Senator Jim Webb made headlines after the Democratic primary debate not because of his performance, but because of a comment he made about a man he killed while fighting in Vietnam. 

When asked which enemy Webb was most proud to make during his political career, he answered, “I would have to say the enemy soldier that threw the grenade that wounded me, but he’s not around right now to talk to.”

The media, hungry for some gaffe or bizarre statement after a somewhat civil event, jumped on Webb for saying something so ‘stunning’ and ‘brutal.’ The senator’s son, Marine veteran Jim R. Webb, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post to challenge the American public to see his father’s comment in another light.

“Yes, the man who threw the grenade isn’t around anymore, but more importantly the man who my Father shielded with his own body lived to see another day,” the younger Webb wrote. “As a Marine and as a leader, that is the important part. To me and many other veterans, we have a sea of presidential candidates who seemingly have only personal interests in mind.  Yet, here is a leader who has not only endured war, but demonstrated that he is willing to sacrifice his life for his people. Is that really something to be sneered at?”

Jim R. explained that military veterans like him and his father know how quickly a situation can change on the battlefield. When an enemy falls, a teammate’s life is saved. This is exactly why the elder Webb earned his Navy Cross by killing that particular enemy combatant. However, Jim R. was disturbed by the backlash against his father by people who would probably never know what it is like to serve.

“This country has been at war for almost 15 years, and as I think about the ridicule leveled at my father in the past 24 hours, I can’t help but imagine what these same people must think about the service of my own generation,” Webb said. “In their eyes, did we simply spend some kind of twisted ‘semester abroad’ in a place with plenty of sand, but no ocean? Or conversely, do they ignorantly dismiss our experiences, as they have my father, as those of cold callous killers?”