Heroes And Cowards

While we salute the heroic life of John McCain we must also not forget the cowards living among us.

“But I’m good at war. I’ve had a lot of wars of my own. I’m really good at war. I love war, in a certain way.” (Donald Trump 11/12/2015).

But we know the true story of Donald Trump is quite different.

Donald Trump received deferments (in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968) to stay out of the Vietnam War. Not, as Trump once claimed, because he had high lottery numbers.

According to his Selective Service records, first obtained by the website The Smoking Gun through the Freedom of Information Act, Trump received four student deferments between 1964 and 1968 while in college and an additional medical deferment after graduating.

Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1968. The lottery occurred in December 1969, conflicting with Trump’s ‘recollection’.

Lottery numbers ranged from 1 to 365 and were allotted according to birthdates. Trump’s number was a very high, 356.

Trump received his first two student deferments while enrolled at Fordham University in New York City in June 1964 and December 1965. He transferred to Wharton as a sophomore that year and received another two 2-S deferments in December 1966 and January 1968 during his last year of college.

He was classified “available for service” (class 1-A) in November 1966 but just three weeks later in December 1966 he was given a new student deferment.

Upon graduation, Trump (as we know – the son of a wealthy New York City real estate developer), was no longer eligible for student deferments.

In October 1968, he was declared medically unfit to serve except “in time of national emergency,” even though he had been declared fit to serve in 1966.

In 1972, Trump was ultimately declared ineligible for service and given a final 4-F deferment. Because of bone spurs in his heel.