Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Romney’s sons?

An acquaintance of mine who served with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, and whose son and son-in-law are both preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, wonders why none of Governor Romney’s many sons ever saw fit to join the military. Romney’s response is, Hey, I thought it was a volunteer military. Yet if everyone volunteered ...

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Wikimedia
Wikimedia

An acquaintance of mine who served with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, and whose son and son-in-law are both preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, wonders why none of Governor Romney's many sons ever saw fit to join the military.

An acquaintance of mine who served with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, and whose son and son-in-law are both preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, wonders why none of Governor Romney’s many sons ever saw fit to join the military.

Romney’s response is, Hey, I thought it was a volunteer military. Yet if everyone volunteered at the rate his family has, we would be forced to re-institute a draft. I wonder if he has ever discussed joining the military with any of his sons, and if so, whether he encouraged them or discouraged them. 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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