Did Kari Lake campaign with a pretend combat veteran, hoping to beat a real one?

Kari Lake had a “meet and greet” on Friday with Steve Slaton at his Trumped Store in Show Low during a campaign swing through northeastern Arizona.

It was, she said, a “magical day,” and I suppose it was.

It’s rare, after all, to see a candidate for the U.S. Senate campaign with a guy who appears to be a pretend combat veteran.

Especially while running against an actual combat veteran.

Slaton campaigns as a combat pilot

Yet there was Lake on Friday, standing arm in arm with Slaton, a Republican legislative candidate who claims he co-piloted an attack helicopter during the Vietnam War.

According to official military records, however, Slaton was a helicopter repairman and crew chief stationed in Korea in 1974. He didn’t even join the Army until June 29, 1973 — fully three months after the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam.

Slaton, one of six Republicans running for two spots in the House in the heavily Republican northeastern Arizona district, insists he saw combat in Vietnam.

“The U.S. did not fully pull out until 1975,” he told me via text. “The Paris peace talks were supposed to bring peace and they didn’t. So they knee-jerk reacted and pulled me and 20-30 other Cobra helicopter crews from Korea to Vietnam to provide support for our allies during the fighting.”

Slaton’s combat claim came into question in late March when Todd Andersen, a freelance investigative reporter, posted a copy of his official discharge papers on social media.

Nowhere do they mention combat or Vietnam or even piloting helicopters.

Military records don't match his claims

Slaton’s response was to produce his own version of his DD-214 discharge document for a Payson radio station, insisting that he had, indeed, seen combat.

“I was a combat veteran in Vietnam for four months in support of the missions of the South Vietnamese and patrolled along the DMZ,” he said during an April 5 interview on KMOG.

The Mountain Daily Star’s Molly K. Ottman followed up on April 11, comparing Slaton’s actual military records — obtained through the Guardians of the Green Beret and the National Archives and Records Administration — with the version he’s been waving around on the campaign trail.

Those official military records show Slaton was stationed in Korea during 1974, serving mostly as a helicopter mechanic, though he also briefly served a crew chief with the 128th Aviation Company.

Here's our best chance: To make Legislature kook-free

Yet you wouldn't know it from the DD-214 Slaton was flashing around town, which the reporter said included honors curiously missing from his official military records.

According to Slaton’s version of his DD-214, he received:

• The Vietnam Service Medal, which was discontinued three months before he even enlisted.

• The Army Commendation Medal, awarded for heroism, outstanding achievement or meritorious service.

• The Army Good Conduct Medal, awarded for exemplary conduct.

None of this seems to bother Lake or Rogers

All that, in addition to his glorious service flying an AH-1 Cobra gunship in a war that had already ended for U.S. troops.

Or, as it turns out, maybe not.

Meanwhile, there was Lake on Friday, all smiles as she campaigned with Slaton.

And there was Sen. Wendy Rogers, gushing on social media about the event and noting that “veterans love” Lake and Slaton.

Here in the real world, Lake’s Democratic opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego was a Marine who deployed to Iraq in 2005, serving with a company that lost 22 Marines and a Navy Corpsman during eight months of combat.

Which makes him, well, he’s no Steve Slaton. That’s for sure.

“It’s time to save this great Republic,” Lake wrote of her campaign swing through Slaton’s store. “I’m honored to be in this fight with all of these amazing patriots.”

The pretend warriors, she means. Not the real thing.

Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Did Kari Lake really campaign with a pretend combat pilot?