"As far as I know, he never spent one day in the hospital, I don't think he draws any disability pay. He doesn't have any disability. And he's boasting about three Purple Hearts, when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam."

Dole, who nearly died from wounds he sustained during the 1944 invasion of Italy as a member of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division, is the nation's foremost champion of veterans causes, recently completing a successful mission to create a World War II memorial on the Capitol Mall this summer.

Drawing on those credentials, Dole called on Kerry to issue a public apology for calling his fellow Vietnam soldiers war criminals during his 1971 Senate testimony, telling CNN: "Maybe he should apologize to all the other two-and-a-half-million veterans who served. He wasn't the only one who was in Vietnam."

"I think Senator Kerry needs to talk about his Senate record, which is pretty thin." Dole added. "That's probably why he's talking about his war record, which is pretty confused."

Editor's note: