Posted on 09/11/2004 2:23:09 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Expert: Dan Rather Exaggerates Military Record
Wes Vernon, NewsMax.comOne of the nation’s top military researchers is angry that CBS News anchorman Dan Rather continues to exaggerate and make misleading statements about his military record.
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002
The researcher, B.G. Burkett, says that Rather’s inaccaurate statements about his military service can be found in the new hit book "Bias,” written by veteran CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg.
Burkett, co-author of the book "Stolen Valor,” a history of the media’s portrayal of the Vietnam conflict, says he’s tired of Rather’s double-talk and hypocrisy.
Case in point are Rather’s claims in "Bias.” Goldberg's book details a confrontation he had with Rather over the anchorman's compulsive liberal bias.
Goldberg recounts that when he told the network star in 1996 of his upcoming Wall Street Journal op-ed piece citing a specific CBS News report as an example of left-wing bias, Rather replied he was "getting viscerally angry about this.”
"Angry I was expecting,” Goldberg tell his readers. "What came next, I wasn’t.
"Rather’s voice started quivering, and he told me how in his young days, he had signed up with the Marines – not once, but twice!”
This is not the first time Rather has hid behind the flag and his own military service claims to deflect criticism of his reporting, Burkett said.
Burkett added that Rather is greatly exaggerating his record. First, Burkett says, Rather "misspoke” when he claimed he signed up for the Marines twice. He didn’t.
And Burkett is flabbergasted that Rather continues to proudly describe himself as a "Marine.”
"What he did, he signed up for the military twice, not the Marines,” Burkett said after thoroughly reviewing Rather’s military records.
But Burkett notes that Rather "never got through Marine recruit training because he couldn’t do the physical activity.”
Rather 'Unfit'
As Burkett explains in "Stolen Valor," Rather "was discharged less than four months later on May 11, 1954 for being medically unfit.” As a boy, Rather had suffered from rheumatic fever.
"This is like a guy who flunks out of Harvard running around saying he went to Harvard,” Burkett said.
Burkett also believes that, far from being a gung-ho military enlistee, Rather’s record shows he deftly avoiding entering the military during the Korean War.
Burkett says that Rather was a student at Sam Houston University at a time during the Korean War when "you could be drafted right out of college,” with deferments available only short term, for a semester.
"The way he got around being eligible for the draft was he joined a reserve unit – Army reserve but not the Marines.” Rather stayed in the reserve for the entire war.
"The second the Korean War was over, and he wasn’t in jeopardy anymore, he dropped out of the Army Reserve. He later graduated from college, and then went into the Marine Corps. So he signed up for the Marine Corps once,” Burkett said, not twice.
Rather knows he is skirting the truth about his record, Burkett believes. "He’s made such a big deal out of this ‘I’m a Marine’ thing. I mean, to a real Marine, you’re not a Marine – I mean even though you swore an oath and you’re technically on the payroll, you’re not a real Marine until you get out of basic training. And he never got out of recruit training.”
During Rather’s angry confrontation with Goldberg, the author of "Bias” says that "to his credit,” the anchorman emphasized that his Marine service was during "peacetime” so that "he was trying not to sound like some kind of war hero.”
Still, Rather never disclosed that his Marine service never got him past basic training.
Meanwhile, Burkett is miffed that Rather led media criticism of former Vice President Dan Quayle’s military record during his White House campaign.
"This is the same national broadcaster who, night after night during the 1988 presidential campaign, hammered Republican presidential candidate Dan Quayle for avoiding Vietnam by joining the National Guard,” he said.
"CBS was particularly heavy on Dan Quayle and his Guard experience. … It’s exactly the same thing Dan Rather did during the Korean War.
"If I had been in Rather’s position,” added Burkett, "I wouldn’t even have ever brought up the Marine Corps.”
Burkett has tracked Rather’s claims for years. In "Stolen Valor,” Burkett investigated a CBS TV documentary, "The Wall Within,” hosted by Rather.
The thrust of Rather’s report was that hordes of Vietnam veterans were dysfunctional, mentally disturbed or harbored guilt because their superiors had forced them to kill Vietnamese civilians.
Burkett did his own investigation and found that this was all hype. And while he was at it, he looked up Rather’s own military history. So determined was he that the story be put in perspective that Burkett ended up collaborating with ABC on a "counter documentary” on that network’s "20/20.”
This attempt to set the record straight won "20/20” a Cine Award, a significant honor within the industry.
"We attacked Rather’s documentary as being a bogus piece of work,” Burkett recalled to NewsMax.
Get Bernard Goldberg’s "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News" and B.G. Burkett & Glenna Whitley’s "Stolen Valor" at a discount from NewsMax.
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Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
B.G. Burkett - Stolen Valor
Dan Rather/CBS
Media Bias
Someone needs to stick a microphone in the face of that lying POS and watch him load his drawers. Keep up the pressure on this puke.
Dan Rather's brain is damaged from drug abuse:
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=4069
"When Jahr asked if the anchorman himself had smoked marijuana, Dan Rather in part replied: "As a reporter—and I don't want to say that that's the only context—I've tried everything. I can say to you with confidence, I know a fair amount about LSD. I've never been a social user of any of these things, but my curiosity has carried me into a lot of interesting areas."
Jahr quotes Dan Rather as continuing: "As an example, in 1955 or '56, I had someone at the Houston police station shoot me with heroin so I could do a story about it. The experience was a special kind of hell. I came out understanding full well how one could be addicted to 'smack,' and quickly. "
I have decided that Dan Rather truly is a pig.
Ack, he's had a thirty year long acid flashback. Makes perfect sense.
I'm with you. Let the anal examine on Danny Boy begin!
