On 10 Jul 2004 23:22:54 GMT, (Bill Shatzer)
wrote:

Ed Rasimus ) writes:

-snip-

Ah, the ol' "as far as I know" escape clause. Well, after today, you
can know--Gore served 151 days of a 360 day "combat tour". He has used
the statement that "I went because if I didn't, someone else would
have had to serve in my place." A noble sentiment, but the fact is
that someone else did have to serve to complete his curtailed tour.

Well, not by much. Gore's enlistment was up in August of
1971 and they sent him home and discharged him at the end
of May. Unless he re-enlisted, there was no way he was going
to complete a one-year tour. His "early out" cut two months,
not seven, off of his tour.

'Sides, if I recall correctly, the draw-down (and "Vietnamization")
was well underway by that time and early releases were rather
common. There's every reason to assume that no one had to
complete the remaining two months - likely his position simply
wasn't filled.

Sorry, Bill, but that simply isn't so. While "early outs" were
becoming available for a few specialties as early as '71, the policy
didn't apply to overseas tours which were strictly controlled.

The only exception would be unit relocations, but not individuals.
When the 469th TFS shut down at the end of FY '72, there were no early
outs or early rotations back to CONUS. My second tour went from June
of '72 to July of '73 with no availability of curtailment.

And, you really might want to look up the duration of Mr. Gore's
overseas assignment.


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