Was Jesse Ventura a NAVY SEAL?

[BillB]

Was Jesse Ventura a NAVY SEAL?
No.
Does he claim to have been?
Yes.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Jesse_Ventura_a_Navy_Seal
http://cursor.org/stories/seal_or_udt.htm

[BillB]

I suspect we'll hear a lot more about this as Ventura's lawsuit trial progresses.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Semantics. It's like saying someone wasn't in the Air Force because it was called the Air Corps when he served.

[BigTex]

Yes - semantics. When I was in the Navy anyone who was in that community was referred to as UDT/SEAL.

[BillB]

Yes - semantics. When I was in the Navy anyone who was in that community was referred to as UDT/SEAL.

Right- and the difference between a CEO and a janitor is semantics, since they both work for the same company.

"While some feel that both UDT and SEAL terms are interchangeable, most real SEAL's laugh at the very thought."
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Jesse_Ventura_a_Navy_Seal

Here's what a former SEAL commander has to say about Ventura:

"I'm reading a book, Stolen Valor, that exposes men who lie or exaggerate about having fought in Nam with elite units. That's what Jesse's doing when he claims to have been a SEAL. He's trading on the valor of others. He hasn't earned the right to call himself a SEAL."


http://cursor.org/stories/seal_or_udt.htm

[LibraryLady]

Ventura supposedly has a SEAL emblem tattooed on his chest. Judge did not allow it to be shown for the trial.

[BillB]

Ventura supposedly has a SEAL emblem tattooed on his chest. Judge did not allow it to be shown for the trial.

Ha has also worn a SEAL Trident on his lapel. He may still wear one. He isn't wearing it in the court pictures I've seen, for obvious reasons.

[Allen]

If it's ok with this guy it's ok with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeO1DUtnKsE

I have a great Vietnam era SEAL book called The Element of Surprise. The author, Darryl Young, did his first tour in Vietnam with a SEAL Team, his second tour was with a UDT Team.

[BillB]

There's nothing to argue about. Ventura was never a SEAL.

During the Vietnam era, SEALS and UDEs were not the same thing. SEALS completed an additional 26 weeks of special forces training that UDEs did not take.
SEALS undertook dangerous missions in Vietnam with high mortality rates. UDEs didn't. SEALS and UDEs were not combined until 1982- eight years after Ventura left the Navy.

When pinned down, Ventura admits he was never a SEAL. He then adds he has never claimed he was.
He has claimed he was- repeatedly.

[Allen]

"Special Forces" is an Army MOS. Maybe you mean special operations or commando training? Comparing the difference between UDT and SEALs to a Janitor of a company and the CEO is ridiculous. Maybe a better comparison would be the difference between a neurologist and neurosurgeon.

Here is something else I found on the net.

The "Official" Word on Jesse Ventura

A source at the Naval Special Warfare Command states:
Our take is that Jesse Ventura is a SEAL. He even did his reserve time in SEAL Team ONE. He earned and wears the trident....Captain Larry Bailey is probably the best guy to talk to about this, but OFFICIALLY, we think its splitting hairs by Salisbury and the Navy considers Jesse Ventura as a former SEAL.. Hope that helps.


Captain Larry Bailey states:
JESSE VENTURA SEAL OR NOT?

Jesse Ventura went through UDT/SEAL Class 58 in 1970 and was assigned to UDT-12, where he spent three years (including three deployments fo Subic Bay, Philippines). As a UDT frogman, he operated in Viet Nam waters and earned the US Viet Nam Service Ribbon. He undoubtedly, like so may UDT men of that era, went ashore in Viet Nam for short periods of time. After he was released from active duty in 1973, he joined Reserve SEAL Team ONE. The point here is that all graduates of BUD/S are referred to within the Naval Special Warfare community as SEALs. They received the same training, whether they went to SEAL Teams or Underwater Demolition Teams. The case made by Commander Salisbury on Fox News Channel recently is without merit; Jesse Ventura is a SEAL by any definition.
Larry Bailey, Captain, USN (Ret.)

R.D. and Pam Russell, Co-Directors of Navel Special Warfare Archives state:
The official view point of the Archives is that Jesse was a SEAL. He completed BUD/S and the SEAL course in the desert. The west coast used UDT as a man power pool so they could pull people at any time without there being a training delay.

