A week after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore admitted that he inaccurately claimed to be the recipient of a prestigious military award years ago, veterans in the state he runs remain divided on the gravity of the situation.

For some who have served in the Armed Forces, the fact that the state’s 63rd governor incorrectly stated on an internship application 18 years ago that he was awarded a Bronze Star for his service with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division represents a nearly unpardonable breach of military ethics. Others say that while the misrepresentation was not ideal, it’s just as important to measure it against the backdrop of the charismatic politician’s otherwise exemplary service record.

Both military tradition and federal law make it clear that claiming military honors one did not earn is a serious violation of protocol. The federal Stolen Valor Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2013, even makes it a crime to do so for some military awards (though not specifically for the Bronze Star).

“Veterans generally hold a very dim view of individuals who falsely claim medals or otherwise lie about military service because they lay claim to honors that should be reserved for individuals who actually risked their lives on behalf of the country.” said Mark Moyar, a professor of military history at Hillsdale College in Michigan.

But in the view of many in Moore’s adopted home state, not all mistakes in documenting one’s military service are created equal.

“I agree that it was not appropriate for Governor Moore to claim an award that he had not received based on an indication from a superior officer that he was going to receive it,” said Frank Armiger, a military historian and the national executive director of the 29th Division Association, an advocacy group for one of Maryland’s most storied fighting forces. “From the other perspective, however, the fact that he served in the Army – that he served in an elite paratrooper unit and performed extremely well there — that’s what I look at more than this faux pas around the Bronze Star. I see all that as important context.”

Moore has long made his military service a centerpiece of his personal biography. He has described — in “The Other Wes Moore” (2010) and “The Work” (2015), both bestselling memoirs — how attending military school as a youth and experiencing life in the Army helped endow him with a sense of purpose and spawned in him the understanding of leadership that has driven him to the pinnacle of state politics.

According to his writings and various biographical sketches, he led paratroopers in special operations as a captain in the elite 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006. And Moore famously stressed his military background as a gubernatorial candidate, echoing a legendary military motto in coining his gubernatorial slogan — “Leave No One Behind.”

But questions about how Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, has represented that service have dogged him, including during his campaign for the State House. On Aug. 29, the New York Times confirmed a long-swirling rumor that he had claimed on an application for a prestigious White House internship in 2006 that he’d earned a Bronze Star — but no military record showed he’d ever received one.

The Times story also mentioned two instances in which Moore failed to correct television interviewers who mentioned the Bronze Star assertion, once in 2008 and once in 2010.

Moore has since expressed contrition, calling the misrepresentation an “honest mistake.” He is quoted recalling that a superior officer had encouraged him to make the Bronze Star claim because the officer expected Moore to receive one. Moore also apologized for failing to correct interviewers who repeated the Bronze Star claim.

He also came under fire on the campaign trail in 2022 for failing, on earlier occasions, to contradict interviewers who called him a Baltimore native and a member of the Maryland Football Hall of Fame, which doesn’t exist.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle last week expressed support for the Democratic governor, considered a rising star on the national scene. And some Marylanders who have knowledge of the military say the bureaucracy around awards can be notoriously byzantine and confusing.

“Having spent 24 years in the Army, I became well acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of the military administration and awards system, which certainly could be baffling at times,” Kurt A. Surber, a District Commander with the Veterans of Foreign Wars who is based in Anne Arundel County, said in an email to The Baltimore Sun.

“I believe that Gov. Moore did what most soldiers probably would have done in his situation: he included information in his application packet, based on the assurances of his superior officers, whom he trusted. Assurances to the contrary, in the end, it appears the award didn’t make it through the process, but that only became evident after the fact.”

Armiger, meanwhile, said he had encountered far more egregious cases of misrepresentation during his tenure with the 29th Division Association, a nonprofit with a worldwide reach. And he recounted how group officials had allowed one such man to remain after he sent them a letter of contrition.

“You could tell from the letter that it was very heartfelt,” the Towson resident said, adding that Moore acknowledged and apologized for these issues” almost as soon as the Times article came out. “I think he took the right action. That’s a refreshing thing in this day and age.”

The Maryland branch of another veterans group, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, took a similar position.

“Governor Moore’s willingness to explain the situation, taking accountability and apologizing for his mistake 18 years ago, is all we can ask for,” a spokesperson for the organization said in a statement. “The VFW Department of Maryland believes this matter should be considered closed.”

Several veterans and civilian employees of the military contacted by The Sun declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the matter given Moore’s continuing role as commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard.

Others were less reserved — and much less forgiving.

Glenn F. Williams is a retired Army major who for 18 years worked as a senior historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, which decides on the appropriate use of history and records throughout the Army. Williams said any soldier should know the basic rules for seeking and receiving military honors, and he sees no reason why a man as knowledgeable as Moore should be exempt.

“I understand he was recommended for it. But you don’t assume that you’re getting it,” Williams said. “I never got a Bronze Star, and it pisses me off that someone says he got one who didn’t. He knows the difference between being recommended and being awarded. This is not an honest mistake.”

To Williams, Moore’s admitted lapse calls into question the veracity of other elements in his resume.

“I never lied about any of the awards I got, and I can show you that I have orders on my record of service for each one I wear on my uniform,” he said.

Williams said he believes many soldiers and veterans in the state would echo his thoughts if they weren’t wary of repercussions.

Whether the uproar affects Moore politically remains to be seen. A Morning Consult poll taken in late July found him to be America’s third most popular governor, and a speech he gave at the Democratic National Convention last month enhanced his profile as a rising Democratic star.

Moyar said it might seem at first glance that the situation would damage Moore, especially among veterans. But he wonders whether American voters haven’t simply accepted that “politicians in general are known to stretch the truth.”

Armiger, too, said he believes voters might be more concerned about whether Moore aligns with them politically than how carefully he observed an element of military protocol.

“I’m being blunt here, but I believe it can depend on who you are, on your political perspective,” he said.

Though Williams sees Moore’s situation as a “clear case of stolen valor,” he, too, wonders whether it will hurt the governor’s electoral standing in a state that skews reliably to the left even as it boasts a storied military history.

“It’s Maryland,” he said.