Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Wrongly Claims Father Died Fighting Nazi Germany

Gov. Jan Brewer is the latest political figure to come under fire for making conflicting statements about military service. In this case Brewer appears to have misstated her father's military record.

The Arizona Guardian reports:

Gov. Jan Brewer said in a recent interview that her father died fighting Nazi Germany. In fact, the death of Wilford Drinkwine came 10 years after World War II had ended. During the war, Drinkwine worked as a civilian supervisor for a naval munitions depot in Hawthorne, Nev. He died of lung disease in 1955 in California.

Here's what Brewer initially told the Arizona Republic about her father's service record when reacting to the criticism she has received for enacting Arizona's new and controversial immigration law:

"The Nazi comments... they are awful," she said, her voice dropping. "Knowing that my father died fighting the Nazi regime in Germany, that I lost him when I was 11 because of that... and then to have them call me Hitler's daughter. It hurts. It's ugliness beyond anything I've ever experienced."

According to Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman, the Arizona governor "wasn't embellishing the story at all," telling the Guardian that Brewer's father ultimately passed away after inhaling toxic fumes while working at an ammunition factory during World War II. "You're reading something into this that isn't there," he said.

Brewer frequently begins speeches by describing her life experiences, focusing on challenges that faced her mother, a single parent, following her father's death.

In prepared texts of March, April and May speeches to Arizona audiences, Brewer said her father, Wilford Drinkwine, died in the 1950s as a result of "years of breathing poisonous fumes around harsh chemicals."

Drinkwine was a worker at a World War II munitions depot in Nevada, she said in the speeches.

State Democratic Party spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said Brewer's father may have died as a result of his wartime work, but Brewer's description of the circumstances were misleading.

"It seems obvious that Jan Brewer stretched the truth to make herself a more sympathetic figure," Johnson said. "This isn't about her father. This is about the word choices that Jan Brewer made."

Comments

[Chuck Ott]

09:17 PM on 06/22/2010

More of the same self-serving nonsense. My father served in WWII on a destroyer escort, the Vance. 6 DE's went out in his group. He saw 3 of them gone down. I am lucky he survived because if he didn't I might not be here as I am now. He came home from the war and raised a family of 5 and worked as hard as the next man. He taught me some hard and fast rules. Never claim to be something you are not. Never make claims to entitlements that you are not entitled to. And to never avoid responsibility for something that you created by dragging others into it because you think your association with them will get you off the hook.

We are in a sad state of affairs on so many levels that well, all I can do is shake my head and think, man I am glad I am not these people. Where are the real leaders? Where are the real voices of reason and concern? Have we become a parody of a dog obsessed with consuming itself?

What a waste! And for what?

[PDaddy2]

09:36 PM on 06/14/2010

At least she didn't claim SHE died fighting Hitler's Nazis. Of course then she could retort, "How DARE you dishonor my memory, to my face!?!"

[Jon Jony]

09:36 AM on 06/06/2010

correction from my last post.

If you could read Jan Brewers mind; I believe that you would see that the main issue concerning illegal immigration is not crime but demography. Simply put - "too many brown folks." And the fact that such a law will make "the brown folks" (legal and illegal) uncomfortable doesn't bother her one bit...

The fact that the law was sponsored by a known associate of Neo Nazis (no less a state senator-Russell Pearce) is not a troublesome issue for her. Could even be a political advantage in upcoming elections in Arizona.

And if that does not bother the average citizen in this country; we are all in trouble....

[swimbiker]

02:39 PM on 06/10/2010

I think those polls showing people agree with AZ'S law do not ask the question in a way so that people would understand this law would result in anyone with brown skin being stopped and questioned---and a large number of our citizens have brown skin.

[Jon Jony]

09:26 AM on 06/06/2010

If you could read Jan Brewers mind; I believe that you would see that the main issue concerning illegal immigration is not crime but demography. Simply put - "too many brown folks." And the fact that such a law will make "the brown folks" uncomfortable doesn't bother her one bit...

The fact that the law was sponsored by a known associate of Neo Nazis (no less a state senator-Russell Pearce) is not a troublesome issue for her. Could even be a political advantage in upcoming elections in Arizona.

And if that does not bother the average citizen in this country; we are all in trouble....

[DG3]

04:55 PM on 06/04/2010

Seeing Brewer's face reminds me that I need to pick up some saddle soap.

[barefoot2626]

06:10 PM on 06/04/2010

why do you have to be mean? cannot you direct your comments at what she does or says, do you think making such a comment makes you look good?

[CCee]

12:18 PM on 06/08/2010

Like somebody who can laugh off the insanity spread by a leather faced harpy?

[CCee]

12:17 PM on 06/08/2010

LOL... Good One! :oD

[barefoot2626]

12:08 PM on 06/04/2010

Did her dad smoke? anyone?

Maybe it's just me, but if someone tells me they (or their dad or their cousin or grandpa) fought the NAZIs, English being my primary language (and let's be honest here: if you don't speak English well in Arizona and you get pulled over by a cop, you are in big doodoo...), to me it means someone who had a gun and was shooting at NAZIs who were capable of shooting back, I.E., someone who was putting their life on the line (millions of Americans fall into this category).

If, on the other hand, someone described a male over the age of 18 and under the age of 50 living in America during WWII who DID NOT SERVE (do I need to define what "serve" means?), I would say the *more correct* term would be (rather than someone who fought the NAZIs): draft evader.

[swimbiker]

02:42 PM on 06/10/2010

You are correct in that he did not fight the NAZIs because he was not in the ETO. On the other hand, he did a much needed job in the munitions industry; that doesn't make him a draft evader.

[SGlitz]

09:45 AM on 06/04/2010

I love how Liberals deliberately misstate things people said just so they can score cheap political shots while lying through their teeth.

