He knows if he served in combat or not.
Instead, Nehls was awarded the Combat Action Badge, which is given to soldiers outside those job fields who are “actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy,” according to Army guidelines.
The article doesn’t dispute him being in combat, just that upon review for some reason he was awarded the wrong award.
Once again, not his mistake. The CIB is a big deal. When Charles Schultz was being interviewed in his studio, and when asked what was his most prestigious award, His Emmy or His print cartoon awards, He pointed to his smallest award on the wall, His CIB.