The Republican primary fight to replace Rep. Johnny Garrett in Sumner County (who is running for Congress) has been shaken by major controversy involving one candidate, Brian Stewart, who has been accused of campaigning on his service in the Marine Corps despite having been demoted in rank to the lowest level and discharged under a less-than-honorable status.
Stewart’s two Republican opponents, John Gentry and Chris Hughes, served honorably in the Marines and Army, respectively. The have both publicly released their honorable discharge documentations, forms called DD214s.
Brian Stewart has failed to do so, giving credence to the charge he is guilty of “stolen valor” by embellishing his military record directly and through PACs campaigning on his behalf.
Under pressure and facing increased media scrutiny Stewart finally released a DD214 form. But this is where he dug his deceitful dishonorable hole even deeper.
The DD214 discharge document he has now released, and which he and his supporters are claiming ends the controversy over his embellished military service, is his discharge from active duty following boot camp. Upon successfully completing boot camp, newly minted Marines either continue in active duty and get their assignment or they end their active duty status and begin their Marine Reserve obligation, which is obviously not considered active duty. Stewart left active duty, as the DD214 he suddenly released points out, and began his six year contract as a Marine reservist, which is referenced in the DD214 form he has now released. He was assigned to serve that Reserve obligation in a Smyrna, Tennessee detachment.
Ultimately, Stewart failed to show up to meet his obligations in the Reserves, was demoted in rank back to Private, lost benefits of service, and was discharged from the Marines with an “other than honorable” designation. He is refusing to release the paperwork documenting that separation from the Reserve unit, and instead is relying upon his discharge from active duty prior to him commencing his Marine Reserve commitment to make it wrongly make it appear he was removed honorably upon his FINAL separation from Marine service; which is untrue.
This is very slick slight of hand. Many of his supporters who are pointing to his discharge following boot camp as evidence that he has not done anything wrong. They may not understand the distinction, or they do and they are involved in his conspiracy to deceive voters with his false claims of honorable Marine service constituting what does appear to be “stolen valor”. But Stewart definitely knows the difference!
What Stewart is doing as essentially the same as someone fraudulently claiming that they have a PhD in astrophysics from MIT, and then showing a diploma from a local community college as evidence of that claim. Those who have served honorably in the military, including the Marine Corps know exactly what Stewart and his supporters are doing to deceive a less knowledgeable voter base. It is why the Marine Corps has issued a statement to the Washington Examiner standing by their assessment of Stewart’s “service” and dismissal from the Corps less than a third of the way through his enlistment commitment!
“Stewart’s premature discharge and rank at separation indicate that the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps standards. Due to privacy and administrative regulations, further details are not releasable.”
Stewart never deployed and thus never “fought for his country” as some campaign materials claim. His reserve assignment was in Smyrna, Tennessee. So when campaign materials refer to him “returning home“, falsely implying that he served overseas (which he did not), it must actually refer to returning to Hendersonville from Smyrna. After what, the great battle of Smyrna?
Why is Stewart refusing to document his “service” as his opponents have done? During the months that he failed to show up for his reserve service with his unit, did he collect his paycheck or other military benefit benefits? Why are the individuals and groups that have endorsed him so silent in the wake of these documented revelations about his so-called Marine service.
One of Stewart’s constituents, if he is successful in his campaign, is Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Shouldn’t he weigh in on this controversy, along with military veterans in Sumner County who should fully understand what Stewart has done?
Steve Gill is editor and Publisher of TriStar Daily. His father was a career Air Force fighter pilot who served over two decades, including a year flying over 120 combat missions in Vietnam.
Gill, has worked at home and abroad with military personnel for the past four decades, including covering US forces in Iraq as a journalist and spending several days at Parris Island observing the process of Marine Corps boot camp firsthand.
