Friday evening, Carson lambasted Politico during a press conference for allegedly publishing an “outright lie” about his West Point story. Carson defended his wobbly story by saying that he interpreted an informal offer from Gen. William Westmoreland after a dinner together as an offer for a full scholarship. In his book “Gifted Hands”, Carson claimed this dinner took place after marching in a Memorial Day parade.
But the General was not even in Michigan let alone Detroit on Memorial Day or the days before or after it, according to the Detroit News.
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson’s published account of having dinner with a top commander in the Vietnam War after marching in a Memorial Day parade in 1969 as a high school ROTC cadet in Detroit does not match historical records.
In Carson’s 1990 best-selling autobiography, “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” the neurosurgeon tells of being offered a scholarship to West Point as a high school senior sometime after having dinner with the U.S. Army’s chief of staff, Gen. William Westmoreland, on Memorial Day 1969.
But Westmoreland’s personal schedule shows the general was not in Detroit on Memorial Day or during the days preceding and following the holiday. His schedule says he was in and around Washington, D.C., that weekend, according to Army archives The Detroit News reviewed Friday.
Even if Carson’s excuse for his first inaccuracy about being offered admission to West Point were true, it would still be inaccurate, as the Politico story explained that West Point doesn’t offer full scholarships and one doesn’t get an offer over dinner – a member of Congress usually nominates an individual and then that person is deeply vetted (they must vet more than the Republican Party).
