Actually, Harkin claimed to have flown combat missions over Vietnam (declaring that he would have “refused orders to bomb civilians”), when the only flying he actually did was to ferry damaged but flyable aircraft to Japan, without ever flying through Vietnamese airspace.
Harkin was challenged over this lie in 1992, and his ambition to be prez was toast soon afterward.
He claimed to have flown combat missions from both Vietnam and Guantanamo, Cuba, claiming they were both officially “combat zones”, thereby making him a “combat pilot”.