By Ben Kesling And Julian E. Barnes
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald reached out to
veterans groups Tuesday to apologize for claiming he had served in
the military's special forces, moving quickly to prevent the gaffe
from turning into an issue that could derail his efforts to
overhaul the agency.
Mr. McDonald called some groups, held a news conference and met
in the afternoon with the American Legion to address the claim he
made during a brief conversation earlier this year with a homeless
man as he surveyed the state of veteran homelessness in Los
Angeles.
"Special forces? What years? I was in special forces," Mr.
McDonald said after the homeless man shared his special forces
claim.
The interaction was filmed by a CBS News crew and broadcast on
Jan. 30, during a segment on Mr. McDonald's efforts to eradicate
veteran homelessness.
The claim made weeks ago was again reported by the Huffington
Post on Monday. Mr. McDonald, who was named Secretary of the
Department of Veterans Affairs last year amid a scandal over
falsified patient-appointment records, first apologized Monday for
the claim.
"My biggest motivation was to connect with the veteran," Mr.
McDonald said in a media event Tuesday afternoon. "My whole purpose
in this job is to connect with veterans and to better serve
veterans and that's what I was trying to do."
Mr. McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point and served as an infantry officer and in the 82nd Airborne
Division. He also completed Ranger School, but he never served in a
Ranger battalion or with a unit associated with elite soldiers
commonly known as Green Berets.
Mr. McDonald has also been under fire recently for allegedly
overstating the number of people he has fired as a result of the
summer's scandal but he deflected questions about that topic during
the press conference.
Later in the day he stod in front of the American Legion
gathering and steeled himself to address the topic.
"That was wrong and I have no excuse," he said to the
legionnaires. "Again I apologize to those who are offended by my
misstatement."
But questions from the crowd mostly avoided the topic, instead
focusing on the VA's claims backlog, mental health care and other
issues. The secretary came prepared for this contingency, too,
armed with charts and graphs laying out the issues confronting the
agency.
Only one member of the American Legion asked about Mr.
McDonald's false claim. In response, Mr. McDonald said he had never
claimed in a resume or a biography to be a member of the Special
Forces.
"There was no ill-intent meant," he said.
A legionnaire hollered out "we all make mistakes" and "thank-you
for your service" prompting applause from the audience.
After the address Jim Park, a Navy veteran and legionnaire from
Santa Clara, Calif, said the controversy was making "a mountain out
of a mole hill" and he accepted Mr. McDonald's explanation he was
trying to connect with a veteran.
Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
said he received a call from the secretary apologizing for "the
mistake" and he accepted the apology on the group's behalf. "We
know Secretary McDonald is a man of exceptional commitment who
served honorably and cares deeply about our veterans," Mr.
Rieckhoff said.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R., Colo.), a member of the House committee
who has clashed with Mr. McDonald in the past, spoke up as an
unlikely supporter of the secretary on Tuesday. "The Secretary's
misstatement was an error, but it doesn't dim the fact that he
served honorably," said Mr. Coffman, a Marine Corps combat veteran,
in a statement.
Mr. Coffman added that he still feels Mr. McDonald has much to
do to fix a department dogged by scandal over the past year, and
that he still thinks the secretary isn't moving fast enough with
changes. Nevertheless, the special forces dust-up does nothing more
than distract from that mission. "We should all take him at his
word and Washington shouldn't spend the next two weeks arguing
about it," Mr. Coffman said.
Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon Spokesman, said Defense Secretary
Ash Carter accepted Mr. McDonald's apology and "looks forward to
working with him."
The White House also weighed in on the issue Tuesday. "It was
appropriate for him to apologize" but it doesn't affect his ability
to do the job, said spokesman Josh Earnest.
A defense official who served as an officer in the special
forces said those who served in the 82nd Airborne or trained as a
Ranger would know not to represent themselves as a member of the
Special Forces.
"There are a huge amount of people who misrepresent themselves
for whatever reason. Unfortunately it catches up to them as it did
to Bob McDonald," the official said.
The official said the false claim likely hurt Mr. McDonald's
credibility with many members of the military, but predicted
Washington would quickly move on.
"If you are in the community you are used to false claims all
the time," the official said. "In a way it is the biggest form of
flattery."
Write to Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com
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