Romney only American family with 5 generations of no military service?

[Liberal_in_LA]

I read this in a forum. That Romney could possibly be the only American Family with 5 generations of no military service ( of families that have been in America for 5 gens). I guess it's true if counted this way: Mitts Granpa - no, Mitt's father - no, Mitt - no, his five sons - no. That's 4 generations. The Mitts great grandfather didn't serve either.

Mitt finally returned to his homeland and promptly received another student deferment for 2 more years by enrolling at BYU. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/06/05/romneys-military-record-faces-new-scrutiny.html. Interestingly enough, avoiding military service seems to be a Romney family trait. Mitt’s grandfather avoided serving in WWI by going to Mexico to fight for his right to marry as many women as he wanted. Then, during the Mexican Revolution, the Romneys avoided that conflict by moving back to the U.S.

Mitt’s father George, served the country during WWII by being a lobbyist for the auto making industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Romney. And, during the Iraq war, which Mitt supported, none of Mitt’s 5 fightin’-age sons served. Quite a record.

http://www.politicalmontana.com/?p=238

[Submariner]

1. I wonder if it's Mormon religion policy

or indeed a Romney family tradition of avoiding putting themselves in harm's way. Chickhawk attitude for some punk who cheered on the Vietnam war while passing out Mormon bibles along the Champs de Elysee.

[Ilsa]

21. No, this is a Romney thing.

I've met Mormons who served in the military, doing jobs as dangerous as any in the military.

[FreeState]

23. Mormons can and do serve in the military n/t

[Geoff R. Casavant]

24. It's not a Mormon thing.

I knew at least one Mormon in the Navy. Maybe more, but none of the others told me they were Mormon.

And the Mormon I knew was a stand-up guy, certainly didn't use his religion to get out of any aspect of duty.

[xmas74]

25. Nope.

I know a Mormon who served and I know a few currently serving at our local military base.

[kentuck]

57. I sense there is an animosity..

by the Romney family towards this country. They do not believe in serving in the military and they do not believe in paying taxes.

[TwilightGardener]

83. Nope--the Mormon men I've known were my husband's coworkers in the military.

[pnwmom]

2. That is pretty amazing. I'd never thought of it that way, but how many among

us, whose families were here during that era, don't have relatives who served in at least WW1 or WW2 or Korea or Vietnam?

[jsmirman]

20. I was wondering that. I was wondering if ANYONE here could meet that standard.

Keep in mind - the qualification is no military service, not even service during a war.

On my father's side: grandfather first to arrive, too old for WWI, one of three boys served in WWII and Korea, my father served in the Air Force, but was too young for WWII (ten years younger than his older brother).

Mother's side, I don't know: great-grandfather, don't know, don't think grandfather served, but he was too young for WWI and too old for WWII, had three girls, all too female to be allowed into the military during their eligible years, and then I have no military service.

I wonder if the most one can say is that the Romney's record of war avoidance is "impressive." Then again, this is the way of the rich. Unless you were one of those who raised a fighting force to lead in the Civil War, if you were rich, you probably conscripted out. So it's not like this strategy is an entirely new thing.

[pnwmom]

22. I don't know beyond my grandfathers.

But they both served in WW1. One uncle died in WW2, another served in Korea, and I've seen a picture of a third uncle in uniform but I don't know when he served. So that's five and I don't think of myself as coming from a military family. (My father was 4-F due to asthma, which wasn't very treatable back then.)

[xmas74]

31. during WWII even many of the wealthy served.

For many families, it was the honorable thing to do.

That's the one that gets me-the WWII. If your family was in the US, had males of age and in fair health someone served in the war. WWII even had women serving in auxiliary corps, in nursing, etc.

How does anyone get out of the WWII? LDS isn't one of the "big three" of the peacekeeping/conscientious objector churches-even they had members who served in non-combat/non violent ways. And why hasn't this been brought to the attention of the good old boys? Things like this tend to piss them off.

[jsmirman]

40. Yeah, that war could be a singular exception

As I said elsewhere, one of my mentors is a WWII hero. His family is as old money as exists in this country. He and his brother both went as a matter of course. Then again, their grandfather was one of the most famous marines of all time, so there was no way they weren't going.

