David Oh offers 2nd apology for Special Forces claims

David Oh, a Republican front-runner for a seat on City Council, yesterday accepted an invitation from members of the U.S. Army Special Forces to explain on socnet.com why he has called himself a Special Forces officer and/or a Green Beret in his last three political campaigns. He offered his second apology in two days for those claims and vowed to make public the truth.

It was a difficult conversation with the fiercely inquisitive and ultimately unforgiving soldiers who accused Oh of using lawyerly language to dodge accuracy.  Oh opened with this mea culpa:

"First of all, I truly am very sorry for my offenses. There probably have been more than I am aware of but I did not appreciate the lines I was crossing. In retrospect, I thank you for your patience in not pounding me sooner or more severely. I am NOT a Green Beret (SF Tab). I apologize for any actions or statements that may have misled people. I did not respect that matter enough despite my utmost esteem for you gentlemen."

Oh offers to destroy campaign materials making claims about his Special Forces/Green Beret status.  The Special Forces commenters demanded a public statement from Oh within 24 hours.  He responds:

"I will pay for two full page ads apologizing to tabbed Green Berets, the military, veterans and the voters, for my lack of attention to detail when the knowledge was in my possession and the carelessness was to my advantage. I will offer to return any contributions and release any endorsements from those who supported me. I do not want votes or support under the cloud that I made misrepresentations in order to win."

You can read the entire thread, which ran from 10:49 pm yesterday to 7:13 am this morning.  Some of Oh's more meandering responses have been edited by the site administrator. Oh's claims have also been closely tracked over at ProfessionalSoldiers.com.

You can also read the PhillyClout columns -- Friday and today -- about Oh's Special Forces claims.