Well said.

Gordon Carmichael writes a beautiful and heartfelt web exclusive today for The American Prospect:

I am a retired U.S. Army officer and a volunteer two-and-a-half tour Vietnam veteran. I also wear the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with a “V” device (for valor) and oak leaf clusters (MACV General Orders Number 154, January 10, 1969) for wounds received and performance in combat action on July 3, 1968. It happened in a now-forgotten place called Long Phu village, which is in Vietnam’s Long An province. So, as a Purple Heart bearer and a soldier who volunteered to serve his country in a brutal and violent war, I am stunned and disappointed and, yes, outraged when a fellow Purple Heart veteran, who also volunteered to serve his nation in a highly unpopular war, is unfairly and vehemently attacked and has his heroism challenged by falsehoods and innuendos.

When one bearer of the Purple Heart is attacked, all wearers of the Purple Heart, from all wars, are attacked. We are talking about people who suffered injury while fighting for their flag and nation and the ideals projected by our great country. We are talking about soldiers who went into harm’s way, like so many brave Americans who risked their lives and limbs in service when their nation called. We are talking about those who went to war -- perhaps not all voluntarily, but they went nonetheless. And for going, they are worthy of the deepest respect and the highest honor. To disrespect a combat veteran is to disrespect what our nation stands for.

We probably should not be surprised to witness George Bush, a man who went well out of his way to avoid combat duty, disrespecting veterans in this way.

Soldiers go where their nation sends them. They are people of conviction who do the very best they can to serve with dignity and to survive with dignity. But the important thing is that they go. To attack any of them, especially 30 years or more later for political gain, is reprehensible, repugnant, and something my God considers a sin. To do so it to attack all of our brave uniformed men and women in all past wars -- and those currently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, who are serving each of us.

The cynical manner in which this administration is exploiting the bitterness of a group of Vietnam veterans for their own political ends is truly scurrilous.