上周，有报道称，大卫·弗利波的国会竞选团队多次错误地声称，这位内华达州共和党人作为一名空军军官凭借英勇的表现获得了一枚铜星勋章。Flippo的回应是指责匿名工作人员，他声称他们意外地将他在伊拉克服役时获得的两个不同奖项混为一谈。
Last week, reported that David Flippo’s congressional campaign falsely claimed on multiple occasions that the Nevada Republican earned a Bronze Star with valor as an Air Force officer. Flippo’s response was to blame anonymous staffers who he claimed had accidentally conflated two different awards he received for his service in Iraq.
但这种解释有一个主要问题：多年来，Flippo戴着一顶帽子，这表明他凭借勇气赢得了铜星勋章，这是他承认自己没有的罕见奖项。
But there is a major problem with that explanation: For years, Flippo wore a hat that suggested he earned the Bronze Star with valor—the rare award he admits he does not have.
具体来说，正如保守派媒体首次报道的那样，Flippo经常戴着一顶帽子，上面有一个青铜星，旁边有两个V形徽章。他戴帽子的照片被贴在他的竞选网站上，并在其社交媒体上发布。据退伍军人称，帽子上的标志与美国军方用来显示何时因英勇而获奖的英勇装置（或军事界称为V装置）惊人地相似。最近，他似乎不再戴那个版本的帽子了。
Specifically, as first reported by the conservative outlet , Flippo frequently wore a hat that included a Bronze Star with two V-shaped emblems next to it. Pictures of him wearing the hat were included on his campaign website and in posts on its social media feeds. According to veterans, the emblems on the cap bear a striking resemblance to the valor devices—or V devices, as they are known in military circles—used by the US military to show when awards are earned for valor. Lately, he appears to have stopped wearing that version of the cap.
铜星悬挂在红色和蓝色丝带下方。对于那些勇敢获奖的人来说，丝带上通常会贴上一个小V。就弗利波而言，他的帽子在铜星勋章旁边有两个V。(The其他V可能与他获得的英勇有关;该奖项是授予他的整个部队，而不是授予个人英雄主义行为。）弗利波的竞选团队没有回应多次置评请求。发送到公共记录中列出的Flippo的两个号码的短信无人接听。Flippo的竞选团队回答了上周五发表的一篇报道他服兵役的文章中的一些问题，但没有回答那些关于他佩戴的V形符号的问题。
The Bronze Star hangs below a red and blue ribbon. For those who received the award with valor, a small V is normally attached to the ribbon. In Flippo’s case, his hat featured two Vs next to his Bronze Star. (The other V could have been related to the Outstanding Unit Award with valor he received; that award was given to his unit as a whole rather than for individual acts of heroism.) Flippo’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Text messages sent to two numbers listed for Flippo in public records went unanswered. Flippo’s campaign answered some questions from the for an article published on Friday that covered his military service, but it did not respond to those about the V-shaped symbols he has worn. Daniel Casentini, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant who was interviewed by , told me via email that photos he has reviewed appear to show V devices next to Flippo’s Bronze Star.
退役空军军士长丹尼尔·卡森蒂尼接受了 的采访，他通过电子邮件告诉我，他查看的照片似乎显示弗利波的铜星勋章旁边有“V”字装置。“除非他是在暗示他获得了带‘V’字装置的铜星勋章，否则我无法想象弗利波展示两个‘V’字装置的任何理由，”他说。
“I cannot conceive of any explanation for why Flippo would display two V devices unless he was implying he earned a Bronze Star with a V device,” he said. After reviewing photos of Flippo wearing the hat, a former Army Ranger told me Flippo was “clearly representing” that he was awarded a Bronze Star with valor.
一名前陆军游骑兵在查看了弗利波戴帽子的照片后告诉我，弗利波“明确表示”他获得了带英勇装置的铜星勋章。“他在公开场合故意虚假陈述他获得的勋章，”他在短信中补充道。“他在撒谎。”
“He was publicly knowingly misrepresenting the award he received,” he added in a text message. “He lied.”Scott Maryott, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who lives in northern Nevada, where he volunteers at the VA and teaches a university course on military history, asked, “Why would you put those Vs that represent valor on your hat in the first place?”
住在内华达州北部的退役陆军中校斯科特·马里奥特在退伍军人事务部做志愿者，并在大学教授军事史课程，他问道：“你最初为什么要把那些代表英勇的‘V’字装置戴在帽子上？”他还想知道为什么弗利波似乎不再佩戴它们了。“他可以说，‘我在帽子上戴它们是个错误，’”马里奥特说。“这没关系。诚实就好。”
He also wanted to know why Flippo no longer appears to be wearing them. “He could say, ‘I made a mistake putting them on my hat,'” Maryott said. “That’s okay. Be honest.”The news about Flippo’s Bronze Star comes in the final weeks of a competitive House race in his Reno-based district.
