rich:calendar default value after validation

[sej67]

I am using a rich:calendar tag, and the validation seems to work fine when I input an invalid date, such as March 32, letters a-z, etc.  However, since I have the required attribute set to true, if the user leaves the field blank, after validation it defaults to 12/12/2008 rather than blank.  Is there any way for it to leave the field blank?

I am using jboss 4.3.0.GA and jdk 1.5.17.

Thanks in advance.

[sej67]

I should add that I have the same issue with the h:inputText tag as well.  If I input letters a-z on a numeric field, after validation it shows zero instead of the a-z that I input.