Maryland Governor Wes Moore (Democrat) is facing a defamation lawsuit for allegedly failing to correct the record that he received a Bronze Star while serving in the U.S. Army when in fact he did not.
a The New York Times According to the report released Thursday, in 2006, Moore, then 27, claimed in his application for a White House Fellowship that he had received the award.
“I should have corrected what the interviewer said.”
“For my service, I was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Medal by the 82nd Airborne Division,” he claimed.
The Bronze Star Award isHeroic acts in ground combat.“
At the time of filing, Moore had not received the Bronze Star or the Medal of Honor. The Times found that, according to an Army spokesman, Moore had never received the Bronze Star, but the medal was awarded in May 2006.
In an interview Wednesday, Moore called the statement on the application an “honest mistake.”
“While I was serving overseas in the Army, my brigade vice commander encouraged me to write an application for a White House Fellowship,” Moore said. “In fact, he helped me edit my application before I submitted it. At the time, he was recommending me for the Bronze Star. He also had two other senior officers verify the signatures on the commendation letter and then instructed me to include the Bronze Star award on my application.”
“It was honestly a mistake to put something in because my superior thought it was a good idea,” Moore added. “He thought I deserved it and had already gone through the paperwork.”
Moore's commanding officer at the time, Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, acknowledged to The Times that he had advised Moore to include the Bronze Star on his application. Fenzel told Moore that he and others had already endorsed the award. Fenzel noted that Moore had initially opposed including the Bronze Star on his application.
Fenzel said he was unaware Moore had not received his medal, adding that he plans to resubmit the paperwork.
But despite what Moore claimed was an “honest mistake,” he had several opportunities to correct the record, including during a PBS panel discussion with Gwen Ifill in 2008 and during an appearance on “The Colbert Report” with Stephen Colbert in 2010.
“I should have corrected what the interviewer said,” Moore said. “In retrospect, I regret not doing so.”
Moore also received several other decorations during his time in the military, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Reserve Medal with “M”, the Army Service Ribbon and the Paratrooper Badge.
Moore was originally on Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' running mate list, but he said the question about his Bronze Star wasn't asked.
Harris ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (Democrat) as her running mate, but Walz has also been accused of falsely claiming military honors. Walz has spoken of “serving in war” weapons but has never deployed to a combat zone, and has been described as a “master sergeant” when he retired from the military at a low rank that did not qualify him for that rank.
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