Which Democrats and Republicans actually served in the military?

[Lefty48197]

I got an email prior to the last election. The funny thing was that the sender is a military retiree, who is always sending me right wing emails. It's nice to see former dedicated right wingers who are beginning to see the light! I've copied and pasted the contents of his email here. I don't have a link to confirm all of this, althought most of it is common knowledge now.

Democrats
Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71
David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72
Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72
Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army
journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade
Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam
Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII
John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat
V Purple Hearts
John Edwards: did not serve
Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea
Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star &Bronze Star,
Vietnam
Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53
Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74
Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-79; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91
Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and
seven campaign ribbons
Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
Stars, and Soldier's Medal
Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and
Legion of Merit
Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart
Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
Star with Combat V
Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star
Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
Chuck Robb: Vietnam
Howell Heflin: Silver Star
George McGovern: Silver Star &DFC during WWII
Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
received 311
Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy
Walter Mondale: Army 1951-53
John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters
Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg
Wesley Clark: U.S. Army, 1966-2000, West Point, Vietnam, Purple
Heart, Silver Star. Retired 4-star general
John Dingell: WWII vet
John Conyers: Army 1950-57, Korea

NOW FOR THE EYE (and hopefully MIND) OPENER!
Republicans
Dennis Hastert: did not serve
Tom Delay: did not serve
House Whip Roy Blunt: did not serve
Bill Frist: did not serve
Rudy Giuliani: did not serve
George Pataki: did not serve
Mitch McConnell: did not serve
Rick Santorum: did not serve
Trent Lott: did not serve
Dick Cheney: did not serve.
John Ashcroft: did not serve.
Jeb Bush: did not serve
Karl Rove: did not serve
Saxby Chambliss: did not serve because of "bad knee."He's the man
who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism
Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve
Vin Weber: did not serve
Richard Perle: did not serve
Douglas Feith: did not serve
Eliot Abrams: did not serve
Richard Shelby: did not serve
Jon Kyl: did not serve
Tim Hutchison: did not serve
Christopher Cox: did not serve
Newt Gingrich: did not serve
Don Rumsfeld: served in peacetime Navy (1954-57)
George W. Bush: six-year Nat'l Guard commitment (incomplete)
Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role
making movies
Gerald Ford: Navy, WWII
Phil Gramm: did not serve
John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart
and Distinguished Flying Cross
Bob Dole: an honorable veteran
Chuck Hagel: two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam
Jeff Sessions: Army Reserves, 1973-86
JC Watts: did not serve
Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer
G.H.W. Bush: Pilot in WWII. Shot down by the Japanese
Tom Ridge: Bronze Star for Valor in Vietnam
Antonin Scalia: did not serve
Clarence Thomas: did not serve

Pundits and Preachers
Sean Hannity: did not serve
Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
Bill O'Reilly: did not serve
Michael Savage: did not serve
George Will: did not serve
Chris Matthews: did not serve
Paul Gigot: did not serve
Bill Bennett: did not serve
Pat Buchanan: did not serve
Bill Kristol: did not serve
Kenneth Starr: did not serve
Michael Medved: did not serve

[katinmn]

1. Wow. Interesting to see it charted this way.

Repugs in office sure don't have a lot of military experience.

[acmejack]

2. Isn't it funny how the most ardent hawks

are the guys who never served? A missing Repug is "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA)(the real "Top Gun"). But I won't tell if you don't...

[fasttense]

3. Isn't it interesting that the Pundits and Preachers

listed all did not serve.

[mojaverose]

4. Perception Vs. Reality

The Republicans are not good at Doing. They know that if you do something you create a record. They're not about to create Anything that somebody can call them on. Besides, they believe that the "Little People" do the slogging through the mud and getting shot at. They are made for bigger things, like directing World and Corporate Affairs. (Is there a difference?)
What they Are good at is Perception. A bunch of people who can take a decorated multi-amputee and turn him into a Commie Traitor, are D*** good. They have learned well that All is now P.R., and that elections are run by the same people who serve up toothpaste and deodorant. They Know that it doesn't matter if what you say if true. If you can get it out there often enough, it will filter down into the subconscious of the voter and bear fruit. The consumer of their advertisement doesn't know Why they're buying Republican toothpaste; they just know they heard Somewhere that it was really good, better than the other brand..
We, who try to stick with issues, are just run over. We had Better take a look at how they do it, and, at least, hire some P.R. people ourselves, if only to explain to us what's happening.
The use of Bumper Sticker slogans, the use of undeviated-from talking points, the use of Nicknames (Like Tangueray Teddy) which demean the opposition, are all designed by Madison Avenue to be unforgettable. (How many of us, over a certain age, can still sing the Alka Seltzer jingle?) We are being Sold the president, just as we are toothpaste or deodorant.
On every poll, the American people agreed with John Kerry more than they did George Bush. When you talk issues, the Democrats win every time. But the Republicans have gotten so good at this that every person who agrees with Kerry thinks that he/she is the Only one; that everybody else agrees with Bush.
The question becomes "What do we do about it?" Since it is obviously successful, we can't expect a stop anytime soon. Do we have to get better at advertising than the Republicans? Maybe so.
In the 50s, with the advent of television, the candidate had to appear Presidential. Abe Lincoln couldn't get elected anymore. Maybe the legacy of 2000 and 2004 is that issues don't count. The public needs to be Sold. Sad, but maybe true.