[barefoot2626]

11:56 AM on 06/04/2010

Misstate? Brewer LIED. She got caught in the LIE. She blamed "the media" for "spinning" when what "the media" did was REPORTED actual fact: Brewer LIED.

So I guess you must feel that it is okay for conservatives to lie?

[DG3]

04:56 PM on 06/04/2010

So you're saying that Brewer's a liberal? Interesting.

[Max is Back]

01:04 AM on 06/04/2010

According to Jan Brewer her father died fighting the Nazis AND he died of lung disease in 1955.

It makes perfect sense if you consider the fact that republicans must believe multiple contradictory things simultaneously in order to belong to that ideology. For example, they think you can reduce the debt by cutting taxes and borrowing even more money to make up for shortfalls. They hold that you can have a society with no government while getting your social security and medicare beneifits at the same time. They think that you can stop crime by diverting police resources to catch nannies and gardeners instead of actual criminals and have a reduction in crime.

What is it about these republicans making up BS stories about themselves and their families as they go along?

Is dishonesty the only prerequisite for GOP party membership or do you have to lie about your opinions on a "Purity Test" as well?

[SGlitz]

09:45 AM on 06/04/2010

And Dishonesty is in the DNA of a Liberal.
And you're it!

[DG3]

05:00 PM on 06/04/2010

Just look at you, going around to leave your little 'presents' on as many posts as you can. You're like an annoying dog that needs to be neutered.

[inthenameofBOB]

06:01 PM on 06/04/2010

Someone left a brown stain on my HP page. Oh.......SGlitz!.....Bad boy!

[MyGuyO]

06:18 PM on 06/04/2010

Her father died ten years later after WWII while working in Hawthorne, NV. No Nazie's involved.

[TC Mits]

07:37 PM on 06/03/2010

A Republican mis-stating history? Well, my my, the world has turned on it's end.

[SGlitz]

09:46 AM on 06/04/2010

Do Liberals even know what history is??

[swimbiker]

02:43 PM on 06/10/2010

Dude, everyone here knows you're a paid blogger, getting your 12 cents a post. Now, go away.

[meena140]

07:06 PM on 06/03/2010

Last eve.With gt. pain i watched Greta Van Susteren interview Jan Brewer in great length. BUT Van Susteren NEVER got around to asking about the news that has just come out about the conflicting story Brewer has told about her father’s war record.
Fair and balance BULL!

[superjules]

09:18 PM on 06/03/2010

Why do you torture yourself this way?

[SGlitz]

09:47 AM on 06/04/2010

Then you weren't actually watching.
Because she did ask her and there was a long answer.
I wonder how you missed it?
Gee, Let me think...
You didn't want to hear it.
Selective perception is a Sanctimonious Liberal's best friend.

[deepthicket]

06:16 PM on 06/03/2010

"He died fighting the Nazis." In California. In 1955. He never enlisted. He was never in the military. He died from lung damage he suffered at the hands of an American corporation that was a war profiteer. This woman insults my father and the millions like him who left wives and babies at home to actually go fight real live Nazis, who risked death and died on the battlefields just so she could grow up to be a liar with no concept of what it means to be an American.

[TC Mits]

07:40 PM on 06/03/2010

Totally agree, my dad (and father in law) were in the Pacific. Army Engineers and Marines. To think these people take us for fools is amazing. Sorry Gov, an apology is needed as you step down.

[Evita Luisa]

12:26 AM on 06/04/2010

May I add: " ...as you step down with several swift, well placed kicks to your dumb h e i n e e, Biyatch!!!"

[SGlitz]

09:48 AM on 06/04/2010

Then you are being lied to. But that doesn;t matter to you, does it.

[TC Mits]

07:41 PM on 06/03/2010

Fanned and faved as well.

[gypsylcd]

04:43 PM on 06/03/2010

I don't feel the need to call her any of those names. What she does and says is idiotic enough as it is. I don't need to embellish her lack of leadership and character defects any more than she needs to embellish her family history. But it is a massive case of hypocrisy. If that really did cause her father's death, I wonder how she can justify being Republican. There's no love there for workplace safety.

[TomJoad1965]

03:45 PM on 06/03/2010

Read "The Good War". by Studs Terkel.

[inthenameofBOB]

06:06 PM on 06/04/2010

Hard Times is anoher good Turkel book.

[TomJoad1965]

03:40 PM on 06/03/2010

I bet the people that he supervised, died way before he did.

[swimbiker]

02:45 PM on 06/10/2010

Do we even know that his death was due to inhalation of chemicals as she said? Did others die in the same manner who worked there?

[TomJoad1965]

03:02 PM on 06/10/2010

According to Studs Terkel in the book: "The Good War".
Many workers got sick and died working around chemicals. They were cutting corners, no safety regulations. The workers would put their ungloved hands right into the chemicals, and they were told it was safe. If I remember right the workers would turn into the colors of the chemicals.
Other then that I don't know any more about her father.
But the women in the book that died, did die for their country, as much as if they were in the Infantry.
With this said, I do hate Jan Brewer.

[euthman]

03:23 PM on 06/03/2010

Gov. Brewer was born in 1944 but claims her dad died fighting Nazi Germany when she was 11 years of age. What is it with politicians and math? Are they so innumerate as to think they can get away with lies that can be debunked by simple arithmetic?

[AZterritory]

04:16 PM on 06/03/2010

One reason (among many) that the gop has run AZ into the ground. Their magic math just doesn't work after a point.

[gypsylcd]

04:45 PM on 06/03/2010

Oh, I get it. She must have been subjected to that liberal modern math of the public school system. See what happens?

[euthman]

06:36 PM on 06/03/2010

Great! You're hired!

--Karl Rove

;)