Dick Mountjoy in MSNBC news programs

On Principles & Values: Mistakenly claimed navy service on USS Missouri

The statement about the Missouri was on Mountjoy’s campaign Web site, alongside a photo of him as a young sailor. “After graduating High School, Dick joined the Navy and served during the Korean War aboard the Battleship Missouri,” said the statement, which also was featured in a film on the site.

The retired state legislator last week said his stint aboard the Missouri had been “very brief” and he served on the heavy cruiser Bremerton. He said later that he occasionally boarded the Missouri during the Korean conflict and was on the ship for “a couple of days at a time.” Mountjoy called the statement a “mistake” that was likely based on misinformation from an unknown source, dating back at least six years. “I think it was just something that somebody picked up,” Mountjoy said. “It didn’t come from me.”