Chris Dodd's Replacement Caught "Pulling A Kerry"

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general and presumed favorite to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), never served in Vietnam, despite frequent campaign trail references to his days serving in-country during the Vietnam War.

The revelation comes from an exposé in The New York Times, which details Blumenthal's 1970 enlistment in the Marine Reserve after receiving five previous deferments to attend Harvard College, attend graduate school in England, work for the Nixon administration and briefly work for The Washington Post. According to the Times, Blumenthal's Washington-based Marine unit performed local projects during the war, such as a Toys for Tots drive.

But Blumenthal, a Democrat, has spoken about his time in Vietnam during multiple campaign appearances around the state of Connecticut, including to a veterans group in Norwalk in 2008, when he said, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam."

He also once lamented the treatment Vietnam veterans received when they returned from service. "I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse," he told a Bridgeport rally that same year. At a rally in 2003 where family members gathered to express support for American troops overseas, Blumenthal said, "When we returned, we saw nothing like this. Let us do better by this generation of men and women."

The Times interviewed Blumenthal for the article, who said he usually tries to make clear he served in the military in the Vietnam era, but not in combat in Vietnam. "My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam," he said. See Chick's HOLY JOE.