Why is Ryan Zinke constantly telling us in his prime time television ads that he was awarded two bronze stars for combat? Anyone who was ever in combat knows that our military does not award Bronze Stars for combat. It awards them for valorous acts which take place during combat.

These ads are misleading at best and dishonest at worst. When a soldier is awarded a bronze star for valor, it comes with a V device and a citation specifically describing the valorous acts. If Zinke has the V device and a citation for valor, no one has claimed to have seen them. Certainly not retired Navy Capt. Larry Bailey, who was Zinke’s commanding officer in 1985 during Zinke’s SEAL training and who is a former commanding officer of the Naval Special Warfare Center, with 27 years of service.

In a recent article by James White, of NorthWest Liberty News, published in June of this year, Bailey states that, to his knowledge, Zinke has never led troops in combat and has never been awarded a medal for valor for doing so. He says Zinke’s two bronze stars were awarded for meritorious service for his support services to SEAL teams assigned to him.

Career officers routinely award each other bronze stars for meritorious service. Not so with bronze stars awarded for valor. I have one of each awarded during my 18 months in Vietnam in 1967-1968. Both were awarded while in a combat zone, but the one for meritorious service, like both of Zinke’s, does not involve actual combat.

Under pressure, Zinke did finally release one of his Bronze Star citations. The citation begins with the words “For meritorious achievement,” and nowhere does the citation describe acts of valor or even a situation involving actual combat.

In the Liberty News article, Capt. Bailey briefly discusses what he describes as Zinke’s moral failings, to include a travel scandal, that he says were the reason Zinke was separated from his SEAL unit and never considered for further promotion.

Maybe Zinke’s former commanding officer is wrong about all of this. Even so, that does not mean he would make a good U.S. Congressman. However, if he would just admit that both of his Bronze Stars were awarded for meritorious service, not for leading a SEAL team into combat, that would correct the misleading and untruthful impression conveyed by his current TV ads.

On the other hand, if he really does have a bronze star for valor, all he has to do is make his unredacted DD-214 available for public examination and he would prove us all wrong.

Regardless of party affiliation, it has become commonplace for our politicians to play fast and loose with the truth. As a nation, we desperately need find a way to once again hold them accountable for deliberate deception and outright lies.

Jim Lockwood lives in Whitefish.