What Did You Do In the War, Daddy?

Another prominent individual -- this time Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald -- has misstated details of his military service, telling a homeless man that he had been "in the special forces."  But he hadn't, not really.   Yet, he has apologized, and veterans groups seem largely to have accepted that without suggesting he resign.  How come?  

Well, first, of course, the key difference is that veterans will recognize that - unlike Brian Williams - McDonald really is a veteran.  He's a West Point graduate and though he fairly quickly abandoned the military for corporate life, he did serve five years, much of it with the 82d Airborne Division.  

In addition, though, the term "special forces" is itself a bit fuzzy to define.  It has been applied in a variety of ways, beginning at least in the 1960's, to units like the Green Berets, but that was long before it became the formal designation for the entire gigantic organization chart that represents the myriad of "Special Forces" units that exist today.

If veterans are old enough, they may recall that in the Army of the 1950s and 1960s, the terms "Ranger" and "Airborne" both represented special, difficult, elite training for which soldiers had to qualify separately.  These really were precursors to special forces.  The career advice for any Infantry or other combat-branch officer who wanted to get ahead in those days was that it was essential to achieve one, or preferably both, of these qualifications.  (McDonald, according to what I've read of him, has both, having qualified as a Ranger and having served in an airborne unit.) 

All of this presumably helps explain why veteran outrage about McDonald hasn't gone so far as to force his resignation.  The keys will be whether he retains the respect and trust of most veterans 

  

Comments

[Dick Klade]

Yes. When I read of MacDonald's gaffe I forgave him as soon as I got to the info that he had been through Ranger and airborne training. Seems to me somewhat like those who qualified as sharpshooters on the training range telling a fellow vet they were a sharpshooter, even though they never functioned in that role later on.