Did Perry "fib" about his time in service like Bush did? Check this Time article out....

[1776Forever]

Three Myths About Rick Perry
By Michael Crowley | September 22, 2011

(Myth 1) He’s a political outsider...(Myth 2) He hates Big Government.... And(Myth 3) He was a fighter pilot:

Conservatives have gleefully sent around this dashing photograph of a young Perry in a flight suit next to a nimble-looking fighter jet, and he is often described as a “fighter pilot.” But while Perry likely trained on such jets, he was not a dogfighter. Instead, after joining in the Air Force upon his graduation from Texas A&M in 1972, Perry was assigned to fly C-130 cargo planes, transporting men and material from base to base. This is absolutely vital work, to be sure–the military cannot function without its C-130s. And it makes Perry the only major 2012 candidate to have worn a uniform. But Top Gun it was not: As Perry himself concedes in On My Honor, this was not “fancy flying, like the jet fighters.” (Indeed, the C-130 is not a jet at all, but a slow and lumbering turboprop plane.) Perry has said that he was given the option to become a pilot instructor flying the sexier T-38 fighter jet. But that posting would have required him to move to Selma, Alabama, and he preferred to stay in Texas, even if it meant flying what he sometimes called “trash haulers.”

Perry wound up being stationed in Saudi Arabia and Germany. Although he joined the Air Force in 1972, before the war in Vietnam ended, he didn’t serve there. (At the peak of the war, Perry was enrolled at Texas A&M; it’s not clear that he has ever spoken publicly about his draft status.) When John Kerry was facing questions about his Vietnam service during the 2004 presidential race, Perry called on the Democratic nominee to make public his complete military records. Since then, however, Perry has reportedly declined to do so himself. Military service is never a political loser. But don’t expect to hear “Danger Zone” at Perry’s rallies.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/22/three-myths-about-rick-perry/#ixzz1Yn0dwg8B

From this:



To this is a stretch - nothing wrong with C 130 pilots, just saying this is NOT a jet fighter plane:)

[Hepburn]

1. Have you ever seen one of those suckers take off?

Holy shit!!! It fills the FN sky.

But...if Perry is playing fast and loose that he was a combat pilot, shame on him. He should stick to the truth and be proud of what he did ~~ nothing to be ashamed of. He served.

[Bigmack]

2. I believe you're thinking of the C-5....

Flew across the Pacific in a C-130 in slow hops. At one take-off, they had to run the plane down the runway windmilling the prop to start the engine! Made me nervous.

And the lush accommodations! I didn't have a camera, but here's a pic of the inside of the plane with passengers....

[Bandit]

3. C-130 pilots are most definitely "Combat Pilots"

In Vietnam some were called Puff the Magic Dragon and they played an intrical part in protecting troops on the ground not to even mention their sometimes extremely hairy resupply missions.. Khe Sahn ring any bells here. C-130s and C-123s were the mainstay for those Marines on the ground.

[1776Forever]

5. Correct in Vietnam - But Perry was out of that era and flew after that time and his picture near the

fighter jet depicts that he was a "fighter jet pilot". I think it is disingenuous for him to put that out.

[1776Forever]

4. Yes I saw many of them when living in Florida near Patrick Air Base. I agree with you and said so

that there is NOTHING wrong with C130 pilots but with Perry standing next to the Jet in the picture it sure looks like the same one Bush had put out during his campaigns.

[HereSince1628]

6. He served. Some didn't.

Let's not go there.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Furthermore,

if he was in ROTC while he was at Texas A&M, he most likely would have been a member since he started there, which would be September 1968, if I am not mistaken. I am sure the timeline will be cleared up shortly, but I think he was graduated from that school in 1972, so a start time of 1968 makes sense. At any rate, that was just a few months after the Tet Offensive occurred, in February 1968.

One can find many reasons not to like Perry, but I do not think this is one of them.

