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

[Nevilledog]

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

No paywall link
https://archive.li/wfF3G

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.

*snip*

[Klarkashton]

1. Another psycho republican ex military.

[UTUSN]

2. Condensed version: Republican, Florida.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

3. Oh wow!!!

A repuke politician lying about his service?
Sounds like stolen valor to me.
Say it ain't so, as we all know, no repuke would lie about his service and the medals supposedly "earned".

Nothing pisses me off more than stolen valor and I've called out more than a few posers.

[mopinko]

5. i think stolen valor is the only kind they have.

otherwise, they wouldnt b r’s.

[Prairie Gates]

4. Damn, who wrote those recommendations

They had the Brig General batch stamping these recs for Bronze Stars with Combat V? What? Do your fucking job, buddy.

I think this story is going to end up being even sicker. Why would a Lieutenant or Captain write this guy a 638 for events that never took place, and I think from the record of the other people mentioned in the form, they never, in fact, took place. Why would his unit level officers write that form? Either he lied to them, in which case they are completely derelict in accepting his word for such a prestigious and solemn award, or he was giving them something. Or, he knew the Old Man was batch signing recs with no scrutiny and he forged it. Laziness, bribe (of various kinds - ahem...), or forgery are really the options here.

And he's parlayed it to a seat in the House, and maybe now a Senate run? Jesus and Mary save us.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. 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.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Something else I've noticed in Florida.

Last edited Mon May 5, 2025, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

People make huge claims concerning how they stepped into your lives to make a difference, and you don't even remember them.

Twenty years after we graduated, we had someone come into our lives insisting they were directly responsible for selecting my hubby for a sport's scholarship that helped him pay for tuition. He even went so far as to insist that he gave my husband a tour of the campus. My hubby, who has a sharp memory said he didn't even remember meeting him. He decided the guy had confused him with someone else who started that same year and assumed he got him mixed up.

But the point I want to make is how easily people try to wheedle their way into your lives, making you feel like you're beholden to them for something that happened decades before.

Makes me think that social anxiety has deep and real roots.

[Demovictory9]

8. Kick

[maxsolomon]

9. 18 years later?

Sounds like there was resume padding under the 1st MFer Admin...

But, IOKIYAR, so...

[haele]

10. I've heard of this happening, especially with an REMF's "pet"..

On his few sane days, my uncle would rage against a few Seoul based Army ambulance crews that had someone at HQ re-write some other unit's incountry post reps so it looked like their crew risked life and limb to cross the river and make a MASH run.
His Marine ambulance crew never received a star for a particular incident they participated in (three wounded in the run, he ended up being the only survivor at the end) that ended up going to an Army ambulance crew that was at the safe transfer point.
It all depends who writes the final incident or action report.

[mahina]

11. 54321 till he quits to spend more time with his lawyers