Air Force veteran and Ohio Republican House candidate J.R. Majewski frequently talked about serving in Afghanistan, but recent reporting reveals he never set foot in the country. Majewski’s false claims about wartime service are a classic case of “stolen valor.”
As a U.S. Army combat veteran, I’m livid. But as an even-tempered philosopher, I’m interested in what distinguishes stolen valor from other types of misrepresentation.
It’s easy to chalk up Majewski’s claims as disrespecting the troops, but that characterization misses a key feature of stolen valor. There is something morally distinctive about making false claims about combat service, and it’s not just about disrespecting the troops.
During his campaign, Majewski suggested at least seven times that he served in combat in Afghanistan. In August 2021, he tweeted that he would “gladly suit up and go back to Afghanistan tonight and give my best to save those Americans who were abandoned.” He told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly earlier this year that he “served over in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom.” He recently accused his opponent, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), of “running smear ads against an Afghanistan veteran.”
Despite his claims, Majewski never deployed to Afghanistan. According to records obtained by the Associated Press, he spent six months helping to load planes at an air base in Qatar. While technically located in a combat zone, the air base where Majewski served was hundreds of miles away from the fighting in...
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