In addition to his own website, where Pat Robertson claimed to have won battle stars for "action against the enemy," he wrote about his time in Korea — which he called "combat service" — in his autobiography "Shout It From the Housetops," The New York Times reports. According to official Marine records examined by the outlet, Robertson was in the First Marine Division but served as an "assistant adjutant" at headquarters, defined as something like an administrative assistant (via Marines).
According to Robertson, he was prepared to provide evidence he saw combat, and the attack on his record from former Representative Paul N. McCloskey and others who served with him was a coordinated effort from liberals and communists to keep him out of the White House. ”It is important that I demonstrate the falsehoods of these stories. Otherwise, if I am elected president, how could I as commander in chief ever order a young American into combat if the record is not absolutely clear that I never shirked military duty," Robertson said (per The New York Times).
On Robertson's decision to drop the libel suit against McCloskey and others before it went to court, the former California representative said (via The Washington Post), "He made a wise decision to surrender before a jury could rule that he is a liar."
