Reply #30: Why wasn't Pat in Vietnam? [View All]

From Skeleton Closet


VD: A Fun Way to Avoid the Draft?

Despite his harsh pro-Vietnam War rhetoric, Pat Buchanan never served, in war or in peace. The reason why has always been murky - we've read or been emailed that he had flat feet, was wall eyed (the opposite of cross-eyed), or had an arthritic knee.
Buchanan himself said that in 1960, when he was 21, the draft board rejected him because he had Reiter's syndrome. What's that, you ask? It's a form of arthritis usually caused by chlamydia, a venereal disease (at least in America. In third world countries, a form of dysentery is the most common cause.)

When pressed, a Buchanan aide said that if, indeed, sexual contact is the only way to get Reiter's, Buchanan would never have admitted it. That's an honest if cynical response, but it assumes that Buchanan knows what causes Reiter's. He also could have had chlamydia for years, even to this day, without knowing it; chlamydia often has no symptoms, especially in men. Notice also that this aide's statement is not a denial. The Buchanan campaign has refused to confirm or deny whether Pat has had chlamydia or any other venereal diseases.