Riffing on James Fulford’s post about David French, according to CNN, unknown lawyer David French, whom neocon Bill Kristol laughably thinks is a viable third-party candidate to derail The Donald, “fought in Iraq.” .Military Times misleadingly calls him an “Iraq War veteran,” and Heavy.com declared that he is “a veteran of the Iraq war, serving in the Diyala Province and eventually earning a Bronze Star.”

We all know how this sounds. Like French is some sort of war hero. But no, unless I’m reading his bio incorrectly, French didn’t “fight” in Iraq.

Further into its article, CNN details French’s service:

According to French's official record with the Department of Defense, his military career was as follows:

French joined the Army in 2006, being appointed as a 1st lieutenant into the U.S. Army Reserve. He was part of the Judge Advocate General Corps, the Army's legal branch.

As an Army reservist, French was deployed to Iraq from November 2007 to September 2008. While there he was assigned as the squadron judge advocate, legal advisor. His service in Iraq earned him the Bronze Star, among other awards.

He was promoted to the rank of major in 2013 with his reserve obligation ending in April 2014, after which he transferred to the Inactive Ready Reserve.[First he fought in Iraq, now he could battle Trump, Clinton, by Ryan Browne, CNN, June 2, 2016]

Of course, without that lengthy explanation, when people hear that French earned the Bronze Star, they will immediately conjure visions of war heroism. The Bronze Star is also given for non-combat meritorious achievement. In January, the Pentagon tightened the criteria for receiving the decoration.

Here is French’s bio at National Review:

In 2007, he deployed to Iraq, serving in Diyala Province as Squadron Judge Advocate for the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

French is an “Iraq War veteran” in the same sense that my father was a “World War II veteran.” The old man served in the military, but he never left the states. French left the states, but he never fired a shot in anger—again, unless I’m totally off base. I’m happy to be corrected.

This isn’t to denigrate French’s service. He served honorably. But he was a lawyer, not a combat soldier.

He didn’t “fight.”