[xmas74]

58. So how did his family get out of even that war?

George was old enough-he was just four years older than my grandfather, who served in Europe.

I can't think of a single family who, if the age is right, didn't have someone in WWII. As I pointed out, even Barack Obama can say his grandparents did their duty. So how did the Romneys get out of service?

[Scuba]

52. FDR's son James served in WWII, including the Makin Island raid...

http://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/findingaids/roosevelt/index.html

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt was reassigned to combat duty, serving with Marine Raider battalions at Makin Island and in the New Hebrides. In August 1943, Roosevelt was assigned as an intelligence officer, subsequently serving in the Aleutian Islands and in the invasion of Okinawa.

[xmas74]

59. That's another great example.

So FDR's son, Truman was in WWI, Ike is obvious, JFK served, LBJ was a reservist who actually investigated the conditions of our soldiers for FDR, Nixon served, Ford served, Carter is an Annapolis grad who was in the military, Reagan was a reservist, Bush I served, Clinton's biological father served in WWII, Obama's grandfather served and his grandmother was basically a Rosie Riveter-type.

This is something I'd have never thought about but now find myself disturbed.

[NYC Liberal]

46. I think it would be quite difficult.

In my family:

-Both grandfathers served in WWII
-Uncle served in Vietnam
-Both great-grandfathers served in WWI, as well as great-great uncle.
-Great-great grandfather and great-great-great (I believe) uncle served in the Civil War.
-Cousin in Afghanistan.

[spin]

54. My dad was too young to join the army in WW1 but he lied about his age ...

My grandmother tracked him down and dragged him out by his ear. He did get to shoot a machine gun. He was also too old to serve in WWII but he worked for naval intelligence as an investigator in Pittsburgh Pa. He worked for the Retail Credit company as an insurance investigator and was on loan. He did carry a handgun but his job was mainly to find spies and let the police arrest them. He and another investigator accidentally cornered one who shot at them. My father said it is amazing how you can lie on concrete and try to dig a hole. He also investigated scientists from the Pittsburgh area who worked on the Manhattan Project but of course he had no idea that the program was developing a nuclear weapon.

I served in the Air Force during the Vietnam era. I never left the United States. I went through basic training and school to repair airborne radios and became an instructor. As the requirement for radio repairmen decreased I was reassigned to work on a highly classified program that involved reconnaissance aircraft that few over the Ho Chi Minh trail. I spent my time in the service in Mississippi and Cape Cod Mass. Consequently I have no war stories to tell my grandchildren. However I served and loved the experience. Still I feel very fortunate that I didn't experience combat.

Perhaps if my family had enough money I could have went to college and avoided serving in the military. Many of my friends were able to do so. Still I found my military service rewarding and enjoyable.

The rich kids are often able to avoid serving in the military or maybe end up in the National Guard. Still I have no regrets and I don't hate the rich as money isn't everything. The education I got in the military allowed me to have a successful career. I didn't make a pile of money but I was able to retire when I was 59. I still have no reason or need to find a job. Overall I feel I lucked out.

[RockaFowler]

77. My family can meet that standard

My sister is in the Air Force currently
My Uncle was in Vietnam
My Grandfather served in the Army during WWII
My Great-Grandfather was in WWI
My Great-Grandmother was a nurse in the army during WWII

Some people serve their country. And some people make others serve and are chicken-hawks (see Mittens)

[LiberalEsto]

78. My parents were immigrants, post ww2 refugees

I don't have any ancestors who served in US military forces.

The Russian and Estonian militaries both wanted to conscript my father at one time or other during WW2, but he had remarkably poor eyesight and bad feet, so he was rejected for service. I probably wouldn't exist if he had fought.

My mother's father came from a family of Russian Orthodox priests and I don't know if he served in WW1 or the Russian revolution, or on what side. My father's father was a military doctor for Estonia in WW1.

My mom, while living in a postWW2 displaced persons camp in Germany, worked as a secretary to a general of the British Royal Air Force for a while.

[roguevalley]

41. my mom has family who fought in the ones no one knows about -before the french and

indian war through bosnia and the gulf. Same with my dad. but don't worry. someone asked little paulie what his foreign affairs and military experience was and he ... honest to god said "I voted to send people to war."

