By One of the biggest rising stars in the Democratic Party has found himself in hot water after following the lead of Tim Walz and lying about his military service.
Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland is expected to be a front runner if Kamala Harris loses to Donald Trump this November.
Now that might be in jeopardy, writes the New York Times.
When Wes Moore ran for governor of Maryland in 2022, questions about whether he had claimed to have been awarded a Bronze Star for his Army service in Afghanistan hovered over his campaign
For reasons that remain unexplained, two television interviewers, Gwen Ifill and Stephen Colbert, had wrongly introduced him years earlier as a recipient of the award. Mr. Moore failed to correct them, even as he and his aides insisted he had never told anyone he had a Bronze Star.
But at least once, Mr. Moore, now the state’s Democratic governor, did say he had received the award.
He made the claim on an application for a prestigious White House fellowship in 2006, when he was 27 years old, according to a copy of the document that was obtained this week by The New York Times as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
“For my work,” he wrote, “the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge.”
The Bronze Star Medal is a military decoration awarded by the United States Armed Forces. It is awarded to members of the military for acts of heroism, merit, or meritorious service in a combat zone. The decoration can be awarded for either valor (acts of heroism during combat) or for meritorious service or achievement in a combat environment.
When awarded for valor, the Bronze Star Medal includes a “V” device to distinguish it from medals awarded for meritorious service or achievement. It is the fourth-highest individual military award and can be awarded to any branch of the U.S. military. The Bronze Star Medal is also awarded to foreign soldiers who have served with or alongside U.S. forces in combat.
In a statement, reported The Associated Press, “the governor wrote that he had been encouraged to fill out the application for the fellowship by his deputy brigade commander serving overseas in the Army. At the time, Moore said the deputy brigade commander had recommended him for the Bronze Star — and told him to include the award on his application ‘after confirming with two other senior-level officers that they had also signed off on the commendation.’
Toward the end of his deployment, however, Moore said he was disappointed to learn he had not received the Bronze Star. When he returned home, Moore said he was ‘focused on helping my fellow veterans, a mission I continue to advance as governor.’”
“Still, I sincerely wish I had gone back to correct the note on my application,” Moore, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday. “It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction.”
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