A naval captain turned senate candidate claims he carries the scars of being ‘blown up’ in fight – however his service report calls this into query.
Hung Cao, 52, is operating to unseat Tim Kaine, a Democrat, within the Virginia senate race after cruising to victory within the Republican major.
A lot of his marketing campaign is constructed on his standing as a conflict hero and claims he confronted a lot enemy fireplace in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia he’s disabled.
‘I am 100 per cent disabled as a result of simply from being blown up in fight many occasions and the whole lot else, you recognize, knee, shoulders,’ he mentioned on April 22, 2022, throughout a failed congressional run.
‘I’ve bought extra surgical procedures than you might probably think about.’
Hung Cao, 52, is operating to unseat Tim Kaine, a Democrat , within the Virginia senate race after cruising to victory within the Republican major
Cao is endorsed for the senate by Donald Trump and spouts a lot of the identical rhetoric as the previous president
Cao ceaselessly claimed he had horrific scars from his naval profession, as a direct results of being in fight, and that made him a greater man than profession politician Kaine.
‘Are you telling me your air-conditioned workplace the place the worst factor that may occur for you is having a paper reduce is identical as me getting, you recognize, blown up and shot at in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia?’ he instructed a podcast final week.
Nonetheless, Cao’s navy information don’t present him being awarded a Purple Coronary heart for being wounded or injured in motion, in keeping with USA As we speak.
Neither do they present a navy Fight Motion Ribbon, awarded for ‘rendering passable efficiency below enemy fireplace whereas actively taking part in floor or floor fight engagement’.
He has by no means claimed to have earned both medal.
Cao has a Bronze Star, which is awarded for heroic or meritorious motion, however the US Navy mentioned there was no quotation connected to it to clarify what he did to earn it.
Cao (pictured together with his son, who additionally joined the navy) retired on the rank of captain in 2021 after his 25-year profession
Cao ceaselessly claimed he had horrific scars from his naval profession, as a direct results of being in fight
He retired on the rank of captain in 2021 after his 25-year profession as a ‘particular operations explosive ordnance disposal/dive officer’.
4 retired US Military and Navy medical doctors reviewed Cao’s report and instructed USA As we speak for a badly wounded sailor, as Cao claimed to be, to not obtain a Purple Coronary heart or Fight Motion Ribbon.
Cao didn’t reply properly to questions on his navy report and falsely claimed ‘the left-wing media’ was in cahoots with Kaine to make him look dangerous.
‘I wish to offer you all a window into what it is like being a fight veteran who had the gall to run for public workplace in opposition to a profession politician,’ he wrote in a protracted rant on Fb.
‘Any veteran will learn this with the identical disgust. Think about being requested to offer documentation of the dates and occasions Al Qaeda shot at you.
‘Think about being requested, in the event you’re a disabled veteran, why you do not have a Purple Coronary heart?’
Cao then claimed anybody who questioned him ‘hate our navy and veterans. There is not any different rationalization for his or her conduct’.
A lot of his marketing campaign is constructed on his standing as a conflict hero and claims he confronted a lot enemy fireplace in Afghanistan , Iraq , and Somalia he’s disabled
Cao joined the Naval Academy after graduating from the Thomas Jefferson Excessive Faculty for Science and Know-how
His marketing campaign mentioned solely that Cao was a retired navy captain with 25 years of ‘honorable service to his nation’.
‘His service is a matter of public report below his DD 214, as with all retired member of our armed forces,’ it mentioned of his service report.
The US Naval Undersea Museum gave a rundown of Cao’s expertise in 2021 when he was J3X Department chief on the Pentagon, shortly earlier than his retirement.
‘Captain Cao has excelled in his Navy profession, qualifying as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer and a diving officer,’ it learn.
‘As an EOD officer, he deployed a number of occasions to Iraq to guage IEDs to advocate countermeasures.
‘From 2013 to 2016, he commanded the Naval Diving and Salvage Coaching Heart.’
The US Naval Undersea Museum gave a rundown of Cao’s expertise in 2021, utilizing this photograph, when he was J3X Department chief on the Pentagon, shortly earlier than his retirement
Cao talks up his navy background on this marketing campaign video
Cao fled Vietnam together with his household as a four-year-old 14 hours earlier than the autumn of Saigon on the finish of the conflict.
They escaped for West Africa the place they lived for seven years whereas his father labored for an American worldwide improvement company, securing their passage to the US.
Cao then joined the Naval Academy after graduating from the Thomas Jefferson Excessive Faculty for Science and Know-how.
He additionally earned a masters diploma in physics and attended fellowships on the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how and Harvard College.
He lives in Purcellville, in northern Virginia, together with his spouse, April, and their 5 kids.
Cao fled Vietnam together with his household as a four-year-old 14 hours earlier than the autumn of Saigon on the finish of the conflict
Cao is endorsed for the senate by Donald Trump and spouts a lot of the identical rhetoric as the previous president.
‘We’re dropping our nation. You already know it. However you additionally know you’ll be able to’t say it. We’re compelled to say that improper is true,’ he mentioned final July.
Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential operating mate in 2016, has been in public workplace for almost three a long time.
He served as mayor of Richmond and later because the Virginia’s lieutenant governor and governor. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and handily defeated a far-right challenger in 2018.
The Virginia senate race is one in all a handful of key contests that may determine who has a majority within the higher home for the following two years.