[pnwmom]

42. Paulie said that?

[Scuba]

61. Yes he did.

[Tunkamerica]

44. yeah. both granddads did.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

55. Everyone on my father's side served

My father was a B-17 co-pilot who was shot down over Germany during WWII, shot by the Germans after his parachute landed, and became a POW after barely surviving in a German military hospital. Later, he flew in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star. His brother was a U.S. Marine during WWII and fought in a dozen battles including Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima and was wounded several times. His other brother was in the Army and lost an eye in the U.S. invasion of North Africa. His cousin was a nose gunner in a bomber and was killed. On my mother's side, her brother fought In the French Resistance, was captured and put on a train heading for a concentration camp from which he escaped and then continued fighting until the end of the war. Her brother in law was almost fatally wounded in the Chasseurs Alpins by artillery fire while opposing the German invasion of France and had to be carried from the field. Her father fought in WWI in the French Navy and her uncle was killed by a Bulgarian soldier in WWI as part of the French expeditionary army sent to reinforce Greece.

[malaise]

71. The Rmoneys take - they do not give

notice how WiLLIARd uses every trick int eh book to hide his money from the US government.
Patriotism is not a word in their vocabulary.

Fuck 'em!

[rurallib]

3. didn't driving that mobile home around Murica for Daddy count?

[Tom Ripley]

4. True, but he did have ancestors who fought against The US military

[Brother Buzz]

8. Utah war?

Any names, links? Curious on specifics.

[Tom Ripley]

11. Here:

Romney ancestor fled Army, joined LDS Church

By Lee Davidson, Deseret News

Published: Saturday, Sept. 8 2007 12:22 a.m. MDT


It may not be what a presidential candidate would want historians discussing, as they did Friday. But exactly 150 years ago, an ancestor of Mitt Romney deserted from U.S. Army troops sent to put down a purported Mormon rebellion in Utah.
More Coverage

History not always factual, Salt Lake conferees told

It may not be what a presidential candidate would want historians discussing, as they did Friday. But exactly 150 years ago, an ancestor of Mitt Romney deserted from U.S. Army troops sent to put down a purported Mormon rebellion in Utah.

Carl Heinrich (Charles Henry) Wilcken, Romney's great-great-grandfather, would give Mormons information about approaching troops, eventually joined the LDS Church and ultimately became a bodyguard and confidant of two church presidents.

The middle name of Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George W. Romney (also once a presidential candidate), is Wilcken, after that soldier-ancestor.

The little-known soldier in the little-known "Utah War" was a topic Friday at the annual Utah State History Conference. Several seminars focused on the 150th anniversary of that "war," in which President James Buchanan sent troops against Mormons in 1857-58 after ex-officials convinced him that Mormons would not submit to federal law.

Mormons saw that as a renewal of persecution and sent militia to face the army in what was essentially a mini-civil war four years before the real thing between North and South. Little shooting occurred, as Buchanan eventually gave amnesty to Mormons as they accepted a non-Mormon governor and a permanent garrison of U.S. troops.

Amateur historian Steve Richardson presented a paper Friday that discussed Wilcken, who he said had previously been awarded the Iron Cross by the king of Prussia for service in its war against Denmark.

After that war, Denmark attempted to draft former Prussian soldiers living in its acquired regions of Scheswig-Holstein. So Wilcken decided to leave and join friends in Argentina but had only enough money to make it to New York.

Richardson said Wilcken was unable to find work, so he joined the U.S. Army and was sent on the "Utah expedition."

"He was unhappy with the lack of discipline of the soldiers," Richardson said. "He had a low opinion of other soldiers," as they talked about possibly hanging or jailing Mormon leaders and "appropriating" their wives and daughters.

Wilcken saw poor protection by U.S. troops, which allowed Mormon militia to burn forage in front of the approaching army. LDS soldiers also burned many of the federal supply wagons and ran off the army's livestock. Soldiers had little to eat. Their winter camp in Wyoming would be one of the hardest in the history of the U.S. Army.

Wilcken decided to desert and head for Salt Lake City. But, Richardson said, Wilcken reported a spiritual experience that delayed that action for a day and possibly saved him from being jailed or shot.

