Rep Jimmy "the Draft Dodger" Moran (D-VA) States “military service is not public service”

Anyone Notice That 65 year old Moran was a Vietnam Era Draft Dodger!

Now that the Rep. Jimmy Moran Youtube video rant that “military service is not public service” has gone viral on the Internet, I’m delighted to see it’s getting a little “ink.” As a retired 30 year service Army Colonel who was a 2LT in Vietnam before I was old enough to legally drink, I’m appalled by “Little Jimmy's” comment on the service record of his opponent, retired U.S. Army Col. Patrick Murray, in the VA 8th Congressional District race. On 6 Oct, "Little Jimmy" stated, "What [Republicans] do is that they find candidates - usually stealth candidates - that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed any kind of public service. My opponent is typical." COL Murray served his country for 24 years in the U.S. Army with four combat zone deployments including Iraq as part of the 2007 troop surge.

See what Moran really said: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDMb9ewX90U

That Moran thinks 24 years of service in the Army is not equivalent to public service appalls me but I would note that he was born 16 May 1945 so was of prime draft age for Vietnam. Has anyone asked “Little Jimmy the Draft Dodger” how he avoided Military Service? The real definition of audacity is for “Little Jimmy” to even mention Military Service but early this month “Little Jimmy” had some explaining to do when he falsely claimed an endorsement from the Disabled American Veterans Association and a high rating from the Military Officer's Association. MOAA had to order Moran to stop using its name in support of his campaign efforts.

Like his mentor, good old Joe "5-Deferment" Biden (and Dick Cheney I might add to be fair), it appears "Little Jimmy" did everything short of maiming himself (which he didn’t have the guts to do) to dodge the Draft during Vietnam. By comparison, COWARDs like these guys make “George W" look like a war hero! (For the record, Bush flying antique Air National Guard Convair F-102s was probably in more danger than I was during an extended CIB-earning tour in Vietnam!).

Active military service was an absolute certainty for any male born between 1940 and 1949 unless he was morally, mentally or medically unfit, or took some overt action to "dodge" the draft. THAT IS A FACT. Draft dodging does not necessarily mean “illegal” as the Webster’s Dictionary of the time defined it as simply “avoiding military service.” Applying for student or occupational deferments, leaving the country, feigning homosexuality, or signing up for the Reserves or National Guard were all things people did, legally and illegally, to avoid performing active duty. Some people (like Biden) got their family doctor to “discover” a disqualifying physical malady and put up such a fight that they successfully got their induction cancelled.

Also, consider draft quotas were assigned by draft board. When one man evaded, someone else, often less educated or advantaged and always less eligible, served in his place. Because many of the more capable natural leaders avoided service, we often had to settle for the LT Cally's of the world for leadership. Think of how many American lives could have been saved if leaders of Moran, Cheney or Biden’s potential had done their duty. Isn't it ironic how correct Pres Clinton was when he used to say that "it's the little guy who plays by the rules that always ends up taking it in the neck."

My point, when a politician who was eligible for Vietnam tells you that he just wasn’t called or wasn’t physically fit to serve, he’s normally being dishonest and not fit to serve now either. I remember how Senator (and Medal of Honor recipient) Bob Kerrey put it in 1992 when he said “as I remember it, at that time if you could walk and chew gum, the military would take you.” If Moran wasn’t fit to serve when his country needed him during Vietnam, what makes him fit to serve now? Better still, what makes him more fit to serve than combat vet COL (Ret) Pat Murray?