Democratic Senate candidate denies he misled voters on his military record
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Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, denied on Tuesday that he had deliberately mislead voters about his military record during the Vietnam War era.
Speaking at a news conference at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in West Hartford, Blumenthal, who had been expected to have an easy race for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), said he had misspoke about his record a few times out of the hundreds of speeches he has given in his political career.
The New York Times raised the question of whether Blumenthal had lied about his service. Blumenthal served in the Marine Corps Reserve and did not serve overseas even though he has said at some appearances that he served in Vietnam.
“I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that and I take full responsibility,” Blumenthal said at the televised news conference where veterans praised him for helping with their issues. “But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.”
Blumenthal said he meant to say he served “during Vietnam” instead of “in Vietnam.” He called his comments the fault of “a few misplaced words” that were “totally unintentional.”
He said he often spoke of the Vietnam era to highlight veterans’ issues and problems faced by soldiers, including Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are returning from war.
He also said that no special favors were used for him to be admitted to a Marine reserve unit, even though he had already begun a political career.
-- Michael Muskal
