An Iraq War veteran gave Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a Purple Heart medal before his rally in Ashburn, Virginia Tuesday morning.
"I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier, but I tell you it was such an honor," Trump said, according to McClatchyDC.
He told the audience during his rally, "Something very nice just happened to me. A man came up to me and he handed me his Purple Heart."
Trump identified the man as retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman. He brought him onstage, shook his hand and held up the award for the crowd to see. He then asked if the medal was a copy, to which Dorfman responded, "That's my real Purple Heart. I have such confidence in you."
However, NBC reporter Katy Tur tweeted that the Purple Heart given to Trump was a copy:
Dorfman fought in Operation Iraq Freedom from 2003 to 2010, and was wounded in action on Nov. 22, 2007, according to the Purple Heart Hall of Honor.
Purple Hearts are awarded to U.S. armed forces members who have been wounded or killed in war.
Trump has never served in the military. According to The New York Times, the real estate mogul, who graduated college in 1968, received four draft deferments for college, and one for bone spurs in his heels.
Trump accepting the Purple Heart comes just days after the real estate mogul sparred with a Gold Star Muslim family.
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