As a former petty officer and junior commissioned officer, there were times when I knew not to follow advice that I suspected or knew to be wrong, no matter how much I admired the senior person offering it or how strongly I wanted advancement or some achievement. So, my first question is, did he ever add the award to his ribbon bar or pin it on? And are there photos?
As someone who was recommended for an award from my actions in combat that I did not receive, and who over the course of my careers filled out hundreds of applications, his action - falsely claiming that award - suggests a probable & serious character flaw. As a psychologist I hesitate to say that with certainty, of course, having never conducted a clinical interview of this man.
Questions about Moore’s integrity arise anew after 2006 report surfaces
Democrat ‘sincerely’ wishes he had corrected his erroneous claim about earning a Bronze Star
By: Danielle J. Brown and William J. Ford - August 29, 2024, marylandmatters.org
Gov. Wes Moore claimed in a 2006 document that he earned a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, a medal that he never received, according to a report Thursday in The New York Times.
While questions have been raised before about claims that Moore had a Bronze Star, he has always insisted that the claim was made by others, but not by him.
But in a 2006 application to the White House Fellowship program unearthed by The Times, Moore claimed that as a result of his work as a director of information operations during the war in Afghanistan, “the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge.”
His resume with that application also claimed that Moore, then a captain in the Army, had received the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame Award. There is no such award.
Both misstatements were explained away in the Times’ story by Moore’s superiors at the time — his commanding officer in Afghanistan and a coach on the Johns Hopkins University football team, where Moore was a player — as additions they insisted he make, on the expectation that he would receive the honors.
In a statement Thursday in response to the article, Moore said he was sorry he had not spoken up before this to correct the record. But he also went on the offensive, saying he would “once again, set the record straight, as people hunt for new ways to undermine my service to our country in uniform.”
“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,” said the statement from Moore, who has been called on in recent weeks as a proxy to defend Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz over questions about Walz’s military record.
“It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction,” Moore said about the claim of having earned a Bronze Star. “But do not think for a moment that this attack on my record holds any bearing on how I feel about my service, my soldiers, or our country.”
This is not the first time questions have been raised about Moore’s military record. In past interviews, Moore was introduced as a Bronze Star recipient and he did not correct the misstatements, according to the Times.
Questions about the Bronze Star also came up during Moore’s 2022 campaign for governor, and he insisted at the time that he had never claimed himself to have won the award, only that he failed to correct the mistake in others.
“Of the hundreds of interviews that I have given, the idea of pulling together a couple where I did not correct a reporter or correct an interviewer, it just continues to highlight a measure of desperation in the attacks,” Moore said during an April 2022 campaign event.
Moore told the Times that he forgot he had claimed on his White House Fellowship application to have won the Bronze Star, and that it was a surprise to him when he saw the paperwork this week.
The reaction from Maryland elected officials who had seen the story, including some who are military veterans, was similar to Moore’s explanation: It was a simple mistake that Moore compounded by not correcting it in the intervening years, they said.
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