College Dropout, then a 30 month French Vacation, “Chickenhawk” Romney Misses Vietnam and Now Backs Another War in Iran…
Draft Dodger Demonstrated for Vietnam Draft then Ran to France
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By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor
Source: Veterans Today
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Wikipedia gives Romney’s history, showing him to have dropped out of college at 19 and, instead of going to Vietnam as most Americans, he left for France but not covered by any deferment other than one claimed as part of a “private agreement” to name all Mormon children “ministers” according to Mitt’s biographers.
The US Constitution says otherwise, from page one onward. There is no language in the Federal Register supporting this claim, no court decisions and, as there were no African Americans allowed in the Mormon Church at the time, such a decision would have also been a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the Equal Protection provisions of the Constitution.
It wasn’t until 1978 that the challenges to the Mormon Church as legitimate due to their racists policies was settled by the IRS allowing them the legal status of a religious organization. Prior to that, they had the same tax standing as the KKK.
No ACLU lawsuit, no complaints against the then “whites only” Mormon Church and a bizarre number of contradictory stories to make Romney seem like something other than a felon, not very convincing stories at that.
Romney attended Stanford University in 1965–1966 for a year.[20][nb 2] Although the campus and environs were becoming radicalized with the beginnings of 1960s social and political movements, he kept a well-groomed appearance and participated in pre-“Big Game” customs involving the Stanford Axe.[20][31][32] In May 1966, he was part of a counter-protest against a group staging a sit-in at the university administration building in opposition to draft status tests.[20][31]
In July 1966, he left for a thirty-month stay in France as a Mormon missionary,[20][33] a traditional rite of passage for which his father and many other relatives had volunteered.[nb 3] He arrived in Le Havre with ideas about how to change and promote the French Mission, while facing physical and economic deprivation in their cramped quarters.[13][3
An article in today’s Daily Mail features a 19 year old Mitt Romney, not in France as he claimed but in the US, demonstrating in favor of the draft.
They say every picture tells a story.
A newly-unearthed photograph showing Mitt Romney demonstrating in favour of the Vietnam War draft might leave the presidential candidate feeling somewhat embarrassed.
The veteran Republican, then 19, can be seen picketing an anti-war sit-in at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in 1966.
Mr Romney will no doubt be proud of his younger self taking what was at the time a very unpopular stance.
However, he might grimace at his clean-cut appearance and preppy wardrobe.
Here, from Yahoo, is the entire list of draft deferrments. Voluntary service as a “missionary” or helping the homeless or raking lawns aren’t on the list:
the Vietnam War produced “the starkest class division in American military service since the days of purchased draft deferments in the Civil War
PWWII period: (1948 thru 1976*)
1-A Available for military service
1-AM Medical specialist available for military service
1-A-O Conscientious objector available for noncombatant military service
1-A-OM Medical specialist conscientious objector available for noncombatant military service
1-C Member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, or the Public Health Service
(Enl)-enlisted; (Ind)-Inducted; (Dis)-discharged
1-D Member of a Reserve component or student taking military training
**1-H Registrant not currently subject to processing for induction or alternate service
1-O Conscientious objector available for civilian work contributing to the national health, safety, or interest
1-OM Medical specialist conscientious objector available for civilian work contributing to the national health, safety, or interest
1-S Student deferred by statute: (H)-high school; (C)-college
1-W Conscientious objector performing civilian work in the national health, safety, or interest (Rel)-released
***1-Y Registrant qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency
2-A Registrant deferred because of civilian occupation (except agriculture)
2-AM Medical specialist deferred because of critical community need involving patient care
2-C Registrant deferred because of agricultural occupation
2-D Registrant deferred because of study in preparation for the ministry (there were NO Mormon divinity schools in France)
2-M Registrant deferred for medical study
2-S Registrant deferred because of activity in study
3-A Registrant with a child or children; or registrant deferred by reason of extreme hardship to dependents
4-A Registrant who has completed service; or sole surviving son
4-B Official deferred by law
4-C Alien
4-D Minister of religion or divinity student
4-E Conscientious objector opposed to both combatant and noncombatant training and service
4-F Registrant not qualified for military service
4-FM Medical specialist not qualified for military service
4-G Sole surviving son
4-W Conscientious objector who has completed civilian alternate service
5-A Registrant over the age of liability for military service
There is no record of Romney filing for conscientious objector status and riding around on a bicycle asking the French if they wanted free English lessons, what he actually did while there, is hardly divinity study.
