The year is 2003, and Cory Mills, now a Republican Representative in the House representing Florida’s 7th congressional district, is serving as a medic in the U.S. Army. Mills is deployed to Iraq.
During his time in Iraq, nothing spectacular happens. None of the members of the armed forces who served with Mills report any incidence of Mills achieving or doing anything extraordinary.
Mills had enlisted in 1999, and was honorably discharged from service in August of 2003.
Then suddenly in 2021, Mills is retroactively granted a Bronze Star, an award reserved for those who show remarkable bravery in battle. For many of those who fought in front of Cory Mills in Iraq, the prospect of a medic who achieved very little in Iraq receiving an award of such magnitude raised questions.
How could somebody like Mills retroactively receive an award of such prowess? Upon review there are many legitimate questions being raised about the way in which Cory Mills obtained his Bronze Star, including the fact that the individual who signed off on his award, Retired Brigadier General Arnold N. Gordon-Bray, says he never actually signed the order to hand the award to Mills.
Bray told the Daytona New Journal that he “did not sign a Bronze Star recommendation for Representative Cory Mills.”
Bray, who was responsible for recommending Mills for the award, says flat-out that he never signed any paper pushing Mills for the Bronze Star… so how did it happen? We don’t really know.
Some, including House Representative Nancy Mace, claim that the signature on Mills’ recommendation form looks “forged,” and could have been filled out by Mills himself. Considering his long history of fabricating events, particularly during his time in the Middle East, it wouldn’t appear that Mills forging a signature for a military accolade would be out-of-character.
What we do know the supposed reason, and what those involved have said about the incident that led to Mills receiving this award.
Mills Fakes A Medic Rescue, And Maybe Forges A Signature, To Steal A Bronze Star
While serving in Iraq in 2003, Republican Representative Cory Mills claimed that he saved three individuals from a bombing. This is the incident that was the supposed justification for him receiving a Bronze star. The names of the individuals Mills claims to have saved are Alan Babin, Joe Heit and Joseph Ferrand.
Joe Heit has outright claimed that he never even saw Cory Mills while serving in Iraq. Heit said about Mills, “He didn’t save my life. I don’t recall him being there either.”
How could somebody that Mills claims to have ‘saved’ from death not even remember him being in the country he was fighting in?
Unfortunately, Mills’ stolen valor goes even further. Alan Babin, who was also a medic, was seriously injured while tending to Joe Heit after he was also wounded by a gunshot. He earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device for valor.
Babin has stated he has no recollection of Mills being involved in the incident or providing aid. He does not recall Mills being there at the scene where he was wounded. His account of Mills being essentially non-existent in Iraq align with Heit’s exactly.
Mills’ official form for the Bronze star states that he “threw himself at the enemy insurgent and subdued him, saving the life of SFC Ferrand.”
Jospeh Ferrand has vehemently denied this lie, saying to the Washington Babylon, “The act never took place. The event never happened.”
Ferrand denies, along with Joe Heit and Alan Babin, that Cory Mills performed a single heroic action while serving in Iraq. A deep dive into Mills’ history reveals that this was not the last time that he would distort events that took place in the Middle East for political gain, even fabricating events from front to back.
Mills Fakes Roadside Bombing Injuries During Dyncorp Stint In 2006
Following his stint in the military, Mills moved onto private defense contracting as many former service men do. In 2005 Mills signed on to work for DynCorp as a security specialist, where he would be employed until 2009. While working for Dyncorp, Mills ran into the same problem as during his deployment in Afghanistan.
Mills has claimed publicly that he was blown up by ‘several roadside bombs’ during a private gig in Iraq in 2006. You can see a video of the Florida Congressman recounting the claims during a C-SPAN interview in 2023 here.
There’s just one problem. Contractors who worked alongside Mills have disputed the accuracy of his claims, a recurring theme throughout Mills’ military career.
Scott Kempkens, who worked for Dyncorp in Iraq with Mills in 2006, told the Daytona Beach News Journal that Mills was not in the car that exploded due to a roadside bomb during the attack Mills has recounted publicly. Kempkens knows because he himself was actually injured in the bombing.
Kempkens recalled the bombing in 2025, saying to the Washington Babylon:
“The injured sergeant was with a reserve unit from Kansas that was stationed near the embassy and was working with the contractors to protect diplomats. He was pissed because it was the second time he’d taken shrapnel in the ass. There were two motorcades, three vehicles in each, I was in a military vehicle, a Hummer, it was the only vehicle that was hit. Cory was assigned as a team medic and was in a Suburban that was already around the corner when our vehicle was hit.
A big chunk of my shoulder was taken off, I had burns on my neck and shrapnel in my left leg. Me and the sergeant hopped into Corey‘s vehicle after our vehicle got around the corner. We were treated at an aid station near the Interior Ministry; the sergeant’s blood got on Cory’s leg there or on the way there after we got into the Suburban.”
Kempkens continued:
“If Mills had nearly died in the attack, he would have been awarded a Purple Heart if he’d still been in the Army, but since he wasn’t he could have won a Defense of Freedom Medal as a civilian working for a contractor. I have a certificate that shows I won the Defense of Freedom Medal; Cory doesn’t because he wasn’t wounded that day or any time during his time in Iraq with DynCorp.
I know that because I was in Baghdad when he arrived there in 2006 and I was working for the company in northern Iraq when he left in 2009. Cory’s a lying sack of shit…If he was wounded at any time when he was in Iraq, it happened when he cut himself shaving.”
Despite clearly lying about being bombed in Iraq in 2006, Mills has used this incident to promote himself and his campaigns throughout his political career. Observe a tweet of him bragging about his fake experience below, and remember the words of Scott Kempkens while you read it.
Chase Nash, who was also present on the day of the bombing Mills falsely claimed victimhood for, corroborated that Mills was never injured in the roadside bombing.
An examination of Cory Mills’ military record leaves you wondering what actually happened, considering that not a single story he tells about his time in the Middle East is corroborated by any person he served with.
Mills’ military record is a long list of exaggerations and lies designed to inflate his own ego, and to promote himself as a ‘military man’ in Washington D.C.
The sad reality is, that with a history of sexual misconduct and even allegations of assaulting women, that Mills has never served his country. Only himself.
