My intentions for creating this account is to monitor entries of interest and EXPOSE contributors with an agenda who distort facts or upload un-sourced and inaccurate information in an attempt to promote a bias point of view -- hence the User Name: The-Expose-inator!
I too realize I too might have an agenda and might selectively choose my “sources” to promote my point of view…. But at least I will have sources. Much of what I see in the controversial entries is opinion being passed off as fact.
To allow you to better judge where I am coming from, I will provide the following profile to help you judge my “agenda.”
I was Drafted and Inducted into the Army as a College Student in early 1967 in Wilkes-Barre, the Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station for Northeast Pennsylvania including Biden’s “hometown” of Scranton; hence, I have a little firsthand knowledge on how physicals were conducted. I had three disqualifying features detected during my Draft Physical including a “loose knee” from a sports injury that should have been surgically corrected. Instead of being disqualified, the doctor stamped my Physical “Waiver” but did warn me to “be careful with the knee in Vietnam so it didn’t dislocate again!” From my experience it was obvious that to fail a draft physical you would had to have a disqualification a doctor could see with his own two eyes like missing an arm or a leg. I was inducted later that afternoon and ended up serving an extended tour in Vietnam. I guess I might have “Taken Biden’s Place” in the War but never got so much as a thank-you from him! Then again, my circumstance might have been a little different than Biden’s. When I was drafted my father and brother (who suffered with terrible asthma for his entire 24 year military career) were active duty military officers, and my mother and four uncles were WWII combat veterans. Being found “unfit for service” would have been too embarrassing so like most young men my age, I just went. I would note that I was drafted with 23 other young men (17 of which were also attending college) that day and ALL were found physically qualified and inducted with me. Not a single “draft dodger” among this cross section of middle American middle class youth!
I qualified for OCS and accepted a commission while still carrying a “US serial number” and went to Vietnam as a young second lieutenant. I extended to come home a “mature” captain and was offered the opportunity to attend college (engineering degree) while still on active duty drawing full pay & allowances as an incentive to stay in.
During a 30 year career I commanded at every level through Brigade, served five overseas tours, and completed college, grad school, the Stanford Univ. advanced management program and the National War College.
Since retiring from the Military, I started, grew and sold a very successful business for $30 Million CASH and while waiting out a non-compete went to Afghanistan. I am now owner/president of another successful company. The-Expose-inator (talk) 19:12, 10 November 2008 (UTC)