Monday, December 04, 2006

Remember Paul Morin?

The National Commander of The American Legion called on Sen. John Kerry to apologize for suggesting that American troops in Iraq are uneducated.

"As a constituent of Senator Kerry's I am disappointed. As leader of The American Legion, I am outraged," said National Commander Paul A. Morin. "A generation ago, Sen. Kerry slandered his comrades in Vietnam by saying that they were rapists and murderers. It wasn't true then and his warped view of today's heroes isn't true now." ...


A Democratic Underground poster remembers, and points out that Morin has now been exposed as a shameless resume-padder:

When Paul A. Morin, the national commander of the American Legion, sought election to the office in August, he described himself in the lead sentence of his campaign biography as a "Vietnam veteran of the US Army." Since he was elected Aug. 31, the Legion's website has featured the same description.

...And three months ago, Morin said he hopes that servicemen returning from Iraq will be treated better than those who returned from Vietnam. "When we came home, life was a little different. We do not want to see any veteran ever returning to what we did, so we'll be there to be welcoming them home with open arms," Morin said....

But the only place Morin ever returned from was Fort Dix, N.J. According to his military records, Morin spent his entire two years of Army service, from 1972 to 1974, at that Army training base.


It's not an innocent slip-up:

When he was the ranking member of the Legion's Massachusetts Department, the state website correctly identified him as a Vietnam-era veteran who had been a supply technician and lineman stationed in New Jersey.

But that changed this year with Morin's campaign brochure. Under the headline, "The American Legion Department of Massachusetts Proudly Presents Paul A. Morin for National Commander," it described him as a Vietnam veteran in the first line.


And -- like most Democrat-bashers -- even after he's caught in an untruth, he feels no shame:

Asked, for example, about his statement about how he was treated when he came home, Morin said he believes that even servicemen who returned home from New Jersey were shunned.

Yes, he really said that.

During an October visit to an American Legion post in Indiana, Morin said, according to a newspaper report: "One thing we must never do, that was done during my war, is to separate the warrior from the war."

Morin, who confirmed that he made the remark, said he did not intend it to mean that he served in Vietnam. "By 'my war,' I meant the war that occurred during the period of time I was in the military," he said.


And now I'd like to tell you about "my Emmy" -- well, it's not mine, exactly, but I knew someone who won one and let me hold it for a few seconds.

So much, I guess, for the "Honor" part of "Duty, Honor, Country."

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