“Your requested URL was not found,” was the message I got both for your link and the headline link. So, tell me, did Byrd ever serve in the armed forces?
"He did not serve in the military during the war, working instead as a welder in a Baltimore, Maryland shipyard, where he helped build warships.[citation needed]
Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy about racially integrating the military. Byrd, when he was 28 years old, wrote to segregationist Senator Theodore Bilbo, of Mississippi, vowing never to serve in such a military:
"Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.[5]"
He had earlier written "I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side".[6][7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd#Participation_in_the_Ku_Klux_Klan
No, Byrd worked in shipyards in Baltimore and Tampa during World War II, which raises a couple of interesting points:
First, how did a young man, supposedly in prime condition, avoid military service during the war? In the various articles I’ve read about Byrd, there is no mention of his draft status, or any physical conditions that might have disqualified him. Indeed, welding in a shipyard is hard work; if Byrd could handle those conditions, I’m guessing he was fit enough to serve—but didn’t. Remember, this is the same guy who derided George W. Bush as a “desk bound” president.
Additionally, the war years mark the same period when Byrd was most active in the KKK. We know he organized a chapter back in West Virginia, but what about his time in Tampa and Baltimore? I’m guessing that Bobby had some interaction with the chapters in those locations as well, but (naturally) the MSM never bothered to inquire about that chapter in “Sheets” long life and career.