As a Vietnam veteran, I found Senator Scott Brown’s statement in last week’s debate, referring to “when [he] served in Afghanistan” last year, to be calculated, self-serving, and embarrassing.

The senator spent about two weeks in Afghanistan fulfilling part of his annual National Guard training obligation. Thousands of other young Massachusetts National Guard men and women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for actual combat tours of duty. Brown’s politically motivated aggrandizement of his brief service there belittles their sacrifice and and service.