THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Joni Ernst says she is a "Combat Veteran" because she worked in a dangerous area (Iraq) and received imminent danger pay. She was never fired on or fired at any enemies.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Monday stood by her self-description as a “combat veteran” for her service in Iraq and criticized those who have questioned her use of the phrase.

Ernst’s comments to reporters came after a piece in the Huffington Post highlighted that she never came under fire as she led an Iowa Army National Guard transportation company in 2003 and 2004.

The piece raised the idea that Ernst is giving the public a misimpression about just how harrowing her time in Iraq and Kuwait really was.

Ernst said it’s entirely appropriate for her to use the phrase combat veteran. The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs classify Ernst as a combat veteran based on her service in a combat zone.

“I am very proud of my service and by law I am defined as a combat veteran,” Ernst said. “I have never once claimed that I have a Combat Action Badge. I have never claimed that I have a Purple Heart. What I have claimed is that I have served in a combat zone.”

She said there are many serving in uniform who haven’t been under fire or “actually been hand-to-hand fighting with the enemy.”

“It was only by luck and the blessings of God that my soldiers did not encounter an assault, that we did not run over an IED. And to dishonor our service by saying we’re not worthy of being called combat veterans is insulting to the majority of men and women who serve their country honorably,” Ernst said. “Just because I’m not an infantryman and I wasn’t kicking in doors, I don’t believe I’m less of a player.”

My father served in combat from the Battle of the Bulge to VE-Day and always said the only military badge he was proud of was his CIB. The rest he threw away. Joni wishes she had one.