More than a month after a news report revealed that the Combat Infantryman Badge Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, wears on his lapel was revoked since he was never eligible for the award to begin with, the congressman refuses to take the pin off.
Nehls’ stubbornness has garnered growing criticism from veterans and others in the community of stolen valor researchers, who say the issue is simple: The rules for the CIB are clear, and Nehls did not qualify.
“The veteran community is starting to get to the point now where there’s no room for forgiveness at this point because now they see, ‘Hey, this wasn’t an error. He’s doubling down now,'” said Anthony Anderson, an Army veteran who runs Guardian of Valor and was instrumental in uncovering Nehls’ revoked award. “He knows he didn’t earn this award.”
Read Next: Air Force Captain, Staff Sergeant Permanently Disabled in 2023 Search and Rescue Tactical Vehicle Rollover
CBS News and Anderson’s Guardian of Valor first revealed in May that the Army revoked Nehls’ CIB in March 2023 because at the time he was awarded it in 2008 he served as a civil affairs officer, not an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.
The Combat Infantryman Badge originated during World War II, both as a means of establishing the infantry as a prestigious role in the Army to help with recruitment and to reward soldiers who saw combat. Enlisted recipients of the badge at the time were paid $10 extra per month. The law…
