"One of the worst days of my life."

The following is from the transcript released by Vice President Dick Cheney's office of his interview regarding his accidentally shooting and wounding a friend during a hunting trip on Sunday:

He was dressed in orange, he was dressed properly, but he was also -- there was a little bit of a gully there, so he was down a little ways before land level, although I could see the upper part of his body when -- I didn't see it at the time I shot, until after I'd fired. And the sun was directly behind him -- that affected the vision, too, I'm sure.

But the image of him falling is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind. I fired, and there's Harry falling. And it was, I'd have to say, one of the worst days of my life, at that moment.

"The image of him falling is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind."

"It was one of the worst days of my life."

There can be no doubt that shooting another human being is one of the most traumatic events one can experience.

But I'll reserve my sympathy for the thousands of Iraq war veterans -- with their repeated tours of the worst days of their lives and the many terrible images that they will never be able to get out of their minds.