By many accounts, Robert McDonald has done a good job starting to clean up the mess at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He's fired managers, reduced paperwork and began the process of revamping the broken healthcare service that literally cost veterans their lives.

This week, however, information that McDonald, a retired corporate executive , had lied about his military service surfaced and those statements could end up derailing his VA work just as it begins.

The comments in question come from a visit to a Los Angeles neighborhood during a nationwide count of homeless veterans. The visit was being filmed by a CBS-TV news crew and they captured a conversation between McDonald and a homeless man.

"Special forces? What years? I was in special forces!" McDonald told the homeless man. That comments were broadcast in a Jan. 30 CBS News story about the VA's efforts to find and house homeless veterans, Huffington Post reported today.

There's one problem, though. McDonald did serve in the military but he wasn't in an elite Special Forces unit. Instead, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division in the 1970s.

McDonald hasn't apologized for his comments but he did admit they weren't true.

"I have no excuse," McDonald said. "I was not in special forces. What I said was wrong."

Yes, it was. And it's damaging to not just those who served in the Special Forces but to all veterans who were hoping McDonald would bring changes to the VA. After all, he was hired to clean up the mess left by outgoing secretary Eric Shinseki, who oversaw the agency when it was discovered it had fabricated waiting lists and delayed patient care.

McDonald's statements could be dismissed as nothing more than just an off-handed remark but given the nature of his position - and the fact he did serve in the military - he should have been more aware of its importance.

The White House said it is aware of the statements and accepted McDonald's apology.

"Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service," the White House said in a statement. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he's doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation's veterans."

Maybe not. However, it appears it is just another example of how we've broken the trust with those we called on to protect us. Our veterans deserve better.