Republican accused of lying about combat action that earned him the Bronze Star: ‘He didn’t save my life’

A Florida Republican is facing claims about his military service record. 

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., is a veteran of the war in Iraq and was awarded a Bronze Star in 2021 for his actions on the battlefield in 2003.

After the war, he worked as a military contractor and helped evacuate a family from Afghanistan in 2021 when the U.S. withdrew its military forces. 

The decorated veteran turned a blue seat red after winning in 2022. 

His heroics for taking ‘great risk to his own life’ whilst saving the lives of multiple men under ‘intense enemy fire,’ according to the submission document for his Bronze Star, earned him the award. 

But now, multiple men who served on the mission say they don’t remember him.

‘He didn’t save my life,’ Private First Class Joe Heit, one of the men listed on the award submission form, told NOTUS. 

‘I don’t recall him being there either,’ Heit added. 

He also claimed that contrary to what the submission form says his injuries were not life threatening.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., received a Bronze Star in 2021 for service he did in 2003. Some of those mentioned on the form submitted for his award are now saying the account does not add up 

Mills has long faced questions about his military career

The completed military award form states that Mills saved Heit and Corporal Alan Babin after he ‘applied emergency life-saving medical care to both soldiers and assisted in their evacuation back to US Forces, saving the lives of both soldiers.’

Though Babin has no recollection of the incident, the pilot who flew him off of the battlefield that day, Henry ‘Hank’ Barbe, told NOTUS he has no memory of Mills’ saving anyone that day. 

‘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 shared. ‘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.’

Sergeant First Class Chris Painter, a platoon leader for the 2003 operation told NOTUS that he also does not recall Mills’ saving anyone after Heit and Babin were injured. 

‘I can pretty much confirm 100 percent Cory Mills was not up at the bridges at the location of the everything,’ Painter told the outlet.

Another soldier who was also there but requested to stay anonymous, also told NOTUS that he did not see Mills helping downed soldiers that day. 

The man who signed off on the Bronze Star recommendation, Retired Brigadier General Arnold Gordon-Bray, told NOTUS that he didn’t ‘care about’ Mills’ achievements before approving the award.

Awards were reportedly approved en masse batches, and Gordon-Bray was not involved directly in Mills’ service. 

In a statement provided to NOTUS, Mills said the frenetic nature of the combat could be to blame for the discrepancies.

‘I was on the ground,’ he told the outlet. ‘It was a chaotic day and understandable that others may have different recollections of events.’

Mills’ office did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment. 

After his service, Mills became a military contractor overseas. In 2021, he helped evacuate a family from Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal there

Mills as a soldier in the Army

The claims are further controversy for Mills, 44. 

Other claims have circulated against Mills since he first ran for Congress, including from his political opponents and detractors online who blog about his combat record. 

According to NOTUS, a complaint regarding Mills’ service record has been sent to the Congressional Ethics Office for review. 

In March, the House Ethics Committee announced it was extending an investigation into allegations that Mills may have improperly completed financial disclosure reports and kept contracts with the federal government. 

The former U.S. Army sniper also drew headlines earlier this year for an alleged assault that took place near his D.C. residence. 

Mills denied all wrongdoing in the matter and it is still being investigated by Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. 

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