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Doctor’s daughters claim their father helped Donald Trump avoid the draft
The daughters of a New York doctor have explosively claimed their father helped Donald Trump avoid the draft during the Vietnam War.
December 27, 20182:28pm
The daughters of a New York foot doctor have explosively claimed their father diagnosed Donald Trump with bone spurs to help him avoid the draft for the Vietnam War.
Elysa Braunstein and Sharon Kessel told The New York Times their dad, Dr Larry Braunstein, delivered the diagnosis as a “favour” to the President’s father, Fred Trump.
Dr Braunstein died in 2007, so he can neither confirm nor deny the claim.
But Ms Braunstein and Ms Kessel said his role in shielding Mr Trump from military service had long been common knowledge among family and friends.
“It was family lore,” Ms Braunstein said. “It was something we would always discuss.”
Dr Braunstein was a tenant of Fred Trump. In return for helping Fred’s son, he allegedly got improved access to the landlord and a steady rate of rent.
“What he got was access to Fred Trump. If there was anything wrong in the building, my dad would call and Trump would take care of it immediately. That was the small favour that he got,” Ms Braunstein said.
She was unsure whether her father had ever examined Mr Trump, but said he implied the future president did not actually have spurs in his feet.
Heel spurs are bone protrusions caused by a build-up of calcium. They can be treated through the use of an orthotic device, stretching or surgery.
The Times found no documentation to back up the women’s story, and the White House did not return the newspaper’s requests for comment.
Donald Trump received a series of deferments, which kept him from serving in Vietnam. Picture: Jacquelyn Martin/APSource:AP
In 1968, 22-year-old Donald Trump had already received four deferments from the military because of his education, but had since graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and been declared available for service.
At the time, America used a system of local boards to select men for military service (the draft lottery was implemented a year later). There were 300,000 recruits in 1968 alone — but Mr Trump was not one of them.
He was granted a temporary 1-Y medical exemption in October of that year, due to the apparent bone spurs in his foot. That exemption continued until 1972, when the 1-Y classification was scrapped, and he was granted a permanent 4-F disqualification.
Mr Trump addressed the bone spur diagnosis in an interview with the Times in 2016.
“I had a doctor that gave me a letter, a very strong letter, on the heels,” he said.
“They were spurs. You know, it was difficult from the long-term walking standpoint. Not a big problem, but it was enough of a problem.”
Mr Trump could not recall the doctor’s name, nor could he remember when the spurs stopped troubling him. He never had surgery to correct the problem.
“Over a period of time, it healed up,” he said.
The President also cited his high draft lottery number — a “phenomenal” number, in his words — as the main reason he wasn’t drafted. But given his medical exemption, the draft number was actually irrelevant.
“I’ll never forget. That was an amazing period of time in my life,” he once told the Fox 5 station in New York.
“I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers, and I got a very, very high number.”
Mr Trump graduated from the school 18 months before the lottery was held.
Mr Trump has previously said he ‘felt a little bit guilty’ about missing Vietnam. Picture: Steve Helber/APSource:AAP
He is not the first president to have avoided the Vietnam War.
George W. Bush was ineligible because he served with the Texas Air National Guard. Bill Clinton wrote to Colonel Holmes in 1969 thanking him for “saving me from the draft”.
But Mr Trump has previously admitted he “felt a little bit guilty” about not serving in Vietnam.
Those feelings led him to give $1 million to the Vietnam Veterans Plaza in New York “as a way of making up”. He also claims it contributed to his decision to run for President.
His record did not help during the presidential campaign.
During the Democratic National Convention, the parents of a fallen American soldier questioned what Mr Trump had given to his country.
“You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” Khizr Khan said.
Mr Trump suffered a backlash when he mocked Republican Senator John McCain’s service in Vietnam.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured,” Mr Trump said.
Mr McCain famously turned down an early release from his prisoner of war camp, refusing to leave before his fellow Americans. He was subsequently tortured.
Mr Trump also got into trouble when it emerged he had told radio host Howard Stern that avoiding sexual diseases while dating was his “personal Vietnam”.
“It is a dangerous world out there. It’s scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam era. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier,” he joked.
But despite those controversies, Mr Trump won, and he remains relatively popular with military service members.
The President got a warm reception when he visited American troops in Iraq for Christmas.
Mr Trump used his visit to defend his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, which was slammed by members of his own party and led Defence Secretary James Mattis to resign in protest.
“We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” he told the troops, having been greeted by chants of “USA! USA!”.
“The reason I’m here today is to personally thank you and every service member throughout this region for the near-elimination of the ISIS territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
“Two years ago, when I became President, they were a very dominant group. They were very dominant. Today they’re not so dominant anymore.
“Great job. I looked at a map and two years ago it was a lot of red all over, and now you have a couple of little spots, and that’s happening very quickly.”
The troops cheered in response, and many later posed for smiling photographs with the President.
In a particularly touching moment, one of them told Mr Trump he had inspired him to return to the military.
