I stand corrected (Letters, June 26): Mitt Romney did have deferment for several years (1966-1969), but he did have his name in the lottery between 1969 until early 1973, drawing a 300 out of 365.
However, the letter writer insinuated Romney's accident was not real. It was, and the Republican candidate nearly died. (He was initially declared dead at the scene). It would have been easy for Romney to claim 4-F, but he didn't. What does that say? Details of his medical condition were also subject to Freedom of Information requests.
Fact: During the Vietnam era about 27 million young men were eligible for the draft. Of these, 2.3 million served in Vietnam; about 14.7 million received deferment for one reason or another. John Kerry sought deferment for one more year than Romney did.
So the fact remains that Romney did put his name up for the draft - odds were about 10 percent he would serve in Vietnam - and his work with the Mormon Church was legitimate as he did travel to France and did do missionary work.
Does this delegitimize Romney? No. He did stand. Now compare him to President Barack Obama whose autobiography is chock full of misrepresentation and fantasy. Whose religion is one based on racism?
Pat Kean
Kihei