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Mission service has been very important from the very beginning of the religion’s foundation. Because many men were murdered while on their missions, One of the proposed ideas for originally introducing Plural marriage was so another man would take in the wives and children left behind by a brother who have been killed while in service to the Lord. There wasn’t much excitement in just having ti take in a fallen brother’s family unless more benefits came with the sacrifice, thus rather that help and watch over the widows and children became, marry the widows and adopt the children. Now the nasty didn’t have to been explained with tongue in cheek.
RBSSLC
Joseph Smith was so plagued by making a decision of how to take care of these fatherless families.
None of this is much different than how other groups, have dealt with similar situaions in their efforts to live their lives in peace. No one hand the right manual.
I don’t understand your complete argument but you are saying no one got missionary deferment and didn’t go to Viet Name, your wrong. If that is not what you are saying then we have no argument/
My friends definitely were at their last straw having drawn low lottery numbers and had no option but to ship out except they all received missionary deferments. When they returned home they went to school. None of them saw any military action. I had a very high lottery number but went ahead with the physical anyway but flunked out because of hereitary disease of the knees.
What appears to be of questions here and it should never surprise anyone was that some well connected active and nonactive LDS men scrambled for the mission call and were nervous as hell until the came. Anything but Viet Nam. Many of there young men who elected mission work were bound that way because of generations of their family having fulfilled their obligation to doing a mission like their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, sisters, and close friends all went. You were reaised with the expectation that 2 1/2 years of your life were God’s and you willingingly, usually, wanted to go.
Personally, based on Romney’s generational tradition holding so strong and they being the more sacrificing for the Lord, I find it would have been out of line had Mitt not gone on a mission.
RBSSLC
Truth should be the basis on which everything is built. Personally I do not favor Mitt Romney but know for a fact that he did indeed serve on an LDS mission in france and was under the guidance of the LDS Church as well as his own conscience.
Many LDS teens and young adults that drew low draft lottery numbers opted out to go on missions to avoid Vietnam.
I was part of the draft system and there was no opting out. Going on an LDS mission would not have done anything other than place that person in a position where the selection for the draft would have been delayed not avoided.
As Duff points out there is no draft classification that simply going on a mission for the LDS church would have been invoked. Romney more than likely simply benefitted from the timing of his mission and the ending of the draft, nothing more.
I enlisted in the Marine corps in 1968 because I was informed by a friend whose dad was on the local selective service board that my name was in the pool that would be considered in the next month’s session. Instead of allowing my self to be drafted as some on my buddies had already done and sadly were KIA, I decided to “work” the system by enlisting and trying to get into doing something not directly related to combat. I was in a way successful in that I was not a “grunt” Marine that carried a rifle and went out after the “bad guys”. Instead I was trained in various electronic equipment that those Marines would use–I was considered to be a combat support Marine making sure their equipment was functioning correctly all the time.
Even that was not completely without risk but it wasn’t the type of 24/7 risk most of the “grunt” Marines had to endure.
I know about the draft and was deferred as a student when I went to college which wasn’t changed for at least a year after I was academically disqualified. The fact that Romney went to college for a year based on my experience Romney would have gotten an extra year before they would have even considered changing him back to 1A. You see most individuals were not aware they were supposed to notify the board they were no longer in school , thus, it became the board who would routinely send out letters to check student status. I know of four other guys I graduated with that flunked out of college either at the end of the first semester or by the end of the first year and they also didn’t get reclassified until a year after they were no longer academically qualified and none of us told the board.By the time that year was up they would have been aware that he was not in the U.S. and would have placed his name in an administrative hold waiting for him to return. Based on my having been part of the system and knowing how it worked probably better than most since I had a friend whose dad was on the local board, what appears to be something is really nothing.