As he was about to desert, he said he "heard a voice calling his name" — his real name, not the assumed name he used to enlist. Two other times as he was to leave, he heard his name called and stopped. Wilcken later learned that the cavalry had been on patrol all night watching Mormon camps and likely would have caught him.

Richardson said, "That night, he had a dream telling him to ask his captain for permission to go out hunting the next day, and he would meet some friends." He did exactly that, deserted and met Mormons who escorted him back to their lines. That was on Oct. 7, 1857, 150 years ago next month.

Richardson said Wilcken was impressed with Mormons and their lack of the cursing and fighting that he had seen with U.S. troops. Wilcken provided Mormons with information about conditions of the U.S. Army and went to Salt Lake City.

Historian William P. MacKinnon added that Wilcken's U.S. Army captain, John W. Phelps, wrote in his diary about Wilcken's disappearance and "talked about what a fine man he was and how different he was from another man who deserted."

MacKinnon noted that Phelps, who would become a Union general in the Civil War, ran for president in 1880 but received only a few hundred votes. Wilcken's Romney descendants have done better than that in their campaigns for president.

Wilcken was baptized into the LDS Church only two months after he deserted the Army and later had plural wives. In later years, he became a messenger and bodyguard for LDS President John Taylor, who was, at times, in hiding during federal anti-polygamy crusades. He also was a bodyguard for President Wilford Woodruff, who succeeded John Taylor and ultimately led the church away from the practice of polygamy.
Mitt Romney's campaign declined comment on the story

[SoCalDem]

13. A Deseret Deserter...how Romney of Him

Too bad he did not get to go to France for a 30 month vacation

[2pooped2pop]

65. wouldn't that be a traitor, not just a deserter?

Romney's great-great-grandfather, would give Mormons information about approaching troops,

[Brother Buzz]

18. A deserter! Hoot!

No wonder Mitt Romney declines to comment on his great-great-grandfather.

[central scrutinizer]

5. What about Nixon, the putative Quaker?

nfm

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Nixon was actually a commander in the Naval Reserve

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_military_service

[xmas74]

36. Nixon served.

That's what is so interesting about this. LDS isn't one of the "big three" churches with conscientious objector status, yet the Romney family found ways out of serving. Nixon was raised a Quaker and he served his country. Reagan enlisted, Bush I chose to postpone college and instead enlist after Pearl Harbor, Ford was in the Navy and was in the Pacific Theater. I'm sure if you looked into Clinton's family there was someone who served in WWII (I don't know about his stepfather but I think I read his biological father served) and I'd bet Barack Obama's grandfather probably served. (Just looked it up-Stanley Dunham was with the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company. Madelyn worked on a Boeing line in Kansas during the war, which means she also gave her support.)

How does one family go that far back and not have anyone serve?

[aquart]

43. His whole attitude is that he owes the US NOTHING.

[xmas74]

60. And that's an awful attitude.

There are plenty of things I'm not happy about but my family has paid their debt to this country via military service many times over. They're documented as serving as far back as the French and Indian War, are heavily documented during the Revolutionary, and on up. The first non service that I know of is right now-my brother got out in 2000, right before everything happened. No one has been in since. (Wait-scratch that-forgot I have a cousin in right now, he's been stateside for the past four years. But that's still service.) And my kid's father was in Gulf I, so she has yet another to add to her families service.

[JI7]

6. it is not for the Romney Men to go to WAr,that's for other people

and Romney men will continue to fight to send other people to war.

[Historic NY]

12. He was still wearing knickers......

I can see you stay is going to be short too.

[tbone8]

14. I can see you stay is going to be short too.

What... no differing opinions???

[B Calm]

38. Obama's grandfather served in WW2

[2pooped2pop]

66. Obama was eight years old

Did you want him to serve? He did not run away. His relatives did serve which is the post topic.

Romney's relatives-only one seemed to have served and not only did he dessert he was a traitor by giving information to the other side.

[HughBeaumont]

70. Er, no, stupid. This is a site for progressives/Democrats.

And Reagan was a shite president who raised taxes on the middle class and unleashed economic standards that we'll be paying for the rest of our lives. Wake the fuck up, slappy.

