The campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) today announced the support of retired four-star Army General Wesley Clark and U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) in a press release. The pair of prominent Democratic veterans provided statements supporting Lunsford in his bid against U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

"It goes without saying that he'll be an incredible improvement over Mitch McConnell, who has time and again opposed our veterans and hindered efforts to give our troops overseas the support they deserve." said Clark in a statement.

Clark was a long-time member of the Army, serving in Vietnam and commanding NATO forces in Kosovo. He later became a Democratic politician, running for president in 2004.

"[Lunsford] will fight to ensure we keep our promises to our veterans by fully supporting the new GI Bill, improving healthcare benefits and VA facilities to prevent another Walter Reed, and ensuring that the education benefits we guaranteed our fighting men and women stay funded and secure," Clark added.

Murphy, the lone Iraq war vet in Congress, took aim at McConnell's reputation as an enemy of Democratically-favored legislation in the Senate.

"Our troops deserve real support from those of us serving in Washington," said Murphy. "That means replacing obstructionism with leadership. That's why I am asking you to join me in supporting Bruce Lunsford."

Clark and Murphy reportedly officially endorsed Lunsford last week. Each were listed as the authors of fundraising e-mails dispatched in recent days lauding Lunsford as a friend of veterans and asking for financial contributions from supporters.

"I am honored to have the support of General Clark and Congressman Murphy. They are both men of experience and credibility on issues that concern our veterans," said Lunsford in the same statement. "They realize our troops have been treated with far less respect than they deserve by some politicians in Washington, including Mitch McConnell.  Our veterans deserve more than they're getting from Mitch McConnell."

The announcement of Clark and Murphy's endorsement was framed by the Lunsford campaign as a show of support from veterans and a criticism of McConnell's record on veterans' issues.

The news comes as both camps have been posturing about veterans issues in a series of campaign commericals. McConnell's camp ran two ads accusing Lunsford-run veterans' clinics of providing deficient care that the Lunsford camp rebutted with an ad featuring the star of one of those McConnell spots claiming the incumbent's campaign took his words out of context.

McConnell's camp also added a spot featuring a disabled veteran praising McConnell and questioning Lunsford's own accomplishments on veteran's issues.