As the Nose Grows: Hillary Claims She Almost Joined the Marines
March 26, 2008
On the heels of her whopper of a story regarding her 1996 trip to Bosnia, which she more or less got caught in a red handed lie, a new Hillary “fantasy” is being re hashed. It turns out that Hillary told Women in Military Service” back in 1994; that shortly after the end of the Vietnam war, she seriously looked into joining the United States Marines Corp. The details of this tale go something like this: Back in June of 1994, Clinton told an organization who was attempting to build a memorial for women who had served in the United States armed forces, that while she was living in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1975 she seriously considered, and even met with a United States Marine Corp recruiter to discuss the possibility of enlisting:
I decided that I was very interested in having some experience in serving in some capacity in the military. So I walked into our local recruiting office…”
Clinton vividly recalled that she didn’t know if she wanted to be active duty, reserves, or National Guard. At the time she was already a lawyer; and felt that surely there was a role she could perform given her background in law. She then explains that the Marine recruiter she was sitting face to face with looked at her, and asked how old she was. Hillary replied “twenty seven.” Now this is when the story gets good, Hillary divulges into further detail regarding the recruiters reaction to her request:
He looked at me, and in those days that was before I learned how to wear contact lenses,” Clinton said. “I had these really thick glasses on. He said, ‚ÄòHow bad’s your eyesight?’ I said, ‚ÄòIt’s pretty bad.’ ,Finally said to me, he said, ‘You’re too old. You can’t see. And you’re a woman.,But maybe the dogs would take you.’”
This, says Clinton, was very discouraging and made her realize that she would be forced to find some other way to serve her country. This story, or revelation, however you want to put it will surely draw a new wave of renewed scrutiny on Hillary’s tendency to –and this is putting it politely– “embellish“ stories from her past. And why will this tale receive scrutiny? Basically because it doesn’t seem feasible that a recruiter would make such an odd pronouncement, considering that at the time, according to A History of the Women Marines, female Marines who became pregnant were permitted to remain on active service, and seeing as thoughthe military had recruiting problems back in the 1970s their abject rejection of a brainy lawyer wouldn’t make much sense in all practical terms.
This is not all, there happens to be even more reason to place some level of scrutiny on this claim. Looking back at the time Clinton told her tale, the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd seemed to wonder about it, pointing out that Hillary and Bill Clinton had been married on Oct. 11, 1975 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
So, if she was talking to a Marine recruiter in 1975 before the marriage, was she briefly considering joining the few, the proud and the brave of the corps as an alternative to life with Mr. Clinton, who was already being widely touted as a sure thing for Arkansas Attorney General?
This raises a good point, and begs to question why, and more importantly if, this encounter ever really happened or if Hillary was simply retelling a section of her “la-la” land fantasy in an effort to further her well known pandering ways. Don’t worry, there are people looking into this, in fact the Washington Post looked into the story back when it first ran in 1994. And to no one’s surprise there was no trace of any records or anything other than Hillary’s vague memories. “All I can remember is that she looked into it,” Clinton’s late friend Diane Blair told the newspaper.
However there is another possibility that would help explain Hillary’s 1994 claim in a more rational context. Could she have been “testing the system”? Back then Hillary was a devout feminist who was constantly fighting for equal treatment of women in all facets of society, which would also include the military:
Arkansas friend, Ann Henry said she “vaguely” recalled the episode in the context of frequent discussions they used to have about women’s access to supposedly open career paths. Frequently, the equal opportunity that was promised was not a reality – and sometimes female faculty members went out to conduct ‚Äòtests,’ Henry said. ‘If Hillary Rodham had asked about the Marines as a way of testing whether the corps actually welcomed women, ‚Äòit would have been consistent with what was going on with us at the time,’ Henry said. ‘Is it possible she was testing?’ Blair asked. ‚ÄòI don’t remember if she was seriously exploring a career, or was moved by curiosity, or patriotism or feminism. I wish I had kept notes.’”
Unfortunately she didn’t keep notes, and it seems as though we are left asking ourselves, “did this really happen?” Or is this just another tall tale from Queen Hillary’s book of fantasies. Not to mention the fact that unlike her Bosnian sniper recollection, Hillary has never repeated this narrative since its original telling back in 1994. If it is completely true, why wouldn’t she recant the tale on the campaign stump? It no doubt benefit her among many retired military personnel, male and female, along with independents worried about her ability and dedication to our countries defense capabilities. All of these are fair questions, and speak to the kind of person Hillary really is behind all
her exterior talk of “experience” and “leadership abilities.”
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