After facing some bit of scrutiny, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has defended for status as a so-called “combat veteran,” reported Raw Story.
“I am very proud of my service and by law I am defined as a combat veteran,” said Ernst. “I have never once claimed that I have a Combat Action Badge. I have never claimed that I have a Purple Heart. What I have claimed is that I have served in a combat zone.”
Raw Story noted that the Veterans of Foreign Wars defines a combat veteran “as anyone who receives imminent danger pay, which is typically reserved for those who serve in combat zones and potentially risk coming under enemy fire.”
In 2003 and 2004, Ernst led an Iowa Army National Guard transport company. Essentially, Ernst is misrepresenting her military status. About a decade ago, Ernst served in Kuwait and around southern Iraq. George H.W. Bush declared the entire Arabian Peninsula a combat zone in 1991 during the Gulf War. That declaration still remains.
Although Ernst hasn’t claimed being in the infantry and fighting on the front lines, she implies that her role was equally as dangerous as EOD troops and infantry. We get it, she wants to appeal to all military veterans.
“It was only by luck and the blessings of God that my soldiers did not encounter an assault, that we did not run over an IED,” she said. “To dishonor our service by saying we’re not worthy of being called combat veterans is insulting to the majority of men and women who serve their country honorably.”
What a misconstrued way of thinking. When people question Ernst, it’s not to say that there are some unimportant jobs in the military, it’s just questioning a possible over-exaggeration.
