A U.S. representative’s military history has come under question after soldiers he reportedly saved disputed his account of events.
Florida Republican Cory Mills was awarded a Bronze Star after January 2021 for heroic actions under “intense enemy fire” in Iraq in 2003.
He was recommended for the award after saving the lives of two soldiers, whom he helped evacuate after they were struck, at “great risk to his own life.”
Highlights
- Florida Republican Cory Mills, awarded a Bronze Star for heroic actions in Iraq in 2003, is now accused of lying about these events.
- Five soldiers, including two he reportedly saved, say they do not remember Mills being present at the incidents.
- Mills said award forms require command approval and that chaotic events may cause different memories.
Mills is facing questions over his Bronze Star award
Image credits: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
But now, years later, those he reportedly saved say they have no recollection of him being there, NOTUS reports.
Five soldiers, including the two he claimed to have saved, say they do not remember Mills being at the incident.
On the recommendation form for Mills’ Bronze Star, Private First Class Joe Heit and Corporal Alan Babin were mentioned by name as being the soldiers Mills saved.
Speaking to NOTUS, Private Heit said: “He didn’t save my life.
“I don’t recall him being there either.”
Heit said that while he was shot, he did not suffer life-threatening injuries like it is claimed in the recommendation, but had shattered glass in his eye.
Image credits: Cory Mills/X
The DA Form 638 stated that Mills “applied emergency life-saving medical care to both soldiers and assisted in their evacuation back to U.S. Forces,” which saved their lives, according to NOTUS.
Platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class Chris Painter, agreed with Heit’s version of events.
“I can pretty much confirm 100% Cory Mills was not up at the bridges at the location of everything,” Painter said.
“Now, if he came to the company position to assist in escorting Babin to the BN aid station, I don’t know, but he wasn’t at the bridge [where] it all happened, I do know that.”
Henry “Hank” Barbe helped to evacuate Babin, who was badly wounded, after flying in on a helicopter.
“From what I understand about Mills is he might have been in the unit. I don’t remember him being involved in the medevac,” Barbe told NOTUS.
“To be fair, I was worried about the patients. I don’t remember him, and from what I understand, other people don’t remember him.”
Image credits: Tom Williams/ Getty Images
The document also said Mills, a staunch Donald Trump supporter, saved Sergeant First Class Joe Ferrand, who was “grabbed by an enemy insurgent” in a separate incident.
But Ferrand reportedly submitted a statement to government officials claiming Mills’ involvement that day was a “fabrication.”
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.”
When asked where he was when Heit and Babin were injured, Mills said: “I was on the ground.
“It was a chaotic day and understandable that others may have different recollections of events.”
The congressman confirmed that Heit did not have life-threatening injuries.
Regarding the statement made by Ferrand, Mills said: “Again, I was on the ground, but I’m not in position to dispute different recollections during chaotic wartime events.
“The DA Form 638 was reviewed and signed by commanding officers.”
It is understood that a complaint regarding Mills’ Bronze Star has been submitted to the Office of Congressional Ethics, and relayed to the Department of Justice, a U.S. attorney’s office in Florida and the FBI.
Mills has come under scrutiny in the past and has previously faced accusations of misrepresenting his four-year military career, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.
Last year, Republican challenger Michael Johnson handed out flyers to voters that stated: "Why does Mills lie about his military service? ... He is committing Stolen Valor."
Mills was also in the headlines earlier this year after his partner, Sarah Raviani, filed a police report claiming he had assaulted her.
Mills, who is currently serving his first term in Congress, vehemently denied the accusation.