Deferments Through 1972 then "Shepherded" into Reserve Billet to Avoid Vietnam.
(CINCINNATI, Ohio) - Joe Wilson, real name "Addison" presents himself as a hard boiled combat veteran, retired Army colonel and all around tough guy.
He belongs to "white supremacist" organizations, fought hard to keep the Confederate flag in South Carolina and, when an aide to the notorious racist Strom Thurmond admitted Thurmond had a half African-American daughter, Wilson abused and threatened the woman in an attempt to shut her up.
His real record is Vietnam. Born in 1947, Wilson was prime material for the Vietnam War. After taking deferment after deferment for college and law school, in 1972, Wilson was glided into a coveted Army Reserve billet, protecting him from service in Vietnam.
He quit in 1975 with the fall of Saigon and transferred to the National Guard where he was a Judge Advocate, a "lawyer."
Wilson has one of the worst records in Congress, having voted against Veteran funding 11 times. The only "veteran" Wilson has helped is himself.
Though ending up with full health insurance and a fat military retirement, Joe Wilson, like Senator Lindsay Graham, both passed more qualified serving officers who were deployed to combat and moved into high paying positions as full Colonels, all done using political clout.
This gives both Wilson and his good friend and reportedly highest ranking gay officer in the US military, Lindsay Graham, substantial "double dip" retirements without ever having to actually serve in the real military and, especially, not during the Vietnam War.
Wilson's opponent in the upcoming election is Rob Miller, 13 year US Marine with 2 combat tours in Iraq. Wilson missed his chance at combat due to more important considerations involving "personal skin."
Wilson, close friend and confidant of Fox Entertainment reality show host Glenn Beck is a strong advocate of private health care.
In fact he received over $ 400,000 in political donations from the health care industry in support of his position.
Insiders say that Beck helped stage the Wilson "impromptu theater" during the Presidents address to Congress, offering full support from Fox News in exchange for Wilson's violation of traditional Southern good manners, something Wilson has little familiarity with.
Wilson has spent a lifetime on the public payroll running his mouth while others have done the fighting.
Much has been made of late about Wilson's ties to White Supremest and neo-Klan groups. As one of the 7 legislators who stood against all others to keep the secessionist flag as the state frag of South Carolina and as former staffer to the former anti-civil rights activist Strom Thurmond, Wilson's racist views are well known and well established.
What some of us would like to have seen established is a biography that included military service during the Vietnam War instead of deferment after deferment then hiding out in an "undeployable" Army Reserve unit until the second the Communists moved into Saigon.
This tells me all I need to know.
Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and a regular contributor to Veterans Today. He specializes in political and social issues. You can see a large collection of Gordon's published articles at this link: VeteransToday.com.
He is an outspoken advocate for veterans and his powerful words have brought about change. Gordon is a lifelong PTSD sufferer from his war experiences and he is empathetic to the plight of today's veterans also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to feature Gordon's timely and critical reports on Salem-News.com, a news organization staffed by a number of veterans, particularly former U.S. Marines.
You can send Gordon Duff an email at this address: Gpduf@aol.com
Never Deployed 'Colonel' Wilson Missed VietnamSalem-News.com