Mark Kirk exaggerated Desert Storm service in constituent letter

[cal04]

by kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/5/28/870892/-Mark-Kirk-exaggerated-Desert-Storm-service-in-constituent-letter

It never ends with this guy. Here's Mark Kirk, writing a constituent::
http://www.heartland.org/full/25692/Congressman_Mark_Kirk_Wrong_on_CapandTrade.html

It is time to break the boom and bust cycle of high gas prices and the need to deploy three separate armies to the Middle East (Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom). As you may know, I am a veteran of the Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom missions.

Wow, Kirk served in Desert Storm? He's proud enough of that letter that he posted it on his official House site. But, it's not technically true.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2001/April/Pages/Armed_Services7061.aspx

He completed three tours of duty aboard the USS Stennis, four tours of duty supporting counter-narcotics operations in Panama, and worked at the Office of Naval Intelligence during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The Office of Naval Intelligence is right outside of Washington DC.

I was in the Army during Desert Storm, but am not a veteran of that war. Why? Because I was stationed in Germany and never deployed to Kuwait or Iraq. Kirk might argue that his efforts aided the war effort. Well, so did mine. I spent weeks shuttling supplies from depots in Germany to Frankfurt, where they were loaded onto transport planes to the Gulf. I lugged around everything from ammo to toilet paper (no joke). I spent weeks more working on my base's post office, helping the small office handle the crush of letters and care packages being sent to deployed soldiers by their families. Seems trite, and it kind of is (and tedious as shit), but there's little more important to a soldier than mail call. Trust me on that.

Still, that doesn't make me a "veteran of the Desert Storm mission", just like it doesn't make Kirk a veteran of that war.

Sheesh. Kirk served honorably. He did an important job, and by all accounts did it well. So why the need to embellish?

[The Magistrate]

1. He Lies, Ma'am, Because, Being a Republican, He Loses his Human Shape If he Ever Tells the Truth....

"Another Republican Candidate Caught Lying About Military Service!"{

[Scuba]

2. Great question. Thanks.