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Retired Gen. H. Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark has some "integrity and character issues" and won't be getting his vote.

Shelton, who was Joint Chiefs chairman on 9-11, made the comments at a celebrity forum at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, Calif., earlier this month, the Los Altos Town Crier reported.

After a presentation reviewing the historic events of his 38-year military career, Shelton took questions from the audience.

One question came from Dick Henning, moderator of the event: "What do you think of Gen. Wesley Clark and would you support him as a presidential candidate?"

According to the report, Shelton took a drink of water before answering.

Said Henning, "I noticed you took a drink on that one!"

"That question makes me wish it were vodka," said Shelton, according to the Los Altos paper. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."

Gen. Wesley Clark

Clark was supreme allied commander of NATO forces during the Clinton-era bombing campaign against Serbia. Shelton relieved him of duty in 2000, several months earlier than Clark expected.

Another retired four-star general told the Washington Post recently: "There are an awful lot of people who believe Wes will tell anybody what they want to hear and tell somebody the exact opposite five minutes later. The people who have worked closely with him are the least complimentary, because he can be very abrasive, very domineering. And part of what you saw when he was relieved of command was all of the broken glass and broken china within the European alliance and the [U.S.] European Command."

Shelton recently battled a severe injury after falling off a ladder outside his home just months after his retirement. According to the paper, Shelton landed with his head caught in a chain-link fence and was partially paralyzed from the neck down.

The general told the crowd his doctor told him he would never walk or use his hands again. He said he checked the doctor's name tag for "God," but didn't see it.

After three months of recovery, the general was able to walk out of the hospital on his own and now, said the report, is nearly 100 percent recovered.