Veteran Interrupted Presidential Debate

Whose shouting interrupted the presidential debate at Dartmouth College?

Andrew Vera of Hanover.

Vera said he spoke up Tuesday night right after Rick Santorum finished speaking about restoring "American values."

"I said, 'Yeah, right, you say you want American Values back in the American Family, then where were you, when they booed the gay soldier during the last debate,'" Vera emailed in response to Patch questions. "Let's get real. As an Iraq Veteran, I think it's pitiful."

"As they pulled me out, I screamed, 'don't taze me, don't taze me."

He said he was cited for disorderly conduct and released.

"No regrets at all," Vera says. "I served in the US Navy, in support and defense of the constitution. It's a living document."

Vera, a Dartmouth College graduate, said he respects the law and that an act of civil disobedience was owing to his pride in serving in the military.

Vera has spoken out on veterans issues in the past. In 2008, his name surfaced in a couple of news stories as he and other veterans questioned Sen. John McCain and congressional leaders on veterans care.