[Tom Ripley]

16. What? He should have participated in the "liberation of Grenada"?

Fuck off

[Raine1967]

19. I say goodbye, you say hello.

You actually said in your profile that you are a conservative? REALLY?

Please sir, leave.

[Octafish]

10. Throw in Mitt's Offshore Tax Dodging for that All-American Fraudster.

GOP Patriot authenticity.

[arely staircase]

15. k&r nt

[Snarkoleptic]

17. His family ran to Mexico to avoid US laws.

He ran to France avoid the draft (while supporting it and trying to convince the French to swear-off wine).
He dispatched his money to the four corners of the earth to duck his responsibility to the nation on which he feeds.

He and his family have all the appearances of parasites who want to use all the benefits of out land while hedging their bets.
As someone else wrote, Mittens loves America like a tick loves a dog.

[jsmirman]

28. He may truly be the least patriotic candidate I can remember

who is even in Mitt's ballpark?

[2pooped2pop]

69. off topic. Love the levicat, can I use that for a website? n/t

[Snarkoleptic]

73. The more kittehs the better!

BTW- I snatched it from another site.

[2pooped2pop]

75. thank you. He is very zen. n/t

[riderinthestorm]

26. Wow!! In a war hungry US, thats amazing.

I can go back one generation for both my husband and I, to have people serving. Both our parents served (and grandparents, and nieces and nephews...) in several recent wars.

That speaks to active avoidance imho. Or enough $$$ to buy one's way out of service (college, religion, marriage etc).

[riverwalker]

27. it's true

geneaologists have looked at his family tree and can't find any veterans.
I have family that came from Norway in 1860 and joined the Union Army for the Civil War. Others arrived in 1900's and promptly went to fight in WW1. Spanish American War, yup. WW2 plenty. Korea a few, Vietnam, many, Gulf Wars I and II, a few. My family is typical.
Romney has no veterans in his family tree. The only combat was against US Marshalls in the Utah Wars for the right to diddle their 5 wives.

[Brother Buzz]

35. It's false - sort of

Romney's great-great-grandfather was in the US army. I guess the fact he deserted disqualifies him from being a US veteran but he was a decorated veteran of the Prussian army.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Henry_Wilcken

[Brewinblue]

29. Silly post.

My son is the fifth generation in our family to not go overseas to kill and be killed, and of that I am proud. Of course, none of us ever supported a foreign war other than WWII, and my father was too young and my grandfather too old for that one.

[Posteritatis]

32. Yeah; sins of the fathers is silly enough without adding "great-great grand" to that. (nt)

[NYC Liberal]

48. I don't necessarily see it as a good or bad thing.

It's just interesting considering how rare it would seemingly be to find many families with five generations with absolutely no military service, wartime or not.

[TBF]

67. Actually it's very telling economically -

this country has had nearly perpetual wars since inception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_United_States). It's very interesting that his family would've avoided any service for that long.

I don't support the war-mongering either but all too often those of us in the lower classes have few other choices.

[2pooped2pop]

68. not a silly post

the republicans make a huge issue of military service. Well they do if they have anyone running who has some.

It's ok and even good for your family that they did not have to partake, but did they run? Were they traitors? Are they running to be president of these United States? Are they going to be in a position to send your family into war while watching from afar?

You see. It makes a difference when you are running for president and you ran from duty. You ran from taxes.

This guy Mitt does not even come off as American to me. He shouldn't even be allowed to live here let alone hold our highest office.

[Kalidurga]

30. I think there might be a lot of Amish families that have a few more generations than that.

There might be other conscientious objector families, but I wouldn't know how to find them or find how many generations did the conscientious objecting. I have known a few pacifist families, but I never inquired if what generation of pacifists they were. Anyway there might be a few others by sheer luck.

[SheilaT]

33. All our of my grandparents

came to this country from Ireland. None of them served in a military.

My father was in the army in WWII, but served stateside. He was stationed somewhere in Indiana and did payroll.

My older brother enlisted in 1961, the day after the Berlin "Wall went up. He was stationed in Berlin for about two years.

My sister married two career army officers. First marriage ended in divorce after he retired, second husband was already retired from the military.

And I do not consider us a military family at all, especially since neither of my two other brothers served, although in the next generation, the daughter of my other sister was in the navy for about five years.

