Last week, The Washington Post 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.
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Republican → report → 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.
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he → blame → Iraq
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.
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he → be → valor
Specifically, as first reported by the conservative outlet Nevada News & Views, Flippo frequently wore a hat that included a Bronze Star with two V-shaped emblems next to it.
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that → report → it
Pictures of him wearing the hat were included on his campaign website and in posts on its social media feeds.
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Pictures → wear → 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.
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awards → accord → valor
Lately, he appears to have stopped wearing that version of the cap.
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he → appear → cap
The Bronze Star hangs below a red and blue ribbon.
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Star → hang → ribbon
For those who received the award with valor, a small V is normally attached to the ribbon.
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V → receive → ribbon
In Flippo’s case, his hat featured two Vs next to his Bronze Star.
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hat → feature → 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.
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campaign → relate → comment
Text messages sent to two numbers listed for Flippo in public records went unanswered.
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messages → send → records
Flippo’s campaign answered some questions from the Nevada Independent 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.
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he → answer → symbols
Daniel Casentini, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant who was interviewed by Nevada News & Views, told me via email that photos he has reviewed appear to show V devices next to Flippo’s Bronze Star.
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he → retire → Star
“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.
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he → conceive → device
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.
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he → review → valor
“He was publicly knowingly misrepresenting the award he received,” he added in a text message.
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he → misrepresent → message
“He lied.”
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He → lie → ?
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?”
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that → live → place
He also wanted to know why Flippo no longer appears to be wearing them.
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Flippo → want → them
“He could say, ‘I made a mistake putting them on my hat,'” Maryott said.
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Maryott → say → hat
“That’s okay.
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That → ’ → ?
The news about Flippo’s Bronze Star comes in the final weeks of a competitive House race in his Reno-based district.
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news → come → district
In 2024, Trump won the district by 14 points.
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Trump → win → 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.
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he → include → opponent
On Wednesday, veterans in Nevada filmed a forthcoming ad AFL-CIO-funded ad criticizing Flippo.
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veterans → film → Flippo
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.
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he → report → campaigns
Flippo told the Post that he received a standard Bronze Star, as well as the Outstanding Unit Award with valor.
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he → tell → valor
Flippo said that his campaign team mistakenly conflated the two awards when it claimed he had a Bronze Star with valor.
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he → say → valor
Rory McShane, the founder of the political consulting firm through which Flippo has routed most of his campaign spending, accused the Post of “trying to fabricate a scandal” based on “an honest mistake that has been apologized for.”
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that → rout → mistake
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.
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he → receive → distinction
“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.
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Casentini → indicate → actions
Maryott shared a similar perspective.
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Maryott → share → perspective
A standard Bronze Star is “for showing up” and “performing successfully in a combat zone,” he said.
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he → show → zone
“With valor, it’s a far different level.
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it → ’ → valor
During the Iraq war, about 100,000 Bronze Stars were awarded.
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Stars → award → war
Only about 1 in 40 came with the additional valor distinction.
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40 → come → 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.
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it → explain → version
On Friday, the Nevada Independent published the citation for Flippo’s Bronze Star, which was shared with the outlet by a campaign spokesperson.
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which → publish → 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.
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Flippo → state → body
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