[BillB]

"Trainees for the SEALs and UDTs completed the same fabled basic course conducted on the Strand; however, during and after the Vietnam War, SEALs underwent specialized training at such places as the U.S. Army Ranger and Special Forces schools. Frogmen never went near Rangers or Snake-eaters."
...

"These are not distinctions without differences. No one from UDT during the Vietnam War would dare misrepresent himself as a SEAL. Consider this: SEAL Team One, with roughly the same number of men as UDT 12, had 34 killed during the war. I knew many of them. UDT 12 lost but a single man. 34:1."

http://cursor.org/stories/seal_or_udt_2.htm

[BillB]

Ventura has broadly hinted that he saw combat in Vietnam.
Here are a couple of items along those lines.

"And I'll just tell you this: Until you've hunted man, you haven't hunted yet, because you need to hunt something that can shoot back at you to really classify yourself as a hunter. You need to understand the feeling of what it's like to go into the field and know your opposition can take you out. Not just go out there and shoot Bambi."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93626
--------------------------------
Playboy: You've never talked about what you did as a SEAL overseas. Did you do anything you're ashamed of?
Ventura: No.

Playboy: Would you like to talk about it?
Ventura: No.

Playboy: Have you ever killed anyone?
Ventura: You don't ask a question like that - it's inappropriate.

http://cursor.org/stories/seal_or_udt_4.htm

Despite this BS:
In January 2002, Ventura, who, previously, had never specifically claimed to have fought in Vietnam, disclosed for the first time that he did not see combat. However, Ventura, who was stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines, was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, which was given to military personnel who took part in the contributions to the war effort in Vietnam. This has led to some confusion regarding his military background.

http://borderzine.com/2013/03/jesse-ven ... -american/

[BigTex]

Bill,

Anyone who was stationed west of the Golden Gate Bridge got the Vietnam Service Medal, including me.

[BillB]

Bill,

Anyone who was stationed west of the Golden Gate Bridge got the Vietnam Service Medal, including me.

I did too, for being stationed in Thailand.
A little story goes with that. I got out in 1971 and moved into an apartment on Abrams Rd. There was a VFW hall about a half block away where I went to drink beer, shoot pool and play BINGO. I bought a lifetime VFW membership for about $150. I was eligible because of the Vietnam Service Medal.
One night there was a table full of older guys from WWII and Korea sitting around and talking.
They started cussing the lowered standards for admission. It seems that until fairly recently you had to have been in combat to join. The old men didn't like the new rules.
I never went back. I still haven't participated and that was over 40 years ago. The magazine still follows me around, but I've never visited a hall.
I didn't get ticked, but I saw their point and left it out of respect for them. I didn't really blame them and didn't realize I represented a lowering of the standard.

[GFB]

whatever

[Bob Of Burleson]

It seems that until fairly recently you had to have been in combat to join. The old men didn't like the new rules.

The VFW must have plenty of people eligible to join now. What, 10-12 million Americans alive today who served in Korea, Vietnam, the desert wars and Afghanistan?

[BillB]

It seems that until fairly recently you had to have been in combat to join. The old men didn't like the new rules.

The VFW must have plenty of people eligible to join now. What, 10-12 million Americans alive today who served in Korea, Vietnam, the desert wars and Afghanistan?

I'm sure there are plenty eligible. I don't think many of them are interested in joining. It's kind of like the Masons. Younger people don't much go in for that type of thing.

[planosteve]

Bill,

Anyone who was stationed west of the Golden Gate Bridge got the Vietnam Service Medal, including me.

I did too, for being stationed in Thailand.
A little story goes with that. I got out in 1971 and moved into an apartment on Abrams Rd. There was a VFW hall about a half block away where I went to drink beer, shoot pool and play BINGO. I bought a lifetime VFW membership for about $150. I was eligible because of the Vietnam Service Medal.
One night there was a table full of older guys from WWII and Korea sitting around and talking.
They started cussing the lowered standards for admission. It seems that until fairly recently you had to have been in combat to join. The old men didn't like the new rules.
I never went back. I still haven't participated and that was over 40 years ago. The magazine still follows me around, but I've never visited a hall.
I didn't get ticked, but I saw their point and left it out of respect for them. I didn't really blame them and didn't realize I represented a lowering of the standard.

I believe the medal was called the Southeast Asia Expeditionary Medal. I was in Thailand and I got the same one.

[BillB]

It was a Vietnam Service Medal (VSM). I'm looking at my DD 214.

Also a Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.