[amandabeech]

82. Almost everyone considers "service" to include non-combat service.

To say that your family did not serve really presents a false picture to most.

If you were to say that your family members have not served in combat you would be much more accurate.

[SheilaT]

84. You are absolutely right, but

occasionally I've been made to feel that my father didn't really serve because he never saw combat.

[amandabeech]

87. Anyone who insinuates that really doesn't count as a human being.

[riverwalker]

34. Freeper Challenge: Find a Veteran in Romneys Family Tree

Go ahead assholes, take a look, get started, knock yourself out. (and this is one creepy family tree)

http://www.our-genealogy.com/Latter-Day-Saint-Families/Romney-Family/ancestry-romney/gaskell_romney.htm

[a2liberal]

39. Off-topic but

intriguing how the vote romney "business card" in that link has a pretty prominent union printers logo. shows how far we've fallen I guess... rare to see those these days, especially so prominent. if it's there it's usually hidden away, not proudly advertised.

[sakabatou]

37. I'm not sure if any of my great-grandparents served in the military

[JimGinPA]

45. I Live In An Area With A Large Amish Population...

I would imagine many of their families could go futher than five generations of no military service.

[cali]

47. I don't give a shit. And neither would any of you

if he was a dem.

do you think that military service is somehow a genetic thing? Stupid criticism.

[hfojvt]

49. depends on the line

my nieces and nephews (so far, no service)
me and my siblings - no service
mom and dad - no service (sorta, dad went into National Guard to avoid Korea)
grand-parents - no service (sorta, paternal grandfather was a WWI vet, who never fought. He was finishing up his training when, thankfully, the war ended. Still gets a flag on Memorial Day).
great-grandparents - William (1875)(no), George (1860) (no), John (1840) (no), Frederick (1860) (no)

there's five generations, assuming my 3 nephews avoid service when they come of age.

great-great-grandparents - Michael (1852) (no), John (1833) (civil war vet, badly injuried, probably PTSD too, and lost a brother), Stephen (1833) (no, emigrated to US in 1864), John (1830) (no, emigrated to US in 1852), Patrick (1810) (no, emigrated to US in 1832), Isaac (1799) (no), Ferdinand (1840) (yes, civil war, died in Andersonville), Matthew (1830) (no, emigrated to US in 1852).

So, you could take a number of my ancestral lines and find five or six generations with no military service. Some of that just comes from being born in the right year. My maternal grandfather, born in 1889, was probably too old to get drafter for WWI.

[HiPointDem]

50. the family hasn't been in the us five generations straight. george was born in mexico.

[hlthe2b]

64. They started in the US--just because they took a convenient period of exile in Mexico to avoid

polygamy charges, hardly diminishes the point. They were still American citizens.

[WCGreen]

51. My Dad and all my Uncles served either in WWII or Korea....

Of my Grandfathers, one served in WWI and became a decorated vet while my other grandfather was deferred because he worked in Munition factories.

Both my Grandmothers had brothers in WWI, two out of the seven died overseas, one from the flu and one in action.

I have relatives who fought in the Spanish American War and a few who served in the Union Army.

I have a relative who fought in the Revolution as a Pennsylvanian volunteer. It gets murky as to what he was to me but the family goes back further than that, all the way to the 1600's.

Although I don't expect people to rush off and join the service because they have political ambitions, but a family that has been in and around political power, someone should have been willing to serve. Especially if they are bellicose about waging War to protect their own investments.

[2on2u]

53. An utter lack of patriotism or a genetically induced propensity for fear.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12860774

RESULTS:

All components of the fear conditioning process in humans demonstrated moderate heritability, in the range of 35% to 45%. Best-fitting multivariate models suggest that 2 sets of genes may underlie the trait of fear conditioning: one that most strongly affects nonassociative processes of habituation that also is shared with acquisition and extinction, and a second that appears related to associative fear conditioning processes. In addition, these data provide tentative evidence of differences in heritability based on the fear relevance of the stimuli.
CONCLUSION:

Genes represent a significant source of individual variation in the habituation, acquisition, and extinction of fears, and genetic effects specific to fear conditioning are involved.

