For all the hoopla surrounding Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s military service, one must remember that her Democratic predecessor, Tom Harkin, lied about his own military career.
Decades ago, in 1979, then-Congressman Harkin said during a round-table discussion that he “spent five years as a Navy pilot, starting in November of 1962” and that “one year was in Vietnam.”
His words were quoted in the book Changing of the Guard, and transcribed in a 1991 Wall Street Journal article that is no longer available free online. At the time of the WSJ article, Harkin was engaged in a presidential bid.
“That clearly is not an accurate picture of his Navy service,” the WSJ wrote at the time. “Though Mr. Harkin stresses he is proud of his Navy record — ‘I put my ass on the line day after day’ — he concedes now he never flew combat air patrols in Vietnam.”
Harkin’s lie resurfaced in 2004 when he accused Vice President Dick Cheney of being a “coward” for not serving in Vietnam.
