WILMINGTON, Del. – A leading national veterans organization – VoteVets.org PAC – today said Republican Ken Simpler should stop criticizing the military service of his opponent, Democrat Sean Barney, who was shot in the neck in Iraq while serving in the United States Marine Corps.

Simpler said – on September 11 – during a candidate forum at the Jewish Community Center that “if Sean Barney wants to be treated like a hero, he needs to start acting like one” and criticized Barney for discussing his military service, saying he would throw Barney’s “resume in the trash.”

“Sean Barney is a hero who volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and was wounded in combat,” said Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org. “While Ken Simpler was making a fortune as a hedge fund manager, Sean Barney volunteered to fight for the nation in Iraq and was awarded a Purple Heart.”

After America was attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, Sean Barney left his job as economics adviser to U.S. Senator Tom Carper and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Sean suffered a life-threatening wound when he was shot on the neck while on patrol with his platoon near Fallujah, Iraq. After recovering from his wound and completing strenuous physical therapy, Sean went on to earn degrees from Harvard and Yale, and then serve as an advisor to Gov. Jack Markell.

“Sean was encouraged to enlist as an officer. But he chose instead to become a grunt, fighting on the front lines,” Soltz said. “For Ken Simpler to criticize that service – on the anniversary of those terrorist attacks – is unconscionable and insulting to all of the heroes who risked their lives for our country. Ken Simpler should apologize to Sean and all of the 75,000-plus veterans living in Delaware.”

Instead of deserving to have his resume “thrown in the trash,” Soltz said, Sean’s military service makes him uniquely quailed for the State Treasurer’s Office.

“Sean has dedicated his adult life to fighting for others,” Soltz said. “That dedication to public service was why he enlisted in the Marine Corps and it’s why he is the only candidate for treasurer with detailed plans to give more Delawareans financial opportunities and grow the middle class.”

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