Did Trump Avoid Serving in the US Army During the Vietnam War?
Right after his university graduation, Trump allegedly developed bone spurs for which he was exempted from enlisting
On Sunday, when Muslim parents of a decorated soldier who had died in the Iraq war, spoke at the Democratic Convention, they did more than just ruffle Republican feathers.
Khizr Khan, the father of the slain soldier directly addressed Trump and said:
Khan also added:
Trump responded to the attack in a series of tweets.
Here are two examples which sum up the Internet’s reaction to the incident.
This is Not the First Incident of Its Kind
A year ago, the Republican presidential candidate angered many when he had said that Senator John McCain, who had served in the Vietnam War, was not a hero because he had been captured, points out The Telegraph.
McCain had served as a naval aviator and had been taken prisoner of war at the front.
The Telegraph points out that while McCain fought for America at the war front, he was a college student at an Ivy League university.
Why Trump Never Served in the American Army
Right before Trump graduated from college in 1968, he had an unblemished medical record, except for one hiccup in the form of an appendectomy at the age of 10, reports The New York Times.
The year of his graduation, 22-year-old Trump was as healthy as any robust 6-feet-2-inch-tall young man his age. Incidentally, 1968 was also the year of army enlistment for the Vietnam War.
While many American youngsters signed up to risk their lives, fighting for the US in the Far East, Trump’s medical report showed a sudden growth of bone spurs in his heels.
Consequently, Trump was given a year-long exemption from joining the army on medical grounds. While 300,000 American men were sent to war that year, Trump stayed back to nurse his bone spurs. This would mark the first of the total five deferments that he received, exempting him from joining the army. The remaining were for his education.
In an interview with The New York Times in July, Trump called the spurs “temporary” and “minor” ailments.
This “temporary and minor” medical condition was unwittingly denied by Trump’s personal physician, Dr Harold N Bornstein, when he said his patient had “no significant medical problems” over four decades, adding that he “will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
Bornstein mentioned the appendectomy from Trump’s childhood, but nothing about the bone spurs. Even when Trump received exemption from draft lottery in 1969, a method to determine the army membership for American men, his Selective Service record suggested he had already been exempted on medical grounds.
(With inputs from The New York Times, The Telegraph.)
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