Mod: Does Russian intelligence know something about Mitch McConnell that he would prefer you don't? Three articles from a number of years back could shed some light on this unpleasant matter.
McConnell's military discharge once again an election issue (
McClatchy DC link): A prominent
Democrat questioned
Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's military service — specifically his discharge from the
Army Reserve — as
McConnell launched his latest commercial Tuesday criticizing veterans' health clinics with ties to his
Democratic opponent.
Democratic state
Rep. Greg Stumbo, the former
Kentucky attorney general, called on
McConnell to release his military discharge records.
"Elections should be about informed choices. He's obviously not proud of his record,
Sen. McConnell isn't, or he would have shown it by now,"
Stumbo said. "Something isn't correct about it that might cause a lot of people, including veterans, to take a second look at him."
What is Mitch McConnell Hiding? (
Huffington Post link): Whispers about
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) military service during the
Vietnam War have been floating around
Washington for years and were reported in print at least as far back as two campaigns ago.
From the
Kentucky Kernel of November 1, 1996,
Senator’s Discharged Questioned:
A letter found in the [University of Kentucky] Library Department of Special Collections of a request from a former U.S. Senator to the then commanding general of Fort Knox created conflicting stories Thursday about the military record of Republican U. S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
The letter was found in the personal letters of U.S. Sen. John Sherman Cooper, a Republican from Kentucky. It was written to Maj. Gen. A. D. Surles, commanding general of Fort Knox. McConnell served as an intern in Cooper’s Washington, D.C. office in summer of 1964. He was in boot camp at Ft. Knox and a member of the 100th Division of the U.S. Army Reserve.
McConnell enlisted in March of 1967 and was abruptly discharged four months later for a minor medical condition, optic neurosis. During a time of war, one might appropriately presume the armed forces would want to minimize the number of departing soldiers. Again, from the
Kernel:
Dr. Mike Minix, with the department of ophthalmology at the UK Med Center, explained that optic neuritis usually affects individuals 15-45 years of age. According to Minix, the condition can usually be treated with steroids. “Within three-four weeks of having the condition, individuals will usually have their eyesight return to 20-20 vision or normal vision.” This same type of treatment would have been prescribed in 1967, although advancements have been made in the treatment of this eye condition, he said.
McConnell’s discharge was expedited by
Cooper’s claim that the enlistee needed to be released quickly to attend
New York University.
NYU records, however, indicate that
McConnell never applied to the school, and at the time of his discharge he had already earned a law degree from the
University of Kentucky. Why exactly would a
United States Senator write to the
Commanding General of one of the nation’s most important military installations with false information about a member of the
US armed forces?
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| From 2008 |
The Strange and Possibly Sordid Story of Mitch McConnell's Military Service (
Daily Kos link): I saw a tweet today that startled me:
Ohio Citizen @OhioCitizen - I don't know if Judd is running but McConnell is going to have a hard time. His court martial for sodomy in 67 will be huge.
Naturally, I asked for clarification, and got this. Before seeing this tweet, I had had no idea that
McConnell had ever served in the military.
The
OP's speculations were summarily dismissed, but I was sufficiently intrigued to dig a little deeper. Most of the information that I found is from 2007/2008. I'm really surprised that it didn't get more press. But as a result, the information that I did find was fairly thin.
Here are the basic, very skimpy facts:
Mitch McConnell was classified 2-S ("Registrant deferred due to activity in study") on August 8th, 1962, and remained as such until May 4th, 1967. Source, through
HillBilly Report.
He enlisted in either March 1967 or in July 1967 and served at Fort Knox in the 100th Division (Training) of the U.S. Army Reserve until August 15, 1967. He was assigned Selective Service number 15-131-42-44.
Hillbilly Report tried to dig into
McConnell's military record as best they could. They requested his
Selective Service records, and basically ran into a brick wall.
 |
|
December, 2007 we submitted a request for the Selective Service Classification Records for Senator Saxby Chambliss, Rep Tom Tancredo and Senator Mitch McConnell. When we received the Selective Service Classification Records from the Selective Service System all of the records were included with the exception of Senator Mitch McConnell's and his was an extract put together by Richard Flahavan, Associate Director for Intergovernmental Affairs. When Richard Flahavan was questioned about sending us an extract of Senator Mitch McConnell's Selective Service Classification Record, he responded in writing that " Selective Service no longer has access to Selective Service records for men born prior to 1960." Knowing that we had already received the full Selective Service Classification Records for Senator Saxby Chambliss, Rep Tom Tancredo born in 1943 and 1945 respectively we felt that Richard Flahavan was possibly covering for Senator Mitch McConnell. In Richard Flahavan's extract he writes "the U.S. Army ordered him to undergo an Armed Forces Physical Examination which he did July 9, 1967. Apparently, he did not pass because he was released from the U.S. Army Reserve August 15, 1967." I just love that word apparently!
But as they reported,
Mitch McConnell "apparently" never HAD an
Armed Forces Physical Examination. According to
Wikipedia,
In 1967, to gain experience on Capitol Hill, during his final semester of law school, McConnell was an intern for Senator John Sherman Cooper (R-KY).
Not coincidentally,
Senator Cooper possibly created or was used as a diversion regarding any
McConnell military service.
Hillbilly Report
Feb. 13, 2007
Kentucky Kernel Article, dated November 1, 1996.
Senator’s Discharge Questioned
A letter found in the UK Library Department of Special Collections of a request from a former U.S. Senator to the then commanding general of Fort Knox created conflicting stories Thursday about the military record of Republican U. S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
The letter was found in the personal letters of U. S. Sen. John Sherman Cooper, a Republican from Kentucky. it was written to Maj. Gen. A. D. Surles, commanding general of Fort Knox. McConnell served as an intern in Coopers Washington, DC. office in summer of 1964. He was in boot camp at Ft. Knox and a member of the 100th Division of the U.S. Army Reserve.
The letter was dated August 10, 1967, during a time when
U.S. troops were being sent to
Vietnam for combat duty. In the letter,
Cooper advises the major general that ‘
Mitchell anxious to clear post in order to enroll
NYU. Please advise when final action can he expected.”
According to the
Registrar’s Office at
New York University, no record exists that
McConnell ever applied or enrolled for classes at that university.
McConnell attended
UK and earned a law degree in 1967 before he enlisted in the
Army reserve.
Senator Cooper died in 1991, at the age of 89.
Mod: All kind of speculative and even murky, but given McConnell's decidedly unpatriotic and pro-Putin actions these days, worthy of at least some further investigation. You'll just have to get around the entitled rich boy fix. There is more to be found at all three links.
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