I like my pork well done, don't you?
Or like a guy running around all throuhgh the 90's calling himself a Rhodes Scholar..... Who'm, I wonder who that was....
>>>...Rather was a student at Sam Houston University at a time during the Korean War...
Accoding to GungaDan's auotobiography, the school was "Sam Houston Institute of Technology" at the time he attende - and changed it's name when it became popular to wear school initials on clothing.
I'm with you. Let the anal examine on Danny Boy begin!
I'm not sure that would be a good thing to do with former Padre Marcel Martel..Rathers rather good "handwriting" expert..
Now we all know what everyone suspected after the "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" episode.
Dan Rather has fallen victim to the time honored tradition of believing his own press. Now he may have to take a dive on behalf of the network because of his pride.
I would say too bad, since at one point he was named father of the year or some such. However, he has a duty which he shirked long ago in the name of his all-encompassing ego and position: to report the news accurately and fairly. Beginning with the service he didn't serve, the film he didn't see, and the President he sought to discredit so as to make himself larger, he has vaulted himself at others' expense.
The piper is now coming to collect, with interest due.
LOL!
Yes! With a good sauce!
Your tag says it all.
Rather's always been a simpleton pawn...since his earliest days beneath that Dallas underpass.
Rats Rear Dan. From sometime in the 20's until sometime in the 60's or 70's it was, Sam Houston State Teachers College!
Most of the graduates until the 70's were teachers.
Ever read the story told by Rather's editor (boss) at the time of Kennedy's assassination? Seems Rather volunteered to go to Zapruder's house and literally knock him down and steal the film to get the scoop. A man with ethics if there ever was one.
bump
Rather is a bogus piece of work no matter how you cut it.
Hey! There's no good reason to insult pigs!
After all.......
How would you feel if you were some little oinker minding your own bussiness and somebody called you Dan Rather?
Huh?
I don't think you would want the initials for Sam Houston Institute of Technology on your jacket.
Bump
LOL! Thanks for the good laugh!!! :)
Thanks.
You're welcome J
I decided that back when I was married to my first husband, and he left in 1985. LOL!
;)
btt
. Course danny isn't running for President, lol, but this sure is a hoot to learn about....this man is such an ass.
And I did not know that danny flunked out of Harvard...but it certainly makes sense...LOL!
Doesn't it just knock you OUT that these are the same creepy liberal grunts who NEVER spoke of billy klinton's draft dodging days...his protests against American in England....his being asked to leave Oxford upon suspicion of his having raped a girl there....his LETTERS to his draft counsel in which he pleads with them to not draft him because he LOATHES THE MILITARY of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
I guess the hypocrisy of these liberal talking head freaks has finally 'done um in'. What a bunch of old hippies, who never grew up, who never stood tall, who never made sacrifices, who never will understand that freedom is NEVER free, and who, since Vietnam Days, have attempted to break the resolve of the American people to stand behind their warriors and stay the course to victory.
"This is like a guy who flunks out of Harvard running around saying he went to Harvard,” Burkett said."
Can anyone say "Al Gore"???? Then again, if Al Gore had not invented the internet, CBS and the MSM would be getting away with character assassination. Thanks, Al!
bump for exposure
bump for later read
"No, Mr. Rather....we're not getting ready to do the dishes..."
(Hint: don't hold your breath)
But Burkett notes that Rather "never got through Marine recruit training because he couldn’t do the physical activity.”
Rather 'Unfit'
As Burkett explains in "Stolen Valor," Rather "was discharged less than four months later on May 11, 1954 for being medically unfit.” As a boy, Rather had suffered from rheumatic fever.
I got a new post pulled, on this.
If this can be documented, it's another nail.
Hillry tried this act too, don't you remember she tried to join the Marines.
From this NewsMax article: "Rather’s voice started quivering, and he told me how in his young days, he had signed up with the Marines – not once, but twice!”
The most Dan-damning evidence would be if Rather is on record anywhere (other than this private conversation with Goldberg) saying he signed up with the Marines twice.
Freepers will get busy. Anyone got Bernie's e-mail?
Rather needs to explain his behavior during the Korean War.
The Korean War was at that stage where they were having peace talks. It was on and off, on and off, and the Marines didn't take me until the start of 1954, although I had graduated in '53 from college. I taught journalism in college that semester while I was waiting. I had already volunteered for the Marines but I was waiting to actually go. I went in the Marines, had one of the shortest and least distinguished careers in the whole history of the Marine Corps and came out.
It's news to me today. I think it worthwhile to have this stick current for the ongoing thrashing!
Let me preface my comment by saying I have NO military experience, but...with several Marine Corp friends I have heard that to call yourself a Marine while still a recruit is an invitation to a lot of grief. Can anyone verify?
Read Rathers' book and then research the truth and you will conclude Rather is a narcissist with visions of grandeur and an out of control ego. He makes up the most outrageous claims about his coverage of the Kennedy asassination as well as his coverage of the civil rights movement. He even makes up stuff that can be easily proven wrong. But, he does understand that it doesn't matter if some people know you are a liar as long as a majority believe you. That's why the internet is destroying him.
In 1969-70 I lived next door to friends of a woman Dan was having an affair with in Houston. She was in my apartment when he called and she went next door to take his call--came back with info he had told her about Ted Kennedy.
Thanks for posting this. barset
Rather's inability to perform physically would have shown up very early in training. Most likely the first week, probably during the initial PFT. Once he was checked at sick bay he would have been dropped by his platoon and sent to Casual Company for separation. I'd bet that he spent more time at Casual Company than he did training with his platoon.
How about having somebody shoot you in the head sixteen times, so that you can do a story about it, danny boy?
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