关于弗利波铜星勋章的消息正值他在雷诺为基地的选区进行的激烈众议院竞选的最后几周。2024年，特朗普在该选区以14个百分点的优势获胜。但弗利波作为候选人的诸多弱点——包括他只是今年才搬到雷诺这一事实——帮助他的民主党对手、前州众议院多数党领袖特雷莎·贝尼特斯-汤普森使该席位具有了竞争力。
In 2024, Trump won the district by 14 points. But Flippo’s many weaknesses as a candidate—including the fact that he moved to Reno only this year—have helped put the seat in play for his Democratic opponent, Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former state Assembly majority leader. On Wednesday, veterans in Nevada filmed a forthcoming ad AFL-CIO-funded ad criticizing Flippo.
周三，内华达州的退伍军人拍摄了一则即将播出的、由美国劳联-产联资助的批评弗利波的广告。正如我本周早些时候报道的那样，弗利波还面临关于他据报投入2024年和2026年国会竞选的近250万美元资金来源的质疑。
As I reported earlier this week, Flippo is also facing questions about the source of the nearly $2.5 million he has reported putting into his 2024 and 2026 congressional campaigns. Flippo told the that he received a standard Bronze Star, as well as the Outstanding Unit Award with valor.
弗利波告诉该媒体，他获得的是标准铜星勋章，以及带有“V”标识的优秀单位奖。弗利波表示，他的竞选团队在声称他获得“带英勇标识的铜星勋章”时，错误地将这两个奖项混为一谈。罗里·麦克谢恩是弗利波大部分竞选开支所通过的政治咨询公司的创始人，他指责该媒体“试图制造丑闻”，其依据是“一个已经道歉的诚实错误”。
Flippo said that his campaign team mistakenly conflated the two awards when it claimed he had a Bronze Star with valor. Rory McShane, the founder of the political consulting firm through which Flippo has routed most of his campaign spending, accused the of “trying to fabricate a scandal” based on “an honest mistake that has been apologized for.”The false claim that Flippo received a Bronze Star with valor, when he actually received a standard Bronze Star, may sound like a minor distinction.
弗利波获得的是标准铜星勋章，却被声称为“带英勇标识的铜星勋章”，这种虚假宣称听起来可能只是细微差别。但在军人群体中，这绝非小事。“带有‘V’标识的铜星勋章意味着你直接参与了战斗，在敌方火力下，因铜星勋章所表彰的行动而获奖，”卡森蒂尼解释道。马里奥特持有相似观点。他说，标准铜星勋章是“因到场服役”以及“在战区成功履职”而授予。
In the military community, it is not. “A Bronze Star with a V device indicates you were directly involved in combat, under hostile fire, for the actions the Bronze Star is being awarded for,” Casentini explained. Maryott shared a similar perspective. A standard Bronze Star is “for showing up” and “performing successfully in a combat zone,” he said. “With valor, it’s a far different level.”
“带英勇标识则是完全不同的层级。”伊拉克战争期间，约有10万枚铜星勋章被授予，只有约1/40附带英勇标识。这位前游骑兵解释说，带英勇标识的铜星勋章与普通版本差异巨大，简直可以视为另一个奖项。
During the Iraq war, about 100,000 Bronze Stars were awarded. Only about 1 in 40 came with the additional valor distinction. The former Ranger explained that a Bronze Star with valor is so different from the regular version that it might as well be a different award.
周五，该媒体公布了弗利波的铜星勋章授奖词，该文件由竞选发言人提供。授奖词除列举其他功绩外，还指出，在伊拉克期间，弗利波“第一时间迅速响应”，扑灭火焰，并为一名全身严重烧伤的士兵提供“救命医疗护理”。马里奥特表示，授奖词所述行为显然配得上一枚铜星勋章，但不足以授予英勇标识。
On Friday, the published the citation for Flippo’s Bronze Star, which was shared with the outlet by a campaign spokesperson. Among other achievements, the citation states that, while in Iraq, Flippo “was the first to promptly respond” to extinguish flames and provide “life saving medical care” to a soldier with severe burns on his body. Maryott said that Flippo clearly deserved a Bronze Star for the conduct described in the citation but not a valor device.
Flippo早在2023年8月就被拍到戴着这顶帽子，当时他首次竞选国会议员。他一直戴着带有明显“V”标志的帽子，至少持续到2026年6月。最近，Flippo多次被拍到戴着一顶类似的帽子，上面既没有铜星勋章，也没有明显的“V”标志。
Flippo was photographed wearing the hat as early as August 2023, when he was running for Congress for the first time. He continued to wear the hat with the apparent V devices until at least June 2026. Recently, Flippo has been photographed multiple times wearing a similar hat that has neither a Bronze Star nor the apparent V devices.
Maryott表示，军官特意炫耀一枚普通的铜星勋章很奇怪。“如果你是军官，在这次行动中曾在海外服役，你大概率会获得一枚铜星勋章，”拥有自己铜星勋章的Maryott说。“我绝不会拿这个当招牌。”
Maryott said that it is strange for an officer to go out of their way to tout a standard Bronze Star. “If you’re an officer and you served overseas during this operation you probably got a Bronze Star,” said Maryott, who has a Bronze Star of his own. “I would never lead with that.”