How good a soldier is Jack Murtha?

He seems to have led his troops into an ambush and turned tail when the shooting started. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, so Murtha is to be congratulated for not trying to defend an indefensible position.

It also turns out that Murtha's vaunted 37 years of service weren't quite what they first appear. He served full-time for 6 years and the rest as a reservist, not that there's anything wrong with being a reservist. But I would think that the 37 years should be explained since one naturally assumes that he was on active duty the whole time.

He's a tough customer, but it's pretty clear that he's seen better days. His photo reminded me of this one I surfed onto last week.