Jim Webb’s son, Jim Webb, is shocked that the leftist media dislikes the fact that his father killed an enemy combatant.

If you watched the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night, you probably heard the closing comment by my father, Jim Webb. Without hesitation he answered that the enemy he was ‘most proud of’ was the Vietnamese soldier who wounded him with a hand grenade. He then added that “…he isn’t around anymore.”

While there were those in the media and around the country who were a bit stunned, and perhaps even put off by this answer, my fellow veterans and I were not. If anything, his blunt (and perhaps a bit brutal) honesty was much appreciated, and further endeared him to us as a candidate. We veterans are also more likely to have a fuller picture of my father’s record.  He’s the man who gave us the post-9/11 GI Bill. We also know him as a highly decorated combat veteran who earned the Navy Cross for the entire episode surrounding that grenade, not just the snippet that has been focused on.

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In fact, seeing the reaction to my father’s story in recent days has highlighted for me the almost stunning level of ignorance that the general public has about war. CNN introduced him as a “war hero,” and yet people were surprised and even uncomfortable when they were given a glimpse of what that might have entailed.

First of all, Mr. Webb, thank you and your father for your service. That is likely something you’re not going to hear the reactionaries in the media and within your dad’s chosen party very often. The Left has embraced the anti-war cause so fervently that it is not ignorance of what being a war hero is that bothers them. They know exactly what it is.

The American military to them is a symbol of the white imperialism that has ruined the world and that they believe they alone are trying to fix. The military is used for all sorts of immoral purposes. And, let’s face it, your dad killed a communist, which is the ideology the most vocal part of the media and the left identify with. They feel personally slighted here.

So, sorry that your dad’s party isn’t a big fan of the things that make him a half-decent Republican candidate. You guys are welcome to sit at the table with us at Thanksgiving and watch football with us. We’ll work out our political differences later.