I’m not in the habit of writing posts about spats on X, but sometimes, it is necessary to set the record straight.
The discussion of Pete Hegeth’s decision to fire a half-dozen senior officers started out in a very predictable direction.
The mission of our military is to be killers
Deadly, terrifying, ruthlessly efficient killers
Biden hired for social justice instead
Trump and Hegseth are bringing back the warfighters
— Jon Terry (@leankitjon) February 22, 2025
RedState Coverage of Pentagon Firings:
Naturally, it became more academic and insightful as it progressed.
Vance is a combat veteran. Hegseth is a combat veteran.
— Jon Terry (@leankitjon) February 23, 2025
Calling Vance a combat vet really set off the Low-T crowd.
Vance never saw combat – so he’s not a combat veteran.
— Briantology10304 (@Briantology101) February 23, 2025
Wrong! He was in the green zone in Iraq. He did not see combat. He was a public affairs clerk.
— Andy (@AndrewDevoss) February 23, 2025
Jonah Goldberg from The Dispatch decided to enter the conversation to criticize Vance in his own distinctive style, for reasons unknown to me.
Vance is not a combat veteran. He is a veteran and that deserves respect. But he did not see combat. https://t.co/zdslN5CSPh
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) February 23, 2025
Interestingly, Goldberg’s colleague at The Dispatch, David French, has been referred to as a “combat veteran,” despite serving as a JAG officer on a well-protected base in Iraq. Multiple instances can be found where French is labeled as a sorry mother… I’m sorry, I meant “combat veteran.”
As you can see from the Community Note, that didn’t go all that well for him.
Vance, on the other hand, is a bona fide combat veteran, regardless of his past as a journalist. Anyone who served in a combat zone and was eligible for hostile fire pay can rightfully be called a combat veteran. Vance, a former Marine, never exaggerated his military role and simply saw himself as fulfilling his duties. During his deployment in Anbar Province from August 2005 to February 2006, a period marked by heightened Sunni insurgency, Vance’s service coincided with the tragic death of Major Megan McClung, the only female Marine officer killed in action in Anbar. Despite this, according to Goldberg, her death may not meet his criteria for being in combat.
What Vance did in Iraq has been well-covered, and former comrades who don’t like his politics have been interviewed (). Vance went to Iraq, and he served in a very dangerous area. He was not in direct combat with the Iraqi insurgents, but other people at his duty station and serving in his job were killed in action. He’s a combat veteran. Grow up and deal with it.
