Blumenthal: War comment ‘unintentional’

UPDATED:

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal, who is Connecticut’s attorney general, conceded on Tuesday that he misspoke in claiming he served in Vietnam but defended his military record and his commitment to veterans.

At a news conference where he was backed by veterans, Mr. Blumenthal said he had meant to say he served “during Vietnam” instead of “in Vietnam.” He called it a matter of “a few misplaced words” that were “totally unintentional.”

Mr. Blumenthal, who in a recent poll easily led a pack of candidates to replace retiring Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in West Hartford to respond to a New York Times article that said Mr. Blumenthal had said at a 2008 event that he had served “in Vietnam.”

Mr. Blumenthal served six months at Parris Island, S.C., and six years in the reserves.

He told the newspaper he always has tried to make it clear his Marine Reserves service never took him overseas. His campaign called the report an “outrageous distortion” of his record.

Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty told the Associated Press that the paper stands by its story, which also said Mr. Blumenthal got five deferments to avoid going to war between 1965 and 1970.

The newspaper’s report comes five months before an election in which Republicans hope to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats.

Democrats control 57 seats in the Senate, and two independents caucus with the party. The GOP must pick up 10 seats this fall to establish a majority, a goal that could be easier to attain if the traditionally Democratic seat sought by Mr. Blumenthal is in play.

Mr. Blumenthal, a popular statewide elected official, got into the race after Mr. Dodd opted to retire in the face of polls showing he would have a hard time holding the seat.

Mr. Blumenthal told the Times he had misspoken at the 2008 event in Norwalk, Conn., in which he said he served in Vietnam.

The misstatements appear out of character for a politician who is generally careful with his speech, even calling reporters after events to correct or clarify points.

In January, shortly after he entered the U.S. Senate race, Mr. Blumenthal appeared on WFSB-TV’s “Face the State” and was asked about his service “in the Marines” and whether he supported the troop surge in Afghanistan. Mr. Blumenthal said he did support the president’s plans for additional troops and made it a point to say, “I served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and proudly.” He went on to talk about how his son’s commissioning ceremony at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., was “one of the proudest moments of my life.”

In a televised March debate, Mr. Blumenthal stated clearly he had not actually served in Vietnam during the conflict when asked a question about using military force in Iran.

Questions about Mr. Blumenthal’s military service come just days before Connecticut Democrats meet at their party convention on Friday night to endorse a candidate. Mr. Blumenthal is facing a challenge for the nomination from Mystic businessman Merrick Alpert but is expected to easily win the party’s endorsement.

His Republican opponents pounced on the news.

“It’s very clear to us, over the past few weeks and months as we’ve begun to research Mr. Blumenthal in earnest, there are some deeply troubling discrepancies between the image he’s portrayed publicly and the truth,” said Ed Patru, a spokesman for former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, who is seeking the GOP nomination.

The Senate campaign of former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a Republican who is a Vietnam veteran, said in a statement Tuesday that the “stunning revelation” about Mr. Blumenthal is raising questions about the viability of his candidacy and may make “this the race that could deliver a Republican Senate majority.”

Mr. Simmons’ campaign said he served 19 months in Vietnam with the Army, earned two Bronze Stars and “has never needed to pad his resume.”