Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao boasted about being ‘blown up’ and ‘shot at’ while in the navy – but his service record doesn’t include a Purple Heart
A Navy captain turned Senate candidate claims he carries the scars of being “blown up” in combat, but his record calls that into question.
Hung Cao, 52, is looking to dethrone Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in Virginia’s Senate race after cruising to victory in the Republican primary.
Much of his campaign is based on his status as a war hero. He claims he faced so much enemy fire in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia that he is disabled.
“I’m 100 percent disabled because I just got blown up in fights and everything else, you know, knee and shoulders,” he said on April 22, 2022 during a failed congressional run.
“I’ve had more surgeries than you could ever imagine.”
Hung Cao, 52, wants to dethrone Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in Virginia’s Senate race after coasting to victory in the Republican primary
Cao is supported by Donald Trump for the Senate and spews much of the same rhetoric as the former president
Cao often claimed that he had horrific scars from his naval career, as a direct result of his fighting, and that this made him a better man than career politician Kaine.
“You want to tell me in your air-conditioned office where the worst that can happen for you is a paper cut is like me, you know, getting blown up and shot in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia?” he said in a podcast last week.
However, Cao’s military records do not indicate that he was awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded or wounded in action. US Today.
Nor do they display a Navy Combat Action Ribbon, awarded for “delivering satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in ground or surface combat.”
He never claimed to have earned either medal.
Cao has a Bronze Star, awarded for heroic or meritorious action, but the U.S. Navy said it did not come with a citation to explain what he did to earn it.
Cao (pictured with his son, who also joined the military) retired as a captain in 2021 after his 25-year career
Cao often claimed that he had horrific scars from his naval career, as a direct result of his fighting
He retired in 2021 at the rank of captain after his 25-year career as a special operations explosive ordnance disposal officer/dive officer.
Four retired U.S. Army and Navy physicians reviewed Cao’s file and told USA Today that a seriously injured sailor, as Cao claimed to be, should not receive a Purple Heart or Combat Action Ribbon.
Cao did not respond well to questions about his military record, falsely claiming that “the left-wing media” was in cahoots with Kaine to make him look bad.
“I want to give you all a glimpse into what it’s like to be a combat veteran who had the audacity to run for public office against a career politician,” he wrote in a lengthy rant on Facebook.
“Every veteran will read this with the same disgust. Imagine being asked to provide documentation of the dates and times Al Qaeda shot at you.
“Imagine being asked: If you’re a disabled veteran, why don’t you have a Purple Heart?”
Cao then claimed that everyone who questioned him “hates our military and our veterans.” There is no other explanation for their behavior’.
Much of his campaign has been based on his status as a war hero, and he claims he has taken so much enemy fire in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia that he is disabled.
Cao joined the Naval Academy after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
His campaign said only that Cao was a retired Navy captain with 25 years of “honorable service to his country.”
“His service is a matter of public record under his DD 214, as is the case with every retired member of our armed forces,” it said of his service record.
The US Naval Undersea Museum provided an overview of Cao’s experiences in 2021, when he was J3X Branch chief at the Pentagon, shortly before his retirement.
“Captain Cao has excelled in his career in the Navy and is qualified as an explosive ordnance disposal officer and diving officer,” it said.
“As an EOD officer, he has deployed to Iraq several times to evaluate IEDs and recommend countermeasures.
“From 2013 to 2016, he headed the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center.”
The US Naval Undersea Museum provided an overview of Cao’s experiences in 2021, using this photo, when he was J3X Branch Chief at the Pentagon shortly before his retirement
Cao talks about his military background in this campaign video
Cao fled Vietnam with his family as a four-year-old, fourteen hours before the fall of Saigon at the end of the war.
They fled to West Africa, where they lived for seven years while their father worked for an American international development organization and arranged their passage to the US.
Cao then joined the Naval Academy after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
He also earned a master’s degree in physics and held fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
He lives in Purcellville, northern Virginia, with his wife April and their five children.
Cao fled Vietnam with his family as a four-year-old, 14 hours before the fall of Saigon at the end of the war
Cao is being endorsed by Donald Trump for the Senate and is spouting much of the same rhetoric as the former president.
‘We are losing our country. You know that. But you also know you can’t say that. We are being forced to say that wrong is right,” he said last July.
Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in 2016, has held public office for nearly three decades.
He was mayor of Richmond and later lieutenant governor and governor of Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and easily defeated a far-right challenger in 2018.
The Senate race in Virginia is one of a few key contests that will decide who will have the majority in the House of Representatives for the next two years.