Mr. Romney Deferred

From the Boston Globe:

As the Vietnam War raged in the 1960s, Mitt Romney received a deferment from the draft as a Mormon "minister of religion" for the duration of his missionary work in France, which lasted two and a half years.

Before and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years of deferments for his academic studies. When his deferments ended and he became eligible for military service in 1970, he drew a high number in the annual lottery that determined which young men were drafted. His high number ensured he was not drafted into the military.

The deferments for Mormon missionaries became increasingly controversial in the late 1960s, especially in Utah, leading the Mormon Church and the government to limit the number of church missionaries who could put off their military service. That agreement called for each church ward, or church district, to designate one male every six months to be exempted from potential duty for the duration of his missionary work.

Romney's home state was Michigan, making his 4-D exemption as a missionary all but automatic because of the relatively small number of Mormon missionaries from that state. It might have been more difficult in Utah, where the huge Mormon population meant that there were sometimes more missionaries than available exemptions. Most missions lasted two and a half years, as Romney's did.

[...]

Romney, who has said he would have served if he had been drafted, shed some light on his view of the matter in a recent interview with the Globe.

"I really don’t recall thinking about political positions when I was knocking at the door in France" as a missionary, Romney said. "I was supportive of my country. I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."

I don't have a problem with a church stepping in to exempt one -- or any -- of their members from serving in the military. In fact, the Religious Society of Friends -- the Quakers -- worked very hard on my behalf to keep me from being drafted. The difference, however, is that I applied as a Conscientious Objector and I told my draft board in no uncertain terms that I wasn't going to serve in the military. Period.

Mr. Romney and his church, however, decided to go another route. They made him a "minister of religion." That's fine; my understanding is that in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, every man is a minister. The other difference is that while the Quakers have a record of being against military service going back to their founding in the 17th century, the Mormons have been staunch supporters of the military. Many of our finest soldiers have been Mormons and I honor their service to the country as I would honor anyone who feels the call to serve in uniform. I may believe that war is not the answer to human conflict, but it is neither my place nor my duty to judge those who do.

What I do find disturbing is a lack of candor on the part of Mr. Romney. If he didn't want to serve, he could have made it clear to both his church and his draft board. But if he truly "longed...to be in Vietnam," one phone call would have taken care of that tout de suite, as the French say. Certainly the son of the governor of Michigan would have been able to have his voice heard, and if he felt that his missionary duties -- an important part in the Mormon life -- were more important than making himself available to the draft, I'm sure the people on both his draft board and in the state of Michigan -- especially the able-bodied men of draft age -- would have given him a fair hearing. I am sure the treatment he would have received either as a soldier or a missionary would have been legitimate and had nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Romney's name or family. So why not just say so? They would have found a place on the troopship for him.

Besides, it was almost 40 years ago; no one cares about what one well-connected scion of a political family did or didn't do to fulfill his military obligation back then. I'm sure Mr. Romney has as reasonable and logical explanation for this, just as he has had for every other controversial issue that has come up in his campaign: his stand on gay marriage and gay rights, his views on reproductive choice, his life-long membership in the NRA, even one of his aide's propensity for impersonating a security officer to ban a reporter from a town meeting. I am sure that he has a very good answer, especially for the men and the families who served in his place.

And donkeys fly.