This topic, with Byrd's wackyness, president Clinton's draft dodging, accusations of Bush's being AWOL, etc. has me interested in comparing VA status of our senators and house members. I found the current list of 39 of the 100 senators being veterans (only slight advantage for Repub's over Dem's). Wondering how the House would fare:
Veteran Senators: 39 out of 100
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Army Corps of Engineers, 1945-47
Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-UT), National Guard, 1957-61
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Army Reserve, 1968-74
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Marine Corps, 1955-57
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), Air Force, 1951-53
Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Navy, 1968-73, USNR, 1973-1992, CAPT
Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) Army, 1962-68
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) Navy, 1959-61
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) U.S. USMCR 1969-75
Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-ID) National Guard, 1970-74
Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) Air Force, 1969-72
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) Army Reserve, 1969-75
Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) USARNE 1967-73
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) U.S. Army, Sergeant, 1967-68
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) Navy, 1962-67, U.S. Naval Reserve, LCDR
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) Navy, 1942-45
Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) Army, 1942-45
Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-OK) Army, 1954-56
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) Army, 1943-47
Sen. James M. Jeffords (R-VT) Navy, 1956-59, Naval Reserve, 1959-1990
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) U.S. Army 1969- ?
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) Army, 1951-53
Sen. John Robert Kerry (D-MA) Navy, 1968-69
Sen. Herb Kohl (D- WI) Army Reserve, 1958-64
Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R- IN) Navy, 1957-60
Sen. John R. McCain (R- AZ) Navy, 1958-81, CAPT (ret)
Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R- AK) Coast Guard, 1955-56
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) U.S. Army 1968-1970
Sen. Don Nickles (R- OK) National Guard, 1970-76
Sen. John F. "Jack" Reed (D-RI) U.S. Army 1967-79, Army Reserve 1979-91
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) U.S. Marine Corps (1958-62)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) Army Reserves 1973-86
Sen. Robert C. Smith (R- NH) Navy, 1965-67
Sen. Arlen Specter (R- PA) Air Force, 1951-53
Sen. Ted Stevens (R- AK) Army Air Corps, 1943-46
Sen. Craig Thomas (R- WY) Marine Corps, 1955-59
Sen. Strom Thurmond (R- SC) Army, 1942-46, Army Reserve 1924-1960
Sen. John R. Warner (R- VA)Navy, ET-3, 1944-46, Marine Corps, LT1, 1950-52
Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA) Marine Corps 1953-1956
found it at:
http://www.navyleague.org/legislative_affairs/Veterans%20in%20the%20Senate.pdf
I sent MSNBC a few items from this data and told them they should check the Dept of Navy records. Maybe Scarborough will get this info.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Presidential Visits to Naval Ships
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq49-1.htm This list includes ship visits by presidents, during their terms as president, presently known to the Ships History Branch. There have undoubtedly been others; any additional information would be appreciated. Commissioned presidential yachts are included though these were not, strictly speaking, "visits to Navy ships" since these yachts were not part of the operating forces. The yacht Sequoia is listed under F.D. Roosevelt only, the only period during which she was in commission. Small craft, such as the motor boats used by a number of presidents after World War II, are not included. Individual ship histories are included in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
John Tyler (1841-45) Steam sloop Princeton (1844)
Franklin Pierce (1853-57) Steam frigate Wabash (1856)
William McKinley (1897-1901) Yacht Sylph (1898-1901)
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) Yacht Sylph (1901-09) Battleship Illinois (1902) Yacht Mayflower (1905-09) Submarine Plunger (1905) Battleship Louisiana (1906) Battleship Connecticut (1907; 1909) Battleship Mississippi (1907)
William H. Taft (1909-13) Yacht Sylph (1909-13) Yacht Mayflower (1909-13) Battleship Arkansas (1912)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-21) Yacht Sylph (1913-210 Yacht Mayflower (1913-21) Transport George Washington (1919)
Warren G. Harding (1921-23) Yacht Mayflower (1921-23)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-29) Yacht Mayflower (1923-29) Battleship Utah (1928) Battleship Texas (1928)
Herbert C. Hoover (1929-33) Battleship Maryland (1928-29) Battleship Utah (1928-29) Battleship Arizona (1931)
F. D. Roosevelt (1933-45) Yacht Sequoia (1933-36) Cruiser Houston (1934; 1935; 1938; 1939) Yacht Potomac (1936-45) Cruiser Indianapolis (1933; 1936) Destroyer Phelps (1937) Cruiser Philadelphia (1938) Cruiser Tuscaloosa (1939, 1940) Cruiser Augusta (1941) British battleship Prince of Wales(1941) Battleship Iowa (1943) Cruiser Memphis (1943) Cruiser Baltimore (1944) Destroyer Cummings (1944) Cruiser Quincy (1945)
Harry S. Truman (1945-53) Yacht Williamsburg (1945-52) Cruiser Augusta (1945) Battleship Missouri (1945, 1947) Destroyer Lansdowne (1945) Submarine U-2513 (1946) not yet identified (1946-47)
Dwight D.Eisenhower (1953-61) Yacht Williamsburg (1953) Carrier Saratoga (1957) Submarine Seawolf (1957) Cruiser Des Moines (1959) Cruiser Saint Paul (1960) Submarine (unidentified) Submarine Patrick Henry (year?)
John F. Kennedy (1961-63) Destroyer Joseph P Kennedy Jr (1962) Coast Guard training ship Eagle (1962) Submarine Chopper (1962) Submarine Thomas A. Edison (1963) Missile test ship Observation Island 1963) Carrier Kitty Hawk (1963) Carrier Oriskany (1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) Carrier Enterprise (1967)
Richard M. Nixon (1969-74) Carrier Hornet (1969)
James E. Carter (1977-81) Submarine Los Angeles (1977) Carrier Dwight D Eisenhower (1978)
Ronald Reagan (1981-89) Carrier Constellation (1981) Battleship New Jersey (1982) Battleship Iowa (1986)
George H. W. Bush (1989-92) Carrier Forrestal (1989) Guided Missile Cruiser Belknap (1991)
William J. Clinton (1992-2001) Carrier Carl Vinson (1993; 1995) Carrier George Washington (1994) Carrier Independence (1996) Carrier Harry S. Truman (1998)
George W. Bush (2001- ) Carrier Abraham Lincoln (2003)
When these people start blocking FReepers - JUST GO TO ANOTHER WEBSITE AND THEN GO TO THE MSNBC WEBSITE - WORKS EVERY TIME.