As a Veteran, I am insulted by Duff’s continual haranguing and his constant distortion of the facts to make things be what he wants them to be as it has nothing to do with us Veterans nor the plight many, many of us face. I did what I felt was right and that was not necessarily in agreement with my own compass at the time. However, understand that in the 1960′s we were just beginning to understand the deceit of our own government. Many of us complied with the laws, not because we thought that what was being done was right but because they were the laws that we had all agreed upon. Most of us felt that if those laws were incorrect then it was up to the people to change them through their representatives in government never once understanding the depth of the deception and manipulation of the system even in those days.
It was a different time with different group consciousness. The consciousness changed but instead of people understanding that most of us did what we did because we believed in the system not necessarily in what the politician were doing they made us be part of the problem. In the end it cost a lot of lives but the people forced changes to occur. How much or how many lives will it take this time for the people to force the dark forces from the shadows and into the light?
This is more of Gordon Duff’s pure unadultered BS. I have at least a dozen Mormon and former Mormon clients and I can tell you that Mormon children are raised to believe that to be a good Mormon they need to fulfill their requirement for 24-36 months as a Mormon missionary before they reach family raising age. I know of dozens of Mormon kids who have served as missionaries in virtually every country where they could do so without extreme danger. There have been those who were in Japan, Thailand, Eastern European countries, European countries, South America, Mexico, U.S., etc. These kids are no different than the Christian “missionaries” that the churches I grew up with raised money for or no different than the Seven Day Adventist who walk the neighborhoods of the U.S. They not only seek to spread their religion but also in many cases assist in humanitarian projects wherever they may be assigned. By the way, although the individual can request where they would like to serve it is up to the “elders” and the church as to where you actually are assigned.
For Gordon to imply that Romney meeting his commitment as a young missionary was predicated on avoiding the draft is pure crap without foundation or truth. Such unfounded implications are meant only to attack the man personally and one has to believe that if the detractors of Romney are stooping to ad homenim attacks then there must be little or no real basis on which to attack him on the issues.
During the Vietnam was there was over a 1/2 million eligible males who did not comply with the draft requirements and another 100,000 that overtly fled the country to avoid serving. So the fact that Romney was out of the country serving his church during that time makes that part of the issue a total unproven distortion. The same types of attacks were levied against Bush, probably with cause, but, nonetheless, it was simply a distraction away from the issues.
As far as the “children” being “ministers” in the Mormon church anyone over the age of 18 is considered to be what most would call a “minister”. This particular religion has no official ministers per se but believes that every devout Mormon can be and does act as the “minister” that conducts religious services. I would think anyone who is going door to door to explain their religion truly qualifies as a “minister” and a missionary. The last time I was in a Christian church for a regular service that was pretty much what the “minister” in the front of the church was doing.
As for the synchroniscity of the timing, not much different than mine. I graduated from HS in 1966, went off to college, was academically suspended after one semester, but it took the government another two years before I was in the window for the draft because of that one semester. As for Romney, it could be as simple as divine planning that he was not caught up in the draft. By the time he finished his “service to the church” since the draft ended in 1972 he was probably outside the window of the local selective service board which would have jurisdiction.
As for Gordon’s racist implications, funny that under the laws of this country the NAACP, La Raza, and several other prominent organizations today should have the exact same tax exemption as the KKK since they advocate for a racism based bias. The only purpose in bringing up the history of the Mormon church is to try to make religion an issue of this election. We have time and again been shown that being of a particular religion and being elected to a political office does not equate to undue influence of the performance of the individual within that office. You need look no further than many of the governors of the various states as to their religious affiliation and see that is a bogus argument.
Gordon Duff is a political hack propagandist that has nothing useful or meaningful to input to the national arena other than continued divisiveness.