So what if Joe Biden dodged draft, Vietnam War?

911FamiliesForAmerica.org ^ | September 5, 2008 | Tim Sumner

[Sergeant Tim]

In response to my wondering if VP nominee Joseph Biden dodged the military draft after Vietnam's bloody Tet offensive, in part a reader wrote:

May Have”, “What if” -- [t]his article is presuming much. ... It is a bit refreshing though to see the same B.S. tactics employed against Biden as were/are against Sara Palin, who does have Foreign Policy experience, for no other reason than her State shares borders with two Sovereign Nations. Maybe B.S. is a bit strong -- yet it appears to be over reaching at the moment. I honestly can’t say I got my draft board notification in 1968 immediately after I turned 18 or not. I don’t believe I did because I wasn’t summoned for a physical until the winter of 69. I know I wasn’t dodging the draft for that year and half. My B.S. comment was in regards to the treatment Palin is getting, and if that happens to Biden, So (sic) be it ... tit for tat.

Overreaching? Perhaps. The reader's point is well taken, the delays between registering and classification physicals were often lengthy.

Yet let's remember the Associated Press' report:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden received five student draft deferments during the Vietnam War, the same number of deferments received by Vice President Dick Cheney, and later was disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager... "As a result of a physical exam on April 5, 1968, Joe Biden was classified 1-Y and disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager," said David Wade, a campaign spokesman.

In "Promises to Keep," a memoir that was published last year and became an instant best-seller after he was tapped as Obama's running mate, Biden never mentions his asthma, recounting an active childhood, work as a lifeguard and football exploits in high school.

My point here was not to suggest that we should drag out the records of the millions that received deferments or disqualifying classifications and grill them all on this subject. That said, Senator Joseph Biden is running to be a "heartbeat" away from becoming the Commander-in-Chief.

What is not clear from media reports, past and present, is how Joseph Biden was initially classified, medically fit or unfit, and whether that information was provided to the media by the Obama-Biden campaign. They say he was sent a questionnaire and then received four school years of student deferments, which would have ended when his law school did in the spring of 1968. But, on April 5, 1968, he suddenly received a physical from some unnamed doctor.

Which leads back to the question of whether he was initially classified as 1-A, physically eligible for the military draft.

If so, why did another doctor in 1968 find Biden’s asthma made him 1-Y — when the Vietnam War was at its peak? That same alleged asthma did not stop him from playing football in high school or apparently make him 1-Y at anytime back when Senator Biden was 18, 19, or 20-years of age, when relatively few American troops were in combat.

Those are fair questions, are they not?

If not, why was it fair for a political hack to forge military documents in order to smear President George W. Bush with them? Why did now infamous reporters continue to further the story even after the documents were found to be fake?

Why was it fair to question Richard Cheney and other prominent conservatives on their lack of military service during Vietnam?

The cheap shot attacks by Nancy Pelosi (who never served in the military) and liberal media that repeat such tripe have different rules for the D’s and R’s in or running for political office.

Tit for tat, as the reader pointed out.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

You know not what you speak...The President spent almost two years on active duty in pilot training and then upgrading to the deuce which is a hog of an airplane to fly.

[Osage Orange]

Do really expect FReeper’s to believe your B.S.?

[A-COL]

Absolutely... as you should have noticed I mentioned Cheney in my posting as well as other well documented Draft Dodgers as Clinton. Except for space I would have mentioned Gingrich, etc. as well as Bill Richardson, and former Secretaries Rubin, Glickman, and the entire rest of the Clinton Cabinet less the VA Secretary — who, although Togo West served, he avoided any combat zones. I would also mention that the Bush 41 Team had 21% Vets among Presidential appointee postions, the Clinton immediately dropped that to less than 4% although 19% of the general cohort eligible for positions were military vets. The most under represented minority in the Clinton administration was Vets. Then again, when you are a Draft Dodger, I can understand how you would be “uncomfortable” in the company of brave men.