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Prominent Democrats

Former Senator Bob Kerrey... Democrat... Lt. j.g., U.S. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam (1, 2)

Senator Daniel Inouye, US Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, World War Two (1, 2)

Senator John Kerry, Lt., U.S. Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat (1)

Representative Charles Rangel, Staff Sgt., U.S. Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea (1, 2)

Former Senator Max Cleland, Captain, U.S. Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam (1, 2)

Prominent Republicans

Congressman Ron Paul - active duty flight surgeon from 1963-65; Air National Guard from 1965-68. (link)

Former Senator Bob Dole - an honorable man. http://www.bobdole.org/bio/wwII.php

Chuck Hagel - two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam. http://www.senate.gov/~hagel/Information/bio.htm

Duke Cunningham - nominated for the Medal of Honor, received the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, fifteen Air Medals, the Purple Heart, and several other decorations Recently entered plea bargain on felony charges of bribery, etc. etc.

Recently entered plea bargain on felony charges of bribery, etc. etc. Senator Jeff Sessions U.S. Army Reserves, 1973-1986

Colin Powell. What are we to make of Powell? On the one hand, a long career as a military manager. On the other hand, accused of covering up the My Lai massacre. Back on that first hand, one of the seemingly sane voices in this administration when it comes to Iraq (or at least he used to be). On the other hand, a clear hypocrite ("I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed ... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units...")

... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units...") Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), served in USMC in Vietnam; wounded in action.

Here are a few more...

Democrats

Republicans/Conservatives

George Herbert Walker Bush, pilot in WWII. Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross. Shot down by the Japanese; was lone survivor out of airplane (link).

Representative Sam R. Johnson, combat missions in both Korea and Vietnam, POW in Hanoi from April 1966 to February 1973 (1)

(don't ever run for president Sam, they'll spread rumors that you're crazy)

(don't ever run for president Sam, they'll spread rumors that you're crazy) Senator Ted Stevens, R-AK, WW II pilot, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals, and the Yuan Hai medal awarded by the Republic of China.

Sen. John Warner, R-VA - Served in the Navy 1945-1946 as a RM3; reenlisted in the USMC 1950, 10 years service in Marine Corps Reserve, retired as Captain.

Congresswoman Heather Wilson, R-NM, served in the Air Force 1978-1989

Former President Gerald Ford, served in the Navy, WWII

Former Senator Strom Thurmond - apparently believes, along with Trent Lott, that America should have been a segregated society. Still, he served.

Fighting Democrats

Back from the front lines, the veterans listed below ran for Congress in 2006. Why were almost all the veterans coming home from Iraq running as Democrats?

Lt. Col. Charles Brown - California 4th District - 26-year career in USAF; jet and helicopter pilot; awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in the Mayaguez incident.

Website: http://www.charliebrownforcongress.org

Website: http://www.charliebrownforcongress.org Eric Massa - New Yorks 29th District - 24 years service in the Navy; also served as aide to NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark.

Website: www.massaforcongress.com

Website: www.massaforcongress.com Paul Hackett - U.S. Senate - Ohio

Website: www.hackettforohio.com

Website: www.hackettforohio.com David Harris - Texas 6th Congressional District

Website: http://followmetodc.com/

Website: http://followmetodc.com/ David Ashe - Virginia's 2nd Congressional District

Website: http://www.davidasheforcongress.com/

Website: http://www.davidasheforcongress.com/ Andrew Duck - Maryland 6th Congressional District

Website at http://duckforcongress.org

Website at http://duckforcongress.org Tim Dunn - North Carolina's 8th Congressional District

Website: www.dunnforcongress.com

Website: www.dunnforcongress.com Andrew Horne -- Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District.

Website: http://horneforcongress.com/

George Will, did not serve

Chris Matthews, Mediawhore, did not serve. (However, apparently served in the Peace Corps.)

Bill O'Reilly, did not serve

Paul Gigot, did not serve.

Bill Bennett, Did not serve

Pat Buchanan, did not serve

Rush Limbaugh, did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst' [see "The Rush Limbaugh Story" by Paul D. Colford, St. Martin's Press, 1993, Chapter 2: Beating the Draft.])

