Who Served?

Do you see a pat­tern here?

The ref­er­enced web­site has ref­er­ences. Those I checked seemed solid.

Lots of chick­en­hawks on down this list.

Democrats

Richard Gephardt: Air Nation­al Guard, 1965–71.
David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968–72.
Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969–72.
Al Gore: enlist­ed Aug. 1969; sent to Viet­nam Jan. 1971 as an army jour­nal­ist in 20th Engi­neer Brigade.
Bob Ker­rey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966–69; Medal of Hon­or, Vietnam.
Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-’47; Medal of Hon­or, WWII.
John Ker­ry: Lt., Navy 1966–70; Sil­ver Star, Bronze Star with Com­bat V, Pur­ple Hearts.
Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948–52; Bronze Star, Korea.
Max Cle­land: Cap­tain, Army 1965–68; Sil­ver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951–1953.
Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962–67; Naval Reserve, 1968–74.
Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971–1979; Cap­tain, Army Reserve 1979–91.
Fritz Hollings: Army offi­cer in WWII, receiv­ing the Bronze Star and sev­en cam­paign ribbons.
Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956–76; Viet­nam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Sol­dier’s Medal.
Pete Peter­son: Air Force Cap­tain, POW. Pur­ple Heart, Sil­ver Star and Legion of Merit.
Mike Thomp­son: Staff sergeant, 173rd Air­borne, Pur­ple Heart.
Bill McBride: Can­di­date for Fla. Gov­er­nor. Marine in Viet­nam; Bronze Star with Com­bat V.
Gray Davis: Army Cap­tain in Viet­nam, Bronze Star.
Pete Stark: Air Force 1955–57
Chuck Robb: Vietnam
How­ell Heflin: Sil­ver Star
George McGov­ern: Sil­ver Star & DFC dur­ing WWII.
Bill Clin­ton: Did not serve. Stu­dent defer­ments. Entered draft but received 311.
Jim­my Carter: Sev­en years in the Navy.
Wal­ter Mon­dale: Army 1951–1953
John Glenn: WWII and Korea;six DFCs and Air Medal with 18Clusters.
Tom Lan­tos: Served in Hun­gar­i­an under­ground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.

Republicans

Den­nis Hastert: did not serve.
Tom Delay: did not serve.
Roy Blunt: did not serve.
Bill Frist: did not serve.
Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
Rick San­to­rum: did not serve.
Trent Lott: did not serve.
Dick Cheney: did not serve. Sev­er­al defer­ments, the last by marriage.
John Ashcroft: did not serve. Sev­en defer­ments to teach business.
Jeb Bush: did not serve.
Karl Rove: did not serve.
Sax­by Cham­b­liss: did not serve. “Bad knee.” The man who attacked Cle­land’s patriotism.
Paul Wol­fowitz: did not serve.
Vin Weber: did not serve.
Richard Per­le: did not serve.
Dou­glas Fei­th: did not serve.
Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
Richard Shel­by: did not serve.
Jon Kyl: did not serve.
Tim Hutchi­son: did not serve.
Christo­pher Cox: did not serve.
Newt Gin­grich: did not serve.
Don Rums­feld: served in Navy (1954–57) as avi­a­tor and flight instructor.
George W. Bush: failed to com­plete his six-year Nation­al Guard enlist­ment; got assigned to Alaba­ma so he could cam­paign for fam­i­ly friend run­ning for U.S. Sen­ate; failed to show up for required med­ical exam, dis­ap­peared from duty.
Ronald Rea­gan: due to poor eye­sight, served in a non-com­bat role mak­ing movies.
B‑1 Bob Dor­nan: Con­scious­ly enlist­ed after fight­ing was over in Korea.
Phil Gramm: did not serve.
John McCain: Sil­ver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Mer­it, Pur­ple Heart and Dis­tin­guished Fly­ing Cross.
Bob Dole: an hon­or­able veteran.
Chuck Hagel: two Pur­ple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam.
Duke Cun­ning­ham: nom­i­nat­ed for Medal of Hon­or, Navy Cross, Sil­ver Stars, Air Medals, Pur­ple Hearts.
Jeff Ses­sions: Army Reserves, 1973–1986
Col­in Pow­ell: Long career in mil­i­tary management.
Don Nick­les: Nation­al Guard, 1970–1976
Jim Inhofe, Army, 1954–1956
Dana Rohrabach­er: did not serve.
John M. McHugh: did not serve.
JC Watts: did not serve.
Jack Kemp: did not serve. “Knee,” although con­tin­ued in NFL for 8 years.
Dan Quayle: Jour­nal­ism unit of the Indi­ana Nation­al Guard.
Rudy Giu­liani: did not serve.
George Pata­ki: did not serve.
Spencer Abra­ham: did not serve.
John Engler: did not serve.
Lind­sey Gra­ham: Nation­al Guard lawyer.
Arnold Schwarzeneg­ger: AWOL from Aus­tri­an army base.
George H.W.; Bush: Pilot in WWII. Shot down by the Japanese.
Tom Ridge: Bronze Star for Val­or in Vietnam.
Sam John­son: Com­bat in Korea and Viet­nam, POW in Hanoi.
Ted Stevens: WWII pilot, DFCs, two Air Medals.
John Warn­er: Served in the Navy dur­ing WWII as a RM3
Heather Wil­son: Air Force 1978–1989
Ger­ald Ford: Navy, WWII 

Pundits & Preachers 

Sean Han­ni­ty: did not serve.
Rush Lim­baugh: did not serve (4‑F with a “pilonidal cyst.”)
Bill O’Reil­ly: did not serve.
Michael Sav­age: did not serve.
George Will: did not serve.
Chris Matthews: did not serve.
Paul Gig­ot: did not serve.
Bill Ben­nett: did not serve.
Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
John Wayne: did not serve.
Bill Kris­tol: did not serve.
Ken­neth Starr: did not serve.
Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
Ralph Reed: did not serve.
Michael Medved: did not serve.
Char­lie Daniels: did not serve.
Ted Nugent: did not serve.

Cyn is Rick's wife, Katie's Mom, and Esther & Oliver's Mémé. She's also a professional geek, avid reader, fledgling coder, enthusiastic gamer (TTRPGs), occasional singer, and devoted stitcher.
Posts created 4259

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

Back To Top