I tend to despise
those who exaggerate their military record. I support the many groups
who work hard to unmask the poseurs and wannabes.

then you should also consider despising GWB to the same degree. i
should hope that being elected to the white house doesnt give him a
free pass in this regard. some things should be absolute, no?


















As we've often addressed here, a war of the magnitude of WW II
required an incredible amount of manpower. A lot of that was in a
supporting role. My father, for a poor example, served for four years,
drafted as I was being born to function only in a stateside support
role as he was both too old and medically unfit for forward duty. But,
he served and rose to tech sergeant in the Army Air Corps at Keesler
AFB and then Santa Rosa Air Base.

McGovern did not go to any great lengths to highlight his WW II
service during the 1972 campaign. He ran as a staunchly pacifist,
anti-war candidate. He ran on his liberal background as Senator from
SD. He misread the mood of the electorate and while he appealed to the
core of his party, he didn't transfer is appeal to the moderate,
unaffiliated voters and certainly didn't draw from the right.

McGovern used his GI Bill well. Nixon "used slush funds" in his
political role, appropriately if not in consonance with what you might
have chosen him to do. He made his reputation in early political
development as an anti-communist. There's no relationship between
McGovern's education and Nixon's job funding. It's a red herring.

By election time in 1972 the Republican propaganda machine convinced the
weak minded and ignorant that Nixon was the warrior and McGovern the
dodger.

By 1972 we were four years into the Nixon policy of "Vietnamization".
We were down to less than one quarter of the troops in-country in SEA.
We were sitting at the peace table in Paris with SVN, NVN and the VC.
We were actively engaged in diplomatic negotiations with China and
"peace was at hand". Hardly a "warrior" positioning.

There was never a mention of McGovern as a "dodger." There was plenty
of McGovern posturing as a pacifist and unilateral disarmer.

I can remember the 1972 election, but I sure don't remember what you
described. I think you fabricated it.

I can remember the '72 election.


Given that you were only 14 or 15 years old in 1972, it's amazing you're
able to recall the campaign tactics for that election (not that I do).

I was thirty and flying my second tour at Korat in the F-4E, going to
NVN most every day. I had a vested interest in the campaign.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8