Author: Jonn Lilyea

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this fellow La’Baron Lee Johnson who claims that he was a Lieutenant Commander (O-4) and a Navy SEAL.

Based off of Labaron Lee Johnson DD-214, he initially served on active reserves for 2 years, 9 months, 4 days. Labaron was discharged as RM3 (E-4) Radioman. Labaron did receive a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. It looks like Labaron obtained his commission in the Navy Reserves and resigned it as a Lieutenant (O-3). This service shows that he didn’t attend BUD/S, NO SEAL Command and he wasn’t a SEAL.

UPDATE: After we posted this, we discovered that LaBaron passed away less than two years ago.

AnotherPat sends us a link to the story of Joshua Linney, a candidate for mayor of Holmes Beach, Florida. Linney claimed that he was a veteran of the 1st Gulf War – even though he was only 15 years old at the time the war was fought;

“I’m a Gulf War veteran whose worked to overcome war, trauma, alcoholism, chemical dependence and PTSD, while living with disabilities, and I conquered them all,” Linney, 42, wrote in a biography submitted to the Manatee County supervisor of elections office and posted on the agency’s website.

According to the article, Linney joined the Army in 1993 and went to Kuwait, earning the Southwest Asia Service Medal, but well after hostilities.

Linney still claims to be a Gulf War veteran and that he has been diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome, a multi-symptom medical condition that has affected many veterans of the war.

“The reason I say Iraq to people, I’m not saying it to be misleading,” Linney said. “Saying I flew into Saudi Arabia doesn’t explain what they are asking so it’s easier to say Iraq. It’s not a misrepresentation.”

In his biography, Linney states that while he was in the Army, he turned down an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to attend airborne and Army Ranger training. He also said he graduated from Advanced Infantry Training.

However, there is no such thing as Advance Infantry Training in the Army. Every soldier who goes through basic training regardless of job description undergoes Advanced Individual Training for their particular assignment. In Linney’s case, he was a cook and not an infantryman.

“I misspoke there,” Linney said. “I wasn’t trying to misrepresent myself as infantry. I know what AIT is and I wrote it down wrong.”

Linney did complete jump school, but there is no indication he attended the Ranger Indoctrination Program, or RIP, a three-week course that must be completed before being eligible to attend Ranger School. Linney claims he was attending RIP when he was injured on a jump and was reassigned.

Yeah, not much chance there was a Ranger School slot for a spoon.

Dude is a hot mess. He’s been arrested for DUI, and several drug charges. His Facebook page says that he’s Chief Technology Officer at Veterans For Cannabis.

In 2012, Linney was charged with petit theft and battery, but the charges were dropped. In 2013, he was charged with petit theft for shoplifting at the Cortez Road Walmart, and paid restitution and court costs. He was charged again in 2016 for misdemeanor theft for shoplifting at the Walmart in Palmetto for which he again paid restitution and court costs.

Linney had trouble remembering most of his run-ins with law enforcement, but he said most of the drug arrests were dropped, including one arrest for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and another arrest for possession of cocaine.

“I never had any problems with coke,” he said. “It doesn’t work for me and it’s something I never enjoyed..”

Someone sent us their work on this fellow Kevin Hipple who told his local news people at KSWO that Fourth of July fireworks trigger his PTSD;

On Independence Day, we celebrate the founding of our nation with friends and family, BBQ’s and fireworks. But the jaw-dropping light shows can trigger PTSD in veterans.

“People like me, we’re not rare, but we have an injury you can’t see,” said Kevin Hipple.

Kevin Hipple is referring to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hipple served in the United States Army for 13 years, fighting for our freedom in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. His time in the 82nd and 18th Airborne Corp exposed him to the unthinkable.

“You get people blowing off fireworks and it reminds me of what I did over there,” he said. “I did some mean, nasty, ugly things that my country made me do to protect it. I get real bad nightmares.”

Hipple was diagnosed with PTSD 10 years ago when he spent six months in the hospital for the disorder. While the Fourth of July is a time to celebrate our country and thank those who keep us safe, Hipple encourages people to find out if their neighbors are veterans and give them a heads-up about the fireworks.

“Not everyone has done what we’ve done,” Hipple said. “If you’re going to blow off fireworks, at least check out your neighbor and see if they’re okay.”

In the video at this link, you can see his Ranger Tab tattoo.

He did go to Desert Storm with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery which deployed to Desert Storm as part of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps which supported the 101st Airborne Division during Desert Storm.

According to his records, Hipple attended two weeks of Pre-Ranger training but he didn’t go to Ranger School;

I don’t know what Hipple thinks were “mean, nasty, ugly things that my country made me do to protect it”, but since he was assigned to a unit that made the some of the loudest noises on the battlefield, I kind of doubt that pop-pop-pop fireworks trigger him.

And, he’s not a Ranger because he attended a two week orientation for Ranger School.