Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

===Military service===
[[File:JosephMcCarthyMilitary.jpg|right|thumb|Joseph McCarthy in his U.S. [[Marine Corps Uniforms|Marine Corps uniform]]]]
In 1942, shortly after the U.S. entered [[World War II]], McCarthy joined the [[United States Marine Corps]], despite the fact that his judicial office exempted him from military service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Belknap |first=Michal R. |date=2004 |title=The Vinson Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeFRJj8dVAUC&pg=PA214 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=214 |isbn=978-1-85109-542-1}}</ref> His college education qualified him for a direct [[Officer's commission|commission]], and he entered the Marines as a [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]].<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connell |first=Aaron B. |date=2012 |title=Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qB2QjQSyuKgC&pg=PA109 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=109 |isbn=978-0-674-05827-9 |ref={{sfnRef|''Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps''}}}}</ref>

According to Morgan, writing in ''Reds,'' McCarthy's friend and campaign manager, attorney and judge Urban P. Van Susteren, had applied for active duty in the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] in early 1942, and advised McCarthy: "Be a hero—join the Marines."<ref>{{cite book |last= Herman |first=Arthur |date=2000 |title=Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC&q=mccarthy+senator+%22van+susteren%22+1946&pg=PA33 |location=New York |publisher=The Free Press |page=33|isbn=978-0684836256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Morgan |first=Ted |date=2004 |title= Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&q=mccarthy+senator+%22van+susteren%22&pg=PA420 |publisher=Random House |page=420|isbn= 978-0812973020 }}</ref> When McCarthy seemed hesitant, Van Susteren asked, "You got shit in your blood?"<ref>{{cite book|last = Morgan |first = Ted |title = Reds: McCarthyism In Twentieth-Century America |place = New York |publisher = Random House |year = 2003 |page = [https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/338 338] |isbn = 0-679-44399-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/338 }} Morgan again cites Michael O'Brien, writing in ''McCarthy And McCarthyism in Wisconsin''.</ref>
[[File:John R. Lanigan and Joseph R. McCarthy.jpg|thumb|McCarthy receiving his [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|DFC]] and [[Air Medal]] from Colonel [[John R. Lanigan]], commanding officer of Fifth Marine Reserve District, December 1952]]
He served as an [[military intelligence|intelligence]] briefing officer for a [[dive bomber]] squadron [[VMSB-235]] in the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville|Bougainville]] for 30 months (August 1942 – February 1945), and held the rank of [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]] at the time he resigned his commission in April 1945.<ref>{{cite book |last=Giblin |first=James Cross |date=2009 |title=The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klwQBEeJfsUC&pg=PA34 |location=Boston|publisher=Clarion Books |pages=37–38 |isbn=978-0-618-61058-7 |ref={{sfnRef|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''}}}}</ref> He volunteered to fly twelve combat missions as a gunner-observer. These missions were generally safe, and after one where he was allowed to shoot as much ammunition as he wanted, mainly at coconut trees, he acquired the nickname "Tail-Gunner Joe".<ref>Oshinsky describes the nickname "Tail-Gunner Joe" as the result of McCarthy's wish to break the record for most live ammunition discharged in a single mission.{{cite book |last = Oshinsky |first = David M. |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy |publisher = Oxford University Press |year=  2005 |page = 32 |isbn = 0-19-515424-X |orig-year= 1983}}</ref> McCarthy remained in the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|Marine Corps Reserve]] after the war, attaining the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Ted |date=2003 |title=Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&pg=PA341 |location=New York |publisher=Random House |page=341 |isbn=978-0-8129-7302-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mundt |first= Chairman Karl|date=June 17, 1954 |title=Testimony of Hon. Joseph R. McCarthy, a United States Senator from the State of Wisconsin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MFEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2888 |magazine=Special Senate Investigation on Charges Involving: Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens, John G. Adams, H. Struve Hensel and Senator Joe McCarthy, Roy M. Cohn and Francis P. Carr |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=2888 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

He later falsely claimed participation in 32 aerial missions so as to qualify for a [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and multiple awards of the [[Air Medal]], which the Marine Corps decided to approve in 1952 under his political influence.{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=34}}<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&pg=PA341 Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America]''</ref> McCarthy also publicly claimed a letter of commendation from his commanding officer and Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]], Chief of Naval Operations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carrier |first=Jerry |date=2014 |title=Tapestry: The History and Consequences of America's Complex Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvhKBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |location=New York |publisher=Algora Publishing |page=232 |isbn=978-1-62894-048-0}}</ref>{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=37}} However, his commander revealed that McCarthy had written this letter himself, probably while preparing award citations and commendation letters for his men, and that he had signed his commander's name, after which Nimitz signed it routinely.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lvhKBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 Tapestry: The History and Consequences of America's Complex Culture]''</ref>{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=37}} A "war wound"—a badly broken leg—that McCarthy attributed to varying adventures involving airplane crashes or anti-aircraft fire, had in fact happened aboard ship during a raucous [[Line-crossing ceremony|celebration for sailors crossing the equator for the first time]].<ref name=Arthur1/><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2003/story_morgan_novdec03.msp |title = Judge Joe: How The Youngest Judge In Wisconsin's History Became The Country's Most Notorious Senator |access-date = August 2, 2006 |last = Morgan |first = Ted |date = November–December 2003 |publisher = Legal Affairs |archive-date = April 29, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210429124425/https://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2003/story_morgan_novdec03.msp |url-status = live }}</ref>{{sfn|''Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps''}} Because of McCarthy's various lies about his military heroism, his "Tail-Gunner Joe" nickname was used in mockery by his critics.<ref name="Garraty, John 1989 p. 24"/><ref name="O'Brien, Steven 1991 p. 265"/><ref name="The Comics Journal"/>

McCarthy campaigned for the Republican Senate nomination in Wisconsin while still on active duty in 1944 but was defeated by [[Alexander Wiley]], the incumbent. After he left the Marines in April 1945, five months before the end of the Pacific war in September 1945, McCarthy was reelected unopposed to his circuit court position. He then began a much more systematic campaign for the 1946 Republican Senate [[Partisan primary|primary]] nomination, with support from Thomas Coleman, the Republican Party's political boss in Wisconsin. In this race, he was challenging three-term senator [[Robert M. La Follette Jr.]], founder of the [[Wisconsin Progressive Party]] and son of the celebrated Wisconsin governor and senator [[Robert M. La Follette|Robert M. La Follette Sr.]]