The Trump Presidency

thethe said:
I can't support that but what I can reference are articles that said he did.

Where would they get that information from?
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My understanding is he has said he is a Vietnam era vet. Which is not the same as someone who was in Vietnam. There are some reporters who have written he is a Vietnam Vet. That might just be sloppy writing. As far as I know he has not said he was ever in Vietham.

My step-father was a Vietnam era vet with the air force. He never was in Vietnam but was posted in another SE Asian country.
 
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I think veteran is usually used for people who served in a war zone. So I'm not sure Phillips should be called a vet. He was in the Marines from 1972 to 1976 and was never deployed to Vietnam.

But I would not consider it a crime or even misleading if he said he was a Vietnam era vet.
 
For the sake of VA benefits


The VA considers anyone a veteran who served or was drafted.
Regardless of where they were stationed.
 
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I stand corrected about what constitutes being a veteran.

Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.” This definition explains that any individual that completed a service for any branch of armed forces classifies as a veteran as long as they were not dishonorably discharged.

I guess what I was thinking about would be called a war veteran. Someone who served in an active theater of war.
 
nsacpi said:
I stand corrected about what constitutes being a veteran.

Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.” This definition explains that any individual that completed a service for any branch of armed forces classifies as a veteran as long as they were not dishonorably discharged.

I guess what I was thinking about would be called a war veteran. Someone who served in an active theater of war.
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When the media, and maybe Phillips but that is yet to be determined, states that he was a Vietnam vet what are they trying to add to the story?
 
thethe said:
When the media, and maybe Phillips but that is yet to be determined, states that he was a Vietnam vet what are they trying to add to the story?
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Well, part of the story that the Washington Post first ran (and I think other papers did this too) mentioned the fact that every year Phillips goes to Arlington with a peace pipe to honor Native Americans who served in the military. I suspect the details vary from story to story. But the first Washington Post article noted he was a Marine Corps veteran. Other articles might have said Vietnam Vet. Or Vietnam era vet. I don't think there is anything to hang anyone's hat on as far as this thing goes. I don't know anything about what kind of person Phillips is. And if someone finds a little dirt on him it wouldn't change my view about those boys behaving in a disrespectful manner toward him.

Btw Phillips has expressed an interest in meeting with the boys from Covington. I hope it happens.
 
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I'll add as a tangential observation that I've always found it incredible the way that Native Americans, black Americans and in WWII Japanese Americans were so eager to serve and prove their love of this country. It is really an incredible thing when you think about it.

And I'll mention Muslim Americans such as Humayan Khan.
 
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nsacpi said:
Well, part of the story that the Washington Post first ran (and I think other papers did this too) mentioned the fact that every year Phillips goes to Arlington with a peace pipe to honor Native Americans who served in the military. I suspect the details vary from story to story. But the first Washington Post article noted he was a Marine Corps veteran. Other articles might have said Vietnam Vet. Or Vietnam era vet. I don't think there is anything to hang anyone's hat on as far as this thing goes. I don't know anything about what kind of person Phillips is. And if someone finds a little dirt on him it wouldn't change my view about those boys behaving in a disrespectful manner toward him.

Btw Phillips has expressed an interest in meeting with the boys from Covington. I hope it happens.
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Sure - After he confronted them with cameras behind him banging a drum in their face. He is the true hero here.
 
acesfull86 said:
The tomahawk chop was a bad look (funny that I’m typing this on an Atlanta Braves forum), but most were not doing it. The chanting started before Phillips entered the situation to drown out the vile, racist insults coming from the BHI (Why the kids are being held to a higher standard than these adults is beyond me). You say the smirking kid was “clearly” confrontational. I don’t know what’s clear about it, but there’s also a moment in the video where he makes a gesture to one of the other boys arguing with another one of the natives to cut it out. What’s clearly confrontational is someone inserting himself in the situation by walking up to another person and chanting and banging a drum in his face. Phillips himself admits it’s confrontational (Post #18622)
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In the interest of trying to agree on an objective truth: there was chanting by some of the kids that was clearly directed at Phillips (apart from the organized chanting earlier), likewise the dancing around him and the chopping. I didn’t weigh in on this til this morning and I’ve made no other representations about it. That stuff, in my opinion, was inappropriate. But that stuff, as a matter of objective fact, happened, and that’s pretty much the sum of my comment about it. It contradicts the PR narrative, and some of what sturg and thethe have said. As for the one kid’s staredown (smirkdown?), I guess that is purely in the realm of the subjective. But we’re practically hearing that these kids were besieged and linked arms and started singing “We Shall Overcome.” That ain’t what happened.
 
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