“And I am here because of you,” Mr Trump replied.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...t/news-story/6117a2852777ca6dc27b58864ec556b0
The daughters of a New York doctor have explosively claimed their father helped Donald Trump avoid the draft during the Vietnam War.
December 27, 20182:28pm
The daughters of a New York foot doctor have explosively claimed their father diagnosed Donald Trump with bone spurs to help him avoid the draft for the Vietnam War.
Elysa Braunstein and Sharon Kessel told The New York Times their dad, Dr Larry Braunstein, delivered the diagnosis as a “favour” to the President’s father, Fred Trump.
Dr Braunstein died in 2007, so he can neither confirm nor deny the claim.
But Ms Braunstein and Ms Kessel said his role in shielding Mr Trump from military service had long been common knowledge among family and friends.
“It was family lore,” Ms Braunstein said. “It was something we would always discuss.”
Dr Braunstein was a tenant of Fred Trump. In return for helping Fred’s son, he allegedly got improved access to the landlord and a steady rate of rent.
“What he got was access to Fred Trump. If there was anything wrong in the building, my dad would call and Trump would take care of it immediately. That was the small favour that he got,” Ms Braunstein said.
She was unsure whether her father had ever examined Mr Trump, but said he implied the future president did not actually have spurs in his feet.
Heel spurs are bone protrusions caused by a build-up of calcium. They can be treated through the use of an orthotic device, stretching or surgery.
The Times found no documentation to back up the women’s story, and the White House did not return the newspaper’s requests for comment.
Donald Trump received a series of deferments, which kept him from serving in Vietnam. Picture: Jacquelyn Martin/APSource:AP
In 1968, 22-year-old Donald Trump had already received four deferments from the military because of his education, but had since graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and been declared available for service.
At the time, America used a system of local boards to select men for military service (the draft lottery was implemented a year later). There were 300,000 recruits in 1968 alone — but Mr Trump was not one of them.
He was granted a temporary 1-Y medical exemption in October of that year, due to the apparent bone spurs in his foot. That exemption continued until 1972, when the 1-Y classification was scrapped, and he was granted a permanent 4-F disqualification.
Mr Trump addressed the bone spur diagnosis in an interview with the Times in 2016.
“I had a doctor that gave me a letter, a very strong letter, on the heels,” he said.
“They were spurs. You know, it was difficult from the long-term walking standpoint. Not a big problem, but it was enough of a problem.”
Mr Trump could not recall the doctor’s name, nor could he remember when the spurs stopped troubling him. He never had surgery to correct the problem.
“Over a period of time, it healed up,” he said.
The President also cited his high draft lottery number — a “phenomenal” number, in his words — as the main reason he wasn’t drafted. But given his medical exemption, the draft number was actually irrelevant.
“I’ll never forget. That was an amazing period of time in my life,” he once told the Fox 5 station in New York.
“I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers, and I got a very, very high number.”
Mr Trump graduated from the school 18 months before the lottery was held.
Mr Trump has previously said he ‘felt a little bit guilty’ about missing Vietnam. Picture: Steve Helber/APSource:AAP
He is not the first president to have avoided the Vietnam War.
George W. Bush was ineligible because he served with the Texas Air National Guard. Bill Clinton wrote to Colonel Holmes in 1969 thanking him for “saving me from the draft”.
But Mr Trump has previously admitted he “felt a little bit guilty” about not serving in Vietnam.
Those feelings led him to give $1 million to the Vietnam Veterans Plaza in New York “as a way of making up”. He also claims it contributed to his decision to run for President.
His record did not help during the presidential campaign.
During the Democratic National Convention, the parents of a fallen American soldier questioned what Mr Trump had given to his country.
“You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” Khizr Khan said.
Mr Trump suffered a backlash when he mocked Republican Senator John McCain’s service in Vietnam.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured,” Mr Trump said.
Mr McCain famously turned down an early release from his prisoner of war camp, refusing to leave before his fellow Americans. He was subsequently tortured.
Mr Trump also got into trouble when it emerged he had told radio host Howard Stern that avoiding sexual diseases while dating was his “personal Vietnam”.
“It is a dangerous world out there. It’s scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam era. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier,” he joked.
But despite those controversies, Mr Trump won, and he remains relatively popular with military service members.
The President got a warm reception when he visited American troops in Iraq for Christmas.
Mr Trump used his visit to defend his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, which was slammed by members of his own party and led Defence Secretary James Mattis to resign in protest.
“We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” he told the troops, having been greeted by chants of “USA! USA!”.
“The reason I’m here today is to personally thank you and every service member throughout this region for the near-elimination of the ISIS territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
“Two years ago, when I became President, they were a very dominant group. They were very dominant. Today they’re not so dominant anymore.
“Great job. I looked at a map and two years ago it was a lot of red all over, and now you have a couple of little spots, and that’s happening very quickly.”
The troops cheered in response, and many later posed for smiling photographs with the President.
In a particularly touching moment, one of them told Mr Trump he had inspired him to return to the military.
“And I am here because of you,” Mr Trump replied.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...t/news-story/6117a2852777ca6dc27b58864ec556b0
