'He didn't save my life': Veterans accuse GOP lawmaker of stolen valor over Bronze Star

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Raw Story

May 5, 2025 7:51AM ET


Two of the men whose lives a Republican lawmaker was credited with saving are raising claims of stolen valor. Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) was awarded a Bronze Star in January 2021 for “exceptional bravery” during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

But five people who served with him questioned the narrative laid out in the Department of the Army Form 638 that recommended him for the medal, reported NOTUS. “He didn’t save my life,” said Pfc. Joe Heit, who is cited by name on the recommendation form as one of the soldiers Mills saved. “I don’t recall him being there, either.”

The document states that Mills saved the lives of Heit and Cpl. Alan Babin in one 2003 incident and saved Sgt. Joe Ferrand in another, while also being a “dedicated mentor and leader” to other junior medics. Questions about his Bronze Star have been relayed to the Office of Congressional Ethics, according to a source with direct knowledge of a complaint, as well as the Department of Justice, a U.S. attorney’s office in Florida and the FBI.

OCE referred Mills in December to the House Ethics Committee to investigate his business practices, and in March the office found “substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mills may have entered into, held, or enjoyed contracts with federal agencies while serving in Congress.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/cory-mills-bronze-star/

---

Link to NOTUS ARTICLE - ‘He Didn’t Save My Life’: Veterans Question Rep. Cory Mills’ Bronze Star

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Republicon under investigation for violence

https://www.newsweek.com/cory-mills-investigation-assault-florida-donald-trump-prosecutor-2036007

Cory Mills Assault Investigation: Police Called to ... - Newsweek
Feb 25, 2025 Florida Republican Representative Cory Mills is under investigation for an alleged assault of a woman in Washington, D.C., on February 19. The Context. Mills has served as the representative for ...

Another manly man abusing women.

[AZLD4Candidate]

2. But that only applies to Republicans lying about Democrats (swiftboating). Republicans lying about themselves is okay

no one will bat and eye, and the media won't run stories about it 24/7 implying that the Republicans is unfit because "some people say."

[Aristus]

3. It still amazes me in this day and age that anyone would try stolen valor.

These things are so easy to verify or rule out.

Not to mention, most of the people I've known who have earned significant military acclaim are not the kind of people to boast about it. And braggarts usually out themselves as stealing valor because of their insatiable need for attention.

[Grins]

4. He's a real MAGA shit. Hope it's a true story. NM

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. He Didn't Save My Life': Veterans Question Rep. Cory Mills' Bronze Star

The Florida Republican was awarded a Bronze Star for his purported actions in 2003. Five people who served with him say they don’t remember Mills being on the scene.

‘He Didn’t Save My Life’: Veterans Question Rep. Cory Mills’ Bronze Star
www.notus.org/congress/cor...

— NOTUS (@notusreports.bsky.social) 2025-05-05T14:08:31.758Z

Link to tweet

https://www.notus.org/congress/cory-mills-iraq-bronze-star

Under “intense enemy fire” in Iraq in 2003, Rep. Cory Mills rushed to the aid of two soldiers who had been struck, applied emergency life-saving care at the “great risk to his own life,” helped evacuate them and saved their lives, according to the document that recommended the Florida lawmaker for a Bronze Star.

Mills was awarded the star after January 2021. Four years later, five people who served with him — including two of the men the document says Mills saved in different incidents — say they have no recollection of Mills being at the incidents listed on the form.

“He didn’t save my life,” Private First Class Joe Heit, who is cited by name on the recommendation form as one of the soldiers Mills saved, told NOTUS. “I don’t recall him being there either.”

NOTUS reviewed the Department of the Army Form 638 prepared for Mills — the document used to recommend soldiers for awards. The form lists four of Mills’ “achievements.” The document says he exhibited “exceptional bravery” during Operation Iraqi Freedom, saved the lives of Heit and Corporal Alan Babin, saved in a separate incident Sergeant First Class Joe Ferrand, who had been “grabbed by an enemy insurgent,” and was a “dedicated mentor and leader” who shared his knowledge with junior medics.

Mills “routinely exposed himself to enemy fire” and displayed “extraordinary heroism,” the form reads. The Daytona Beach News Journal previously cited this form in August 2024, which the newspaper said Mills shared with them.

In a statement to NOTUS, Mills said “No soldier writes their own DA Form 638. It is a recommendation for award and soldiers cannot recommend themselves. The form must be reviewed and signed by commanding officers.” Mills did not directly answer a question about who wrote the form.

[PatSeg]

6. They'll lie about anything and everything

[Cha]

7. TY Kick.. read when

I get home.

[rubbersole]

8. This POS is my Rep. (FL-7, Nazi)

Wants to run for Rubio's seat in the Senate. He is in the top 10 of tsf's ass hickeys. An unbelievable embarrassment to the gerrymandered district. A wife cheating/beating lying crook. Sounds republican enough for this area.

[tavernier]

9. I beg to differ. He was there.

Right next to General Trump.

[paleotn]

10. Republican equals fraud. A mental heuristic that works nearly 100% of the time.

[PurgedVoter]

11. He probably saw that Eddie Murphy's Character in "Trading Places" got away with it and became rich.

Remember that when we see something horrible that no one should profit from, they see an opportunity. Stolen valor is just one of the things an honorable person would never do that they see as an advantage. I want to have a hidden camera and let them be the banker while we play monopoly. I am pretty sure none of them will be able to resist cheating.

[Conjuay]

12. Makes me think of Frank Burns getting a 'shell fragment' in his eye on *MASH*

It turned out to be an egg shell fragment.