Charlie Spiering 3 Sep 2019
Mayor Pete Buttigieg does not appear to have engaged in combat during his six months deployed in Afghanistan, despite months of ignoring multiple media requests about the issue, including from Breitbart News.
The South Bend mayor spoke about his deployment during an interview with military news website Task and Purpose.
When asked if he considered himself a combat veteran, he replied, “Some say you are a combat veteran if you have a Combat Action Ribbon (I do not). Others say deploying to a combat zone makes you one. I simply consider myself a veteran, and I’ll leave it to others to decide what else to call it.â€
The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is awarded to members of the Navy or the Marine Corps who have actively participated in ground or surface combat.
Buttigieg added that his job was never intended to be a combat role, although he frequently drove or guarded military vehicles “outside the wire†of the military base.
According to his count, he traveled 119 times outside the wire.
“Fortunately, everyone in one of my vehicles made it safely to their destination, and I returned home safely as well,†he said.
Buttigieg frequently used his own service as a weapon to talk tough about President Donald Trump.
“I’m not scared of this president,†he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview in July. “I mean, this a guy who was working on season seven of Celebrity Apprentice when I was driving armored vehicles outside the wire in Afghanistan. I’m not afraid to take him on.â€
Buttigieg also criticized Trump for considering pardoning some military veterans accused of committing war crimes.
more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/03/pete-buttigieg-admits-no-combat-ribbon-from-deployment-to-afghanistan/
