Former Rep. Ron Paul writes in his new book that "military personnel who march off to war are more victims and dupes than heroes."

Paul — who twice ran for the Republican presidential nomination and whose son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, is currently running for the nomination — released his new book Swords into Plowshares: A Life in Wartime and a Future of Peace and Prosperity last Friday.

"'Service' in our military to invade, occupy, and oppress countries in order to extend U.S. Empire must not be glorified as a 'heroic' and sacred effort," Paul writes. "My five years in the Air Force during the 1960s did not qualify me as any sort of hero."

Paul, who previously touted his military serve in his presidential campaign ads, writes that his thinking on his time in the military has changed.

"My primary thoughts now about that period of time are: 'Why was I so complacent, and why did I so rarely seriously question the wisdom of the Vietnam War?'" Paul writes. "The sad part is that the military personnel who march off to war are more victims and dupes than heroes."

"This is especially true when a draft is in place," Paul continues. "And remember that the threat of conscription always hangs over our heads as long as the people continue to allow wars of aggression. There still is a Selective Service System and draft registration for all 18-year-old males just in case the 'cause of freedom' requires more cannon fodder to fight the wars to maintain U.S. Empire."

Paul, who said earlier this year that on Memorial Day we should honor people such as Pentagon Paper leaker Daniel Ellsberg and NSA leaker Edward Snowden, similarly writes in his new book that true heroes are those who "alert the people to our own government's misdeeds."

"Our true heroes include those who have risked their lives and lost their freedoms in an effort to alert the people to our own government's misdeeds," writes Paul. "The warmongers are fond of calling those heroes traitors. Recognizing these heroes will help open people's eyes to the injustice of the dictators' wars. Truth is something to which the warmongers cannot easily adapt. Truth becomes treasonous in an empire of lies."