*****Update*****

The Obama Campaign responds: Obama’s maternal grandmother’s brother, Charlie Payne, served with the 89th Infantry Division that liberated Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp. “Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically,” an Obama spokesman said in a statement.

Wow, Obama gets the wrong relative, the wrong Army and the wrong Concentration Camp. Sloppy preparation, poor memory or an attempt at embellishment? You be the judge. But, sloppy nonetheless.

Flap’s friend Kavon over at Race42008 bemoans the lack of MSM outrage over the GAFFE. And, he is right.

Barack Obama meets with veterans on Memorial Day (2008) at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. Skip ahead to 5:13

Now the Republican National Committee is questioning Barack Obama’s statement yesterday that his Uncle was involved with liberating the Auschwitz Concentration Camp from the Nazis during World War II.

The Republican National Committee sharply criticized Barack Obama Tuesday over the Illinois senator’s recent claim that his uncle helped liberate the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz while serving in the American military during World War II.

In fact, American troops did not liberate that particular concentration camp, Soviet soldiers did in 1945.

Obama’s comments came Monday during a Las Cruces, New Mexico speech marking Memorial Day. The Illinois senator was specifically advocating better care for veterans who experience post-traumatic stress syndrome when he made the reference.

“I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps and the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn’t leave the house for six months,” Obama said. “Now obviously something had really affected him deeply but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.”

On Tuesday, RNC spokesman Alex Conant called the claim “inconsistent with world history.”

“Barack Obama’s dubious claim is inconsistent with world history and demands an explanation,” he said. “It was Soviet troops that liberated Auschwitz, so unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true.”

“Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief,” Conant also said.

Over to Obama who has thus far not responded to ANY inquiry.

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Barack Obama Watch: Rewriting Family Military Service History?

Barack Obama meets with veterans on Memorial Day (2008) at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. Skip ahead to 5:13

Did Barack Obama embellish upon his Uncle’s or some family member’s World War II war record yesterday?

Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. “Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain,” Obama said. “That’s why this idea of making sure that every single veteran, when they are discharged, are screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and given the mental health services that they need – that’s why it’s so important.”

But, the Red Army liberated Auschitz, no?

Mistake or Gaffe?

It is difficult to make out what Obama said in the above video above but the facts do NOT make sense. Wrong POW camp for sure and the wrong relative?

Obama is very loose with his characterization of this story and someone should call him on it for a correction.