Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald falsely claimed to a homeless veteran earlier this year that he had served in the special forces, an untruth to which the secretary admitted Monday evening.
In a videotaped comment first noted and exposed by The Huffington Post, Mr. McDonald embellished his record to a homeless veteran in Los Angeles who said he had been a member of the special forces before his current hard times.
“Special forces? What years? I was in special forces!” Mr. McDonald says in an exchange that CBS News aired on Jan. 30 as part of a segment about VA programs to house homeless veterans.
Mr. McDonald did have a distinguished military record, serving for five years in one of the military’s most-famous units, the 82nd Airborne Division, and completing Ranger training and thus earning a Ranger tab.
But “special forces” is a term of the art and the highly trained and extremely selective units to which it applies — the Green Berets, Army Rangers, Delta Force and Navy SEALs — guard it jealously. It does not include troops from the 82nd Airborne.
Mr. McDonald acknowledged the falsehood flatly and without equivocation Monday night to the Huffington Post, though he did say he was speaking “spontaneously” with no intent to guild the lily on his service record.
“I have no excuse,” he told the online news outlet when asked for comment. “I was not in special forces.”
He told the Post that “wanted to clear up the confusion I probably created — I did create” in the exchange. Claiming service in the special forces, he said, “is not right. I was not in special forces. What I said was wrong.”
Mr. McDonald, who oversees the department responsible for caring for retired special forces team members, said he has many friends in that community “and I have great respect for” them. “As I thought about this later I knew this [claim] was wrong.”
Retired Army Col. Gary Bloomberg, when contacted by the Huffington Post, called it a “boneheaded” act.
Col. Bloomberg, a former senior special forces commander, had not seen the tape before the Post contacted him for comment.
But when he first watched the tape, Col. Bloomberg said, “I thought, ’What a boneheaded statement — is this what we want from our senior government officials?’”
He did add though that Mr. McDonald’s offense did not seem as malicious as what some military men and even some civilians do, such as wear unearned medals or make public claims of special forces and other service.
The White House said in a statement Monday evening that it accepted Mr. McDonald’s explanation.
“Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service,” the White House said. “We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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