[1776Forever]

9. As the article says he and the GOP handlers are trying to make out like he did something he did not

do. If a Dem did the same would you think that the GOP would not rake them over the coals for that? Look at what they did to Kerry!

[1776Forever]

8. True but if someone puts a Navy Seal hat on and they didn't serve as a Navy Seal is that OK?

Not with me - this is faking something that never happen in my book. OK - he served but NOT as a "fighter pilot" - agreed?

[HereSince1628]

11. I don't think any of us know what aircraft he trained on.

the picture is a twin seater and could be a trainer. I think pilots in training getting a picture with their rides is traditional in the Air Force. Perhaps some DUer who was a fighter pilot from that time frame could tell us... even if he flunked out of fighter training to become a C-130 busdriver he served.

Who put this picture out there? And who is saying he claimed to be a fighter pilot? I won't squeeze the pickle on this as an attempt on Perry's part to fake his military service until more evidence accumulates.

[1776Forever]

12. Did you read the Times article? Says it right in there and in many other articles on line like this

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-18/news/29916578_1_texas-governor-president-obama-iowa-straw-poll/2

GOP hopeful Rick Perry's passion, impressive record in Texas making Dems nervous
BY ANDREA TANTAROS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, August 18, 2011
From a political standpoint, Perry also has clear advantages. He's an attractive and seasoned campaigner with keen instincts. He stepped into the race shrewdly on the day of the Iowa straw poll, stealing away poll winner Michele Bachmann's thunder. According to a new Rasmussen poll, Perry is leading among respondents at 20% to Mitt Romney's 18% and Bachmann's 13%. He is also a former Air Force fighter pilot, so questioning his patriotism will be futile.

And what do you think when Fox Nation site puts this out:



http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Gov.+Rick+Perry+pilot+picture+gop&start=529&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS403US404&tbm=isch&tbnid=BQWHob91HCYg9M:&imgrefurl=http://nation.foxnews.com/rick-perry/2011/09/19/perry-colleagues-remember-solid-pilot-and-airman&docid=dBpC8jaaid2IrM&w=636&h=250&ei=xPx8TrPSMqqpsQKOuM1J&zoom=1&chk=sbg&biw=1920&bih=769&iact=rc&dur=63&page=14&tbnh=67&tbnw=171&ndsp=40&ved=1t:429,r:25,s:529&tx=86&ty=39

[sammytko]

13. It is a trainer, thus the "T" in T-38

[1776Forever]

16. Correct so this picture is not depicting of his service. Just saying that. Thanks! n/t

[HereSince1628]

17. Military training was part of military service in my day.

And my day was also Perry's day.

[EarlG]

10. Funny how they say that "Military service is never a political loser."

Here are the presidential results for the last 20 years:

Obama vs. McCain (did not serve in the military vs. served in Vietnam) -- McCain lost
Kerry vs. Bush (served in Vietnam vs. did not serve in Vietnam) -- Kerry lost
Gore vs. Bush (served in Vietnam vs. did not serve in Vietnam) -- Gore lost (well not really but you know what I mean)
Clinton vs. Dole (did not serve in the military vs. WWII veteran) -- Dole lost
Clinton vs. Bush (did not serve in the military vs. WWII veteran) -- Bush lost

There was a time when military service was pratically a requirement for office (and in previous decades, way more people had served in the military what with World War II and the Vietnam draft). But it's not a requirement any more. Interesting how the myth persists though.

I bet people can come up with a ton of other recent races in which a someone who has never served beat a veteran.

[1776Forever]

15. Veteran or not it is the TRUTH that we need! I am tired of charades and think the GOP is one of the...

best there is at false images! Look at W in his flight suit pic! Doesn't that say a lot about what BS the GOP and T-Party try to push as Patriotic? Agree with you totally! Thank you for posting!

[quinnox]

14. K&R

After seeing what they did to Kerry, this is not off limits and should be checked out CLOSELY with a FINE TOOTH COMB.