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Report: VA Secretary Lied About Serving in Special Forces
weekly standard ^ | february 23, 2015 | daniel halper

Posted on 02/23/2015 6:04:23 PM PST by lowbridge

The Veterans Affairs secretary lied about serving in the special forces, a report in the Huffington Post alleges.

"Robert McDonald, the secretary of veterans affairs, wrongly claimed in a videotaped comment earlier this year that he served in special operations forces, the most elite units in the armed forces, when his military service of five years was spent almost entirely with the 82nd Airborne Division during the late 1970s," the report reads.

U.S. special operations forces (SOF) are composed of exhaustively trained and highly capable troops from each military service, including the Green Berets, Army Rangers, Delta Force and Navy SEALs -- but not the 82nd Airborne. They are certified to undertake the most dangerous and delicate missions, including, famously, the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Special operators are a close-knit community deeply hostile to outsiders who try to claim the coveted mantle of special operations.

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: mcdonald; military; robertmcdonald; specialforces; usmilitary; va; veterans; veteransaffairs
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To: mrsmith

You can be a jerk like Hanoi john, lie about what you did in Vietnam. get 3 purple hearts you did not deserve, and then run for President and become secretary of state. whats to lose.


41 posted on 02/23/2015 7:04:06 PM PST by easternsky
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To: mrsmith

Back in the 70’s they were called the ‘Jumpin Junkies’...


42 posted on 02/23/2015 7:10:11 PM PST by MSF BU (Support the troops: Join Them.)
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To: lowbridge
I have a friend who told me that in the Army he was member of the Remington Raiders......I was impressed. When he was asked to elaborate, he explained that he typed a lot of reports.
43 posted on 02/23/2015 7:11:12 PM PST by Enten (I don't have islamophobia...I do have islamonausea)
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To: mrsmith
Back in the 70s I believe Airborne was considered one of the ‘special forces’.

No, that is entirely incorrect. It's a simple error for those who were not in a position to know. But, the Secretary was certainly in a position to know and he absolutely knew that service in the 82d Airborne Division was not service in Special Forces. Why people with perfectly honorable and distinguished service chose to lie about it an embellish what they did is beyond me, but they do and it's an indicator of an emotionally disturbed mind. Most of them are called Democrats.

44 posted on 02/23/2015 7:15:21 PM PST by centurion316
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To: lowbridge

All of this instant debunking by citizens of lies told by the elites is one reason they want to regulate the internet.


45 posted on 02/23/2015 7:17:47 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: yarddog
Yes, the 82d is an elite unit, however, we wear (wore in the 70s) the Red Beret and everyone knew two miles the down the road from Division on Ardennes was the Special Forces who wore Green Berets.

This is just another liberal taking a very liberal view of service - his unit ran four miles or more every day in garrison, so we always ran to and from Reilly Rd to Longstreet on Ardennes Street - SF was located on both sides of Reilly Road and Smoke Bomb Hill area. He absolutely knows better.

46 posted on 02/23/2015 7:19:35 PM PST by Jumper
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To: Enten

Yes, the clatter of typewriters at JUSPAO II (MACV) in Saigon was deadening with Joel Fried (NY Daily News) cussing out the SVN cleaning women for their “chattering”.

Joel was strung tighter than a piano wire, but a good reporter.

Ever use a French typewriter to write articles? Those frogs inserted letters/symbols that never existed on earth. Made one think about alien invasions.


47 posted on 02/23/2015 7:20:30 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: yarddog

Oh and on the Rangers from D-Day. My assistant Scout Master in Dayton, Ohio prepared everyone of Boy Scouts to become soldiers without us knowing it - rope bridges, back packing trips two weeks long, repelling - only after I joined the 82d did I find out he was one of the few Rangers at Point du Hoc to come thru unscratched, and he continued his service on into Korea and Viet Nam....


48 posted on 02/23/2015 7:21:58 PM PST by Jumper
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To: Marcella

Hey, I am one of three vets I know that will admit to being a cook. Great duty in hing sight but sucks the warrior essence out of one - at least it did me.


49 posted on 02/23/2015 7:22:25 PM PST by mcshot (I pray someone comes forth with the strength, fortitude and burning desire to save our Republic)
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To: lowbridge

Maybe he meant the forces her served in were for people who are, “special.”


50 posted on 02/23/2015 7:28:49 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: Jumper

I actually wish I knew what the friction between the 82nd and the Combat Engineers was about. I should have taken the time to really find out.

I know there was tension and it was enough that the Army had a football game in Berlin soon after the war, between the two. I have several photos of the game.

It was a pretty big deal. Eisenhower and Marshall Zhukov both attended the game. It was played at the Berlin Polo Grounds.


51 posted on 02/23/2015 7:29:12 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: lowbridge

If he completed Ranger training, he can’t say he is Special Forces?


52 posted on 02/23/2015 7:30:39 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: A CA Guy

Possible..When in the 82nd during the 50’s the unit I served with in the 504 Abn Rct we were in field 80% of year consisted of attempted penetration by Special Forces in CPX exercizes. Used to nail em sneaking around everytime.


53 posted on 02/23/2015 7:33:13 PM PST by mosesdapoet (Some of my best rebuttals are in FR's along with meaningless venting no one reads.)
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To: LonePalm

And some maintain a low profile.


54 posted on 02/23/2015 7:41:51 PM PST by ASA Vet (We weren't here, We were never there, We don't exist.)
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To: TurboZamboni

And during the Battle of the Bulge, he killed 1000 Nazis with an atomic hand grenade.
The grenade came with the Medal of Honor, the Victoria Cross and a half-dozen French medals dangling from the pin ... because it had a 1/2 mile blast radius.

But he could run so fast, he was just a blur.
General Williams called him “Flash”.

So he threw the atomic hand grenade, ran 3/4 mile, saw with his 5/5 vision that where the grenade was off by a millimeter, ran back and moved it onto the German general’s regimental field table, then he ran back to HQ and had Field Marshall J. Frikkin Kerry pin his medals on.


55 posted on 02/23/2015 7:47:40 PM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: TigersEye; mcshot
Funny.. when I think of Special Forces... movies.. Steven Seagal (movies) come to mind for some reason. "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" from 1995, for example.

mcshot: in 1 or 2 movies, Seagal was a cook too!

56 posted on 02/23/2015 7:49:26 PM PST by odds
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To: redcatcherb412

I would guess from your tagline that you were in the 4/12th.


57 posted on 02/23/2015 7:57:20 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (Benghazi Clinton killed 4 & injured a dozen as SOS, imagine what she could do as CinC.)
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To: redcatcherb412; shibumi

Thanks for clearing that up. Airborne is NOT Special Forces.


58 posted on 02/23/2015 7:58:17 PM PST by InterceptPoint
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To: manc

Hmmm ... “doe snot” for FR lexicon? Could be epic


59 posted on 02/23/2015 7:58:50 PM PST by NonValueAdded (Pointing out dereliction of duty is NOT fear mongering, especially in a panDEMic)
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To: mrsmith
Not really. Whole divisions of Airborne ever since WW II. You may be thinking of Green Berets.
60 posted on 02/23/2015 7:58:53 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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