Senate Candidate Blumenthal Defends Vietnam-Era Service

MYFOXNY.COM/AP - Appearing with a group of veterans Tuesday, Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal said that he "misspoke" about saying he served in Vietnam, but defended his service record with the Marine Corps Reserve and reaffirmed his commitment to military and veterans affairs.

Blumenthal, the state attorney general, is seen a video taken in 2008 in Norfolk saying: "We have learned something very important since the days I served in Vietnam and you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war. Whatever we call Afghanistan or Iraq we owe our military men and women unconditional support."

At the news conference Tuesday, the Senate candidate said that he meant to say he served "during Vietnam" instead of "in Vietnam." He said that "a few misplaced words" were "totally unintentional."

Meantime, his Republican challengers for the open U.S. Senate seat are seizing on the report and Blumenthal's statements to try to capture the slot, which has been held by retiring Sen. Chris Dodd for decades.

He served served six months in Parris Island, S.C., and six years in the USMC Reserve.

Blumenthal said he has always tried to make it clear his Marine Reserve service never took him overseas. The Times reported he got five deferments to avoid going to war between 1965 and 1970.

In a televised March debate, Blumenthal stated clearly he had not served in Vietnam.

"It's troubling that the attorney general would make this statement. Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. When we you want to get the support of an audience you sometimes slip into that," Robert Simmons, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, told Good Day NY on Tuesday.

Blumenthal's campaign manager said the New York Times report was an "outrageous distortion."