledge of Michael Savage has escaped the Bay Area.

[rah]

Gee, I'm didn't know that every democrat served in the service, but not a single republican. This is simply amazing. Any you think FOX is biased.

[Gangerolf]

makes sense to me.
the people I know who have experienced war are also among the most pacifistic people I know.

[snoopy369]

Wow ... just reeling in shock at the republicans you left off of this list.

George Herbert Walker Bush, for example ... war hero in WWII ...

[Gangerolf]

I guess the list is biased. But still, it's interesting that the top dogs in the current administration didn't serve...

[snoopy369]

I'd also love to see a list of birth-dates there. Hastert, for example, was born in 1942; this makes him 18 (eligible for service) in 1960, and 25 (no longer a good candidate for service) in 1967.

What wars did we fight during this time, exactly? Vietnam wasn't going strong until the VERY end of this, and Korea was over long before this. Especially during 1960-1963 (the time when you'd be most likely to go into the military), we really weren't recruiting heavily. How many democrats up there joined during that time? ONE, and from the Lt. designation probably a ROTC graduate.

The military wasn't exactly hurting for people during this time, and therefore a smart, patriotic person wouldn't go into the military; instead, he'd do his best serving his country in other ways.

Most of your listed Dems on the other hand joined from 1966-1975, quite possibly drafted, or 1950-1955, during Korea. How about the list of democrats born in 1942?

Gangerolf: Again, it's not a surprise. Many people in the current administration are now young enough to not have served due to being born after 1955 (18 in 1973, or the end of Vietnam). Those people are 50 now, and thus in the prime of political service ...

[Cyclotron]

I would like to see a list equivalent to this, but for the senate. That would be a much better indicator - this list has been around for years, and it isn't getting any more convincing.

[Jac de Molay]

I think the point is that everyone who had such a hard-on to invade Iraq ....has never served/chickened out, or experience war themselves?

[Cyclotron]

That's common knowledge. But this list wants to draw a comparison between them and selected Democrat veterans, which is blatantly biased. A comparison of service records would be interesting, but only if done in an equitable manner - hence, my suggestion to try it with the senate.

[Mao]

I'd be interested to see a comparison of the Senate and House, as well as maybe SCOTUS? We already have the high secretary-level officials here...

[Pekka]

Biased list, but still interesting to see the top dogs of admin shine for their lack of involvement during the years, especially since they attack libruls and attacked kerry for his record. Weird.

Anyway, repubs have, some of the mentioned ones, good records there. My eye gets caught in "John McCain". I remember this dude has been mentioned many times before too. Sounds like a war hero to me. How is he viewed by repubs and dems? Might be a keeper right there, I can't remember him saying stupid stuff either, or I would have sure read about it in here.

McCain for the president?