The Corrections (Now Edited With Definitive Information)

Oops. This makes him a "Vietnam-era veteran", same as my mother, who was a captain in the Women's Army Corps. (INSERT CHEAP TRICK SONG LYRICS HERE!)

Worthy of a separate discussion, but one that will have to happen without my input because I'm jammed for time this week: Given that people like John Kerry repudiated their service in Vietnam, and given that people like my Vietnam-vet father were attacked and slandered and called "baby killers" and portrayed as violent headcases everywhere from prime-time television to the movie Platoon... at what point did being a Vietnam veteran become a net positive to one's reputation rather than a net negative? I recall it happening somewhere around Ronald Reagan's Presidency, but I could be wrong.

In any event, the narrative of "veteran" being "harassed" by the "white supremacist" seems to be falling apart. Just a few holdouts remain, mostly because the Narrative is simply too attractive for them to abandon. It's kind of like the ridiculous spam messages that purport to be from a lonely supermodel --- you know in your heart it's garbage, but there's a tiny flicker of hope every single time you read the come-on. Alas, in the real world women don't send bulk e-mail looking for sex, and this fellow is not a Vietnam veteran. What's that old story about a lie getting halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on?

And here's the truth:

Refrigerator mechanic, no combat time, retired as a private (which, speaking as someone who managed to get out of the freakin' CIVIL AIR PATROL with two stripes, takes real doing.)

Just another political activist using the tragedy of the Vietnam War as a platform from which to spout his own opinions. What a shame.