RE: VP Cheney - I was wrong. While attacking Kerry, an actual gunboat VN vet, on the campaign trail he told the Washington Post that he sought his deferments because ''I had other priorities in the 60's than military service.'' I THOUGHT WE ALL DID!

[Christian Dame]

THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: MILITARY SERVICE; Cheney's Five Draft Deferments During the Vietnam Era Emerge as a Campaign Issue

• Putting Mr. Cheney's record in the spotlight, Mr. Kerry said that he ''got every deferment in the world and decided he had better things to do.''Share full article
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  He said he ''never served'' because of deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, which he attributed to subpar academic performance and the fact that he had to work to pay for his education.

  He added that he ''would have obviously been happy to serve had I been called.''

  Away from the hearing room, he told the Washington Post that he had sought his deferments because ''I had other priorities in the 60's than military service.''

By Katharine Q. Seelye

• May 1, 2004

He added that he ''would have obviously been happy to serve had I been called.'' ...

''I don't regret the decisions I made,'' he added. ''I complied fully with all the requirements of the statutes, registered with the draft when I turned 18. Had I been drafted, I would have been happy to serve.''

But others contend that Mr. Cheney appeared to go to some length to avoid the draft.

Christian W. Dame 

1st Lt. USMCR Vietnam 1969-1970