Kirk, 5 terms in congress shows no respect for combat veterans

There is "misspeak" when a Vietnam Era veteran calls himself a Vietnam Vet, which is debatable and most people consider it a slip up. What most do not understand is that there were other Vietnam Era Veterans that did participate in combat operations and incidences reporters don't seem to have the ability to research on.

The Mayaguez incident involving the Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia on May 12–15, 1975, marked the last official battle of the United States (U.S.) involvement in the Vietnam War. The names of the Americans killed are the last names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as well as those of three Marines who were left behind on the island of Koh Tang after the battle and who were subsequently executed by the Khmer Rouge while in captivity. The merchant ship's crew, whose seizure at sea had prompted the U.S. attack, had been released in good health, unknown to the U.S. Marines or the U.S. command of the operation, before the Marines attacked. It was the only known engagement between U.S. ground forces and the Khmer Rouge.

Even though the names of the fallen are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the veterans of this are not considered "Vietnam Veterans" because they did not enter into Vietnam. Imagine that. When politicians use wrong terms, they should be called out for it and if it's an honest mistake of choice of words, forgiven. However if they deliberately try to pass themselves off as combat veterans, it is beyond forgivable. It looks as if we've just discovered someone wanting to have a political life off of real combat veterans.

The furor over Kirk's military record heated up last week when he acknowledged that, contrary to his many statements over the years, he hadn't won the Navy's award for intelligence officer of the year.

Illinois Senate candidate apologizes for misstatements on military service
Republican hopeful Mark Kirk admits to inaccuracies, but declines to characterize them as intentional embellishments.
Times wire services

June 3, 2010 9:16 p.m.
Reporting from Chicago — Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk of Illinois apologized Thursday for making inaccurate statements about his 21-year record as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer and acknowledged more discrepancies between his service and the political rhetoric describing his actions.

Appearing before the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, Kirk would not directly answer questions about whether the misstatements amounted to an effort to embellish his military history as he takes on Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for the seat formerly held by President Obama.

Kirk, a five-term congressman, acknowledged that his campaign's promotion of him coming under fire while aboard an intelligence reconnaissance plane in Iraq may not be correct because there is no record of his aircraft being fired upon.
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Illinois Senate candidate apologizes for misstatements

It also looks as if he's been at it a long time making claims that are not true but we should be wondering why on earth no one discovered this before now. How is this possible? Didn't anyone check his record before now? 5 terms in Congress?

One of the jobs a senator has is to decide about sending young men and women to risk their lives in combat. Making claims like this, shows a total lack of respect for what it means to be able to risk your life when Kirk decided his real service just didn't look good enough. How is it they manage so well to "respect" them enough to want to pretend to be them but never manage to actually do anything worthy of them?