Michael Savage (aka Michael Alan Weiner) - did not serve, too busy chasing herbs and botany degrees in Hawaii and Fiji

John Wayne, did not serve

Pat Robertson - claimed during 1986 campaign to be a "combat veteran." In reality, was a "Liquor Officer."

Bill Kristol, did not serve

Sean Hannity, did not serve.

Kenneth Starr, did not serve

Antonin Scalia, did not serve

Clarence Thomas, did not serve

Ralph Reed, did not serve

Michael Medved, did not serve

Charlie Daniels, did not serve

Ted Nugent, did not serve

Country Singer Toby Keith, did not serve. (1)

Radio Host Phil Hendrie, did not serve.

Ollie North - Convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, at least he served.

Charlton Heston - served in WWII, but went AWOL when Michael Moore asked him some tough questions.

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association - did not serve (apparently pulled lottery #97 in 1969 as a campus radical at SUNY-Albany, but weaseled out by getting a family doctor to claim he had a nervous disorder).

James Carville, a.k.a. "Corporal Cueball" - Served in the United States Marine Corps, 1966-'68. (1)

Markos Moulitsas, a.k.a. "Kos" (leading liberal blogger) - Served in the United States Army, 1989-'92. (1)

Randi Rhodes - enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1977 and worked stateside as a mechanic in Texas, achieving the rank of Airman First Class. (link)

Independents

Gov. Jesse Ventura, U.S. Navy SEAL training, did UDT work

Senator Jim Jeffords, U.S. Navy 1956-1959

And let's not forget the Coast Guard...

The brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard risk their lives every day to protect our nation and save thousands of lives every year. The Coast Guard is in fact a branch of the United States Armed Forces.

Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MI) served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 1971-1984. http://www.house.gov/genetaylor/biography.htm

Congressman Howard Coble (R-NC) served in the U.S. Coast Guard (Active Duty)for 5.5 years. Served in the CG Reserve for 18 years. http://coble.house.gov/biography/

William Delahunt (D-MA) served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 1963-1971 http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/faqs/William_Delahunt.html

About the National Guard Today Dear Friends: Having been a reservist and now in a state defense force serving with Guard in my state, I wanted to ask you to clarify for the masses the HUGE difference between the National Guard during the Vietnam War and today. After the establishment of the All Volunteer Force in 1976, the reserves and Guard became a major source for deployment. More than 40 % of the Army's combat arms units are NG. In fact, a big chunk of the folks who have served in Bosnia/Kosovo are reserve and Guard. The same is true of deployments to the Gulf in recent times. The Guard and Reserve are no longer a haven for those who wish to dodge hazardous service. Hope you can make that clear to folks who might not otherwise understand and respect the volunteers in the reserve services today. It might be interesting to how many of the sons and daughters of politicians are serving in ANY capacity. Ahem. CPT B Couldn't have said it any better...

The New Hampshire Gazette's Chickenhawk database

Complete list - members of the 106th Congress with Military Service. Why is the Republican leadership so top-heavy with Chickenhawks??

In response to NewsMax's "Deck of Weasels"...check out the Deck of Republican Chickenhawks!

Got other names to submit? Please let us know about heroes or chickenhawks, on either side of the aisle. (Hey, do your homework and include a link with any name you send us, OK?)

Re military personnel and public perception of Democrats v. Republicans in general.

How often must Democrats defend their party against the typical freeper blather of draft-dodging, service-evading, unpatriotic cowards among us? More often than we have to.

Gore was right all along. About some things. The "truth" IS on our side.

Or, as www.rackjite.com puts it:

THE CHICKENHAWKS "Conservatives make great fun of President Clinton for questioning the Vietnam War, standing up to his beliefs and questioning his own participation in that war as well, i.e., being honest and walking the walk of his own belief system [and then giving up his student deferment to subject himself to the draft!]. On the other hand there were literally millions of dishonest hypocritical, cowardly right-wing loonies who supported the war while refusing to personally participate."