[a la izquierda]

56. If my father-in-law were alive, I don't know how he'd feel about this...

a member of his family in every generation, going back to the Revolutionary war (they've been here since the 1640s).

[kentuck]

62. I would have loved to have gone to France...

when I was drafted for Vietnam.

[hlthe2b]

63. Unbelievable... I know of no family that doesn't at least have WWII vets in their "lineage"....

My Grandfather served in WWI, my father and three uncles in WWII, my oldest male cousin in Vietnam.

I don't believe the CIC needs to be a veteran, but to be this detached from service, is troublesome to me. It only serves to underscore exactly how privileged and elitist, he is. Heaven help us if he somehow steals this election.

[Marrah_G]

72. But our President's family has!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Barack_Obama

The President's x8 grandfather came to the Mass bay colony the same year as my own ancestors.

Yet what was it that Mittens said about the President not having a connection to England like his family did?

[dembotoz]

74. this is a great little comeback for all those obama is not an american type of thing

if suggest we flame the shit out of this

[earthside]

76. Mitt Rmoney a Hypocrite and Active Draft Evader

Regardless of what his ancestors did or didn't do, Willard M. Rmoney supported (and still supports) aggressive military action by the United States ... and he actively evaded military service during the Vietnam era.

Romney's (non) military record faces new scrutiny - RealClearPolitics - June 5, 2012

... As a presidential candidate in 2007, Romney told The Boston Globe he was frustrated, as a Mormon missionary, not to be fighting alongside his countrymen.

"I was supportive of my country," Romney said. "I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."

Romney strongly supported the war at first. As a freshman at Stanford University, he protested anti-war activists. In one photo, he's shown in a small crowd of students, smiling broadly, wearing a sport jacket and holding up a sign that says, "Speak Out, Don't Sit In."

But the frustration he recalled in 2007 does not match a sentiment he shared as a Massachusetts Senate candidate in 1994, when he told The Boston Herald, "I was not planning on signing up for the military."

"It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft," Romney told the newspaper.

But that's exactly what Romney did, according Selective Service records. He received his first deferment for "activity in study" in October 1965 while at Stanford. ...

[hedgehog]

79. "Mitt’s father George, served the country during WWII by being a lobbyist

for the auto making industry. "

My uncle, blind in one eye, was drafted into the Army specifically to assist in the logistics of getting ball bearings to where they were needed the most.

BTW - no one was making cars during WWII!

[ArnoldLayne]

80. A little trivia about Richard Nixon's Great-Grandfather George Nixon (1821-July 14 1863) who was a

member of Company B of the 73rd Ohio Infantry Regiment 11th Corp. He was mortally wounded on July 2 1863 near Cemetery Ridge in The Battle of Gettysburg. He died of his wounds on July 14 and is buried at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Another odd coincidence is that George Nixon's father also named George Nixon (1784-1863) died on July 3rd on the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Possibly only a matter of several hours after his son was wounded on July 2 and would eventually die from his wounds 12 days later. I'm sure the dad didn't know his son was wounded the day before and doubt if the son, being severly wounded, knew his father had recently died.

[ArnoldLayne]

81. Good Thread!! Kick

[shanti]

85. my family is not one of them

i have ancestral soldiers going back to the revolutionary war and further, not to mention europe. there's always been a family member from either mom's or dad's side in every american war, and some didn't make it back. our family had lots of sons, and my oldest also served in the AF.

Rmoney's excuses sound just like cheney the dick's excuses

[Spider Jerusalem]

86. That's a possibility then

my family have been in America since the colonial era; my father was in the Navy, both grandfathers in the Army during WWII; a great-grandfather in the Army in WWI; I had ancestors on both sides during the Civil War (15th Kentucky Cavalry on the US side, and Georgia militia on the Confederate side); five generations including my father's with military service in four of them. And going back a generation further, my 3rd great-uncle was an officer in the US Navy who died aboard the USS Constellation in Hong Kong in 1842; another couple of generations further back and one of my 5th great-grandfathers was a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana militia during the War of 1812. And I have probably a half-dozen or so ancestors who served in the Revolution. So it seems kind of strange for someone with at least five generations of ancestry in the US to have only one ancestor who served in the US military (and deserted).