“during the period of the Vietnam War.”
During the period of, but nowhere near Vietnam. He could have volunteered for SEAL duty in Vietnam but he chickened out. He’s a punk-assed coward, and he never was a SEAL; UDT but not a SEAL.
If the SEALs thought he was misrepresenting himself, he never would have been allowed to attend their conventions, much less honored by them and by Naval Special Warfare.
Here’s what Brandon Webb, a former Navy SEAL who has no fondness for Ventura, said. I can find plenty of other similar statements by former SEALS:
I’ve heard the speculation and gossip about Jesse Ventura’s Navy SEAL status and wanted to set the record straight. Jesse Ventura graduated with Basic Underwater Demolition Class 58 and, like it or not, he earned his status. Some say he’s a UDT (Underwater Demolition Team), and not a “SEAL,” but that’s bullshit.
Others have seen the flaw in this analogy, and mentioned in private SEAL forums, “try telling that to a WWII UDT veteran who swam ashore before the landing craft on D-Day.” The UDT’s and SEALs are essentially one and the same. It’s why the UDT is still part of the training acronym BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL).
Like it or not, Jesse Ventura is a Navy SEAL. He did the pushups and put up with the cold water, just like the rest of us