War Records

[finkbijj]

I wanted to do some searching about past presidential candidate war and military service records and any controversy stirred up over any findings.  How did they influence the election?  How will both Bush and Kerry's war pasts influence the election? Will they at all?

Bush and Kerry:  One website I found has an interesting time line of miliary

Comments

[csa945]

Based upon my own personal observations, candidates' military experience have rarely affected their campaigns. Not only was Clinton accused of being a draft-dodger and did not go to Vietnam even in as much capacity as his vice-president, President Clinton also defeated two undeniable heroes from World War II -- George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole, who served in the Pacific and Europe respectively. What I did not know until recently, after Senator Dole stated that Senator Kerry's wounds are "superficial" (and by comparison to Dole's own, they are), Bob Dole's arm was shattered by Nazi machine-gun fire in Italy and he cannot use his arm -- Kerry may have shrapnel in his leg, but he can still walk. Also there are the war heroes who have been passed off as pacifists -- George McGovern, who was a bomber pilot in WWII, but only took one state against Nixon in '72 as he opposed the Vietnam conflict, and more recently Senator Max Cleeland (sp?) of Georgia, who only has one remaining full limb after his service in Vietnam, but opposed several