Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland falsely claimed on an application to have been awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his Army service in Afghanistan in 2006, according to The New York Times.
Moore claimed to have received the honor on a White House fellowship application in 2006, and has failed to correct television hosts who have wrongly introduced him as a recipient of the award in the past, the New York Times reported. Moore, who has also defended Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz amid his accusations of stolen valor, called the discrepancy an “honest mistake” and expressed regret for not correcting his application, according to a statement from Thursday.
“I was encouraged to fill out an application for the White House Fellowship by my deputy brigade commander,” Moore said in a statement. “In fact, he helped me edit it before I sent it in. At the time, he had recommended me for the Bronze Star. He told me to include the Bronze Star award on my application after confirming with two other senior-level officers that they had also signed off on the commendation.”
“Still, I sincerely wish I had gone back to correct the note on my application,” Moore continued. “It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction.”
My full statement on my military record: pic.twitter.com/4pfS3YkuJu
— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) August 29, 2024
Moore had not received either the Bronze Star or the Combat Army Badge at the time that he submitted his application in January of 2006, the New York Times confirmed. He was eventually awarded the Combat Army Badge in May 2006, but there is no record of him ever receiving a Bronze Star.
“Over the last few weeks, our country has grown used to seeing what it looks like when a veteran’s integrity is attacked for political gain,” Moore said in the statement. “But those who seek to cast doubt on our records misunderstand something fundamental about true patriots, who have put on the flag of our country and put everything on the line to be called Americans: We don’t get shaken. We put our heads down, and we do the work. And that is what I will continue to do.”
Moore also defended another prominent Democrat who had his military record questioned. Just days after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, his statements about his military service in the National Guard were called into question.
Walz previously advocated for a ban on “weapons of war” that he said he “carried in war,” according to a video posted by Harris’ campaign on X. However, Walz never actually went into combat and reportedly retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 shortly after he learned that his unit was being deployed to Iraq.
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, called out this discrepancy and claimed that Walz “abandoned” his unit.
“Well I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?” Vance said during a campaign event. “What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage.”
Moore responded to Vance and defended Walz in an August MSNBC interview, saying that anyone who has served the country “deserves our utmost respect.”
“You don’t get to sergeant major just because,” Moore said in the interview. “You get to sergeant major because you’ve served this country.”
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