Obama’s Great Uncle in 2009: Only Time Obama Asked About My WW2 Service Was to Use Me in Speeches
As Americans and others all over the world remember the remarkable heroism of those who landed on Normandy today, there’s a glimpse into how much Obama cares about World War II that not many know. From the Telegraph in 2009:
Exposing the haste with which political biographies can be formed, Mr Payne expressed surprise at how his great-nephew had used his wartime experiences on the campaign trail. As a candidate, Mr Obama used the wartime service of his white mother’s parents and family to allay concerns about his heritage.
“I was quite surprised when the whole thing came up and Barack talked about my war experiences in Nazi Germany. We had never talked about that before,” he said, adding that he enjoyed a “warm and friendly relationship” with his great nephew, though he was not part of his inner circle.
The first time they discussed his participation in the war was when Mr Obama wrongly said during the campaign that Mr Payne had “liberated” Auschwitz. Opponents swiftly pointed out that had been done by the Red Army.
“He couldn’t have gotten it from me since we had never talked about this particular episode in the war,” he said. “My sister and her husband were both great storytellers and sometimes made up the details to go along with it. They told him about my deployment with the 89th Infantry Division and apparently they mixed up a few details.”
Mr Obama soon called Mr Payne to check the details of his war experience, he said. “He wanted to know where this camp was that I had helped liberate. I told him that it was Ohrdruf and that it was a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. I described a little bit of what I had seen,” he said.
Maybe this is why Obama is so tone-deaf about how Americans are reacting to his releasing dangerous terrorists for the sake of a deserter – he doesn’t understand the military, and doesn’t care.
