Debbie Schlussel: Mel Gibson Family Dodged Vietnam Draft
Mel Gibson is hardly the American patriot or conservative some want you to believe that he is.
He's made frequent comments attacking President Bush and the War in Iraq. But there's also something else about him and his anti-Semitic father, Hutton Gibson, that you may not know:
They moved to Australia to dodge the Vietnam draft.
As reported by many media outlets, when Mel Gibson turned 12, in 1968, Hutton Gibson moved the family from New York to Australia, so that neither Mel nor his brother would be drafted to go to Vietnam.
(Before I start getting hate-mail about the Jews, for the record--unlike Mel Gibson--my father was drafted during the Vietnam War and served in the U.S. Army for several years (and the U.S. Army Reserves). (His writings are here and here.) My cousin, a U.S. Air Force Academy grad, recently finished serving a year in Iraq and remains stationed overseas serving in the Air Force. My great-uncle, a career Army man, served during World War II and in Pearl Harbor, rising to the rank of General.)
Posted by Debbie on August 4, 2006 08:56 AM to Debbie Schlussel