Wes Moore apologizes for ‘honest mistake’ in claiming a Bronze Star

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has apologized for incorrectly stating on a White House application more than a decade ago that he was a Bronze Star recipient.

Moore, a rising star in the Democratic Party, served in the Army Reserve between 1996 and 2014. He was deployed to Afghanistan in August 2005 through March 2006.

Though he has won multiple awards for his service, including the National Defense Service Medal, he stated on a 2006 application for the White House Fellowship that his service won him the award of a Bronze Star.

“For my work, the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge,” Moore wrote on his application, according to documents obtained and published Thursday by The New York Times .

The Bronze Star is awarded to service members who perform “acts of heroism in ground combat,” according to the Air Force’s Personnel Center.

But Moore never actually was awarded the prestigious award, according to the Times investigation.

In a statement Thursday, Moore said he made an “honest mistake” in 2006 when he wrote on his application for the White House Fellowship that he had won the prestigious military award.

“While serving overseas with the Army, I was encouraged to fill out an application for the White House Fellowship by my deputy brigade commander,” Moore said. “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.”

Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, a mentor to Moore, confirmed to the Times that he told Moore that he had been approved for the medal and to include it in his application. Fenzel told the paper that he only learned this week that Moore had never been awarded the Bronze Star.

“In the military, there is an understanding that if a senior officer tells you that an action is approved, you can trust that as a fact,” Moore said Thursday. “That is why it was part of the application, plain and simple.”

The governor pointed out was listed as a top 1 percent officer in Operation Enduring Freedom in an evaluation report submitted by his superiors.

But Moore had multiple opportunities in the past to correct the record regarding his Bronze Star, including during a 2008 PBS panel discussion with Gwen Ifill and in a 2010 appearance on “The Colbert Report” with Stephen Colbert.

“I am proud of my service in the U.S. Army. I am proud of the soldiers I served with in combat, and I love my country. I’m never going to back away from that. The military taught me to put the safety of others over my own, leave no one behind, and live ‘Mission First, People Always.’ These are the values that drive my work as governor – and that will not change,” Moore said Thursday.

“I’ve been open and honest about my military service for my entire career, and I am deeply proud of it. But it seems I must, once again, set the record straight, as people hunt for new ways to undermine my service to our country in uniform.”

Moore also seemed to throw support behind Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who is Vice President Harris’s running mate on the Democratic White House ticket.

Like Moore, Walz’s military service has come under scrutiny, particularly by GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

Vance, a Marine veteran, has accused Walz of lying about his time in the National Guard.

“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. “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.”

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