Category: Phony soldiers

  • Arthur James Dicken – Dead Phony SEAL

    Arthur James Dicken – Dead Phony SEAL

    Most of you are familiar with AJ Dicken.  He has been posted here at TAH many times.  He assumed room temperature on  December 31.   I guess living with a festering puss filled ego finally rotted him from the inside out.   I get criticism sometimes for speaking ill of the dead … Arthur James Dicken cannot be spoken of in an ill enough manner for my liking.  Dicken did manage to get some classic Shipley attention.

    If anyone wants to write about my life, I will have to be paid more than Dicken was offered for his bullshit story.  Some of my bullshit might actually be true.   At least AJ Dicken had the grace to die before the new year started.   2019 is looking better all the time.

    I visited a lot of gravesites in 2018.  Some I honored … some I pissed on.

    The video below has most of the story.  Don is always at his best when these clowns are at their worst.

    If you are unfamiliar with Don Shipley please take the time to check him out at the link below.  He also has a YouTube channel.

    Source: Extreme Seal Experience/ Videos,  aka The Hairs Place

  • Thomas Earl O’Neil – US Army Ranger in “The Mog,” Three Bronze Stars w/ “V”s, Three Purple Hearts

    Thomas Earl O’Neil – US Army Ranger in “The Mog,” Three Bronze Stars w/ “V”s, Three Purple Hearts

    The folks at Military Phony provide us their work on this Thomas Earl O’Neil fellow.

    Thomas claims to have been in the Battle of Mogadishu and it was the worst 18 hours of hell that he has ever experienced.

    You wouldn’t understand unless you were there…

    He talks a lot about his buddies from The Mog, including CMOH recipients Master Sergeant Gordon and Sergeant First Class Shughart, whom O’Neil claims to have served alongside…

    You may recall a lot of this was captured in the movie “Black Hawk Down” after the account was written up in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Mark Bowden.

    But according to O’Neil, many of the survivors of the Battle of Mogadishu (Operation Gothic Serpent) are killing themselves and there are only a few left… O’Neil being one of them of course.

    He claims three Bronze Star Medals with “V” for Valor and three “Purple Stars” – later corrected to “Purple Hearts.”  The image above clearly shows the Bronze Star and Purple Heart but it is hard to tell if they have additional awards on them.

    Veteran suicide is a serious problem.  If what O’Neil says is true about veterans from the Battle of Mogadishu, who will be left to tell the story of what happened there?

    Let’s see what Tom O’Neil’s records say.

    According to his records, the Army does not seem to know anything about his 3 Bronze Stars for valor or anything about him being wounded in combat.

    His picture appears to have a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon, Navy/Marine jump wings and a cacophony of other mysterious awards unaccounted for in his DD 214.

    Tommy sounds like he is having a rough go of it lately, but I doubt it’s from him being in “The Mog.”  He accomplished more than enough for anyone to be proud of while he was in the military.  He has no reason to embellish his military career beyond recognition.

     

  • James Arroyo – Another embellishing Oath Keeper.

    James Arroyo – Another embellishing Oath Keeper.


    The folks at Military Phony send us their work on James Steven Arroyo who is the vice-president of the Arizona Chapter of the OathKeepers.  He is also the regional chapter president of the Chino Valley / Yavapai Oathkeepers.

    Jim repeatedly says that he was a US Army Ranger.

    Then, several articles appearing in print highlight Jim’s involvement with the Iran Hostage Rescue team – Operation Eagle Claw.

    The problem is that Jim wrote to the Special Forces Association (SFA) and all but admitted he wasn’t a Ranger because he did not finish the school due to an injury.  He also talks about the Iran Rescue Mission but in the SFA’s response, they state that parts of the support mission were not executed.  (NOTE: The DD-214 was supplied by Jim Arroyo, so we cannot speak to its accuracy.)

    There were no real surprises with the NPRC response when they supplied his military records…

    I guess these kinds of embellishments play well to civilians and the dull-witted.   I have lost count of how many Oath Keepers we have posted for this kind of nonsense.  I have also lost count of how many times I have had to explain to some civilian the difference between actually being a tabbed Ranger and simply someone that was assigned to a Ranger Battalion.

    If little Jimmy here was injured during his training to become a Ranger he should not be giving people the impression that he actually was one.  He served during a time when most people wouldn’t, he made it through jump school and was assigned to a Ranger Battalion.  For a kid that only served a little over a year on active duty that is more than enough to be proud of.

    Insofar as his super secret Iran hostage missions…um…nah it didn’t happen and even if it did he would have been a Private in a support role.  It seems he has become a legend in his own mind but to those of us who served more than a year or so, being back up in a support role does not make us Rangers.   I understand those few weeks of his life are special to him and they should be, he just needs to relax and have a Snickers.

    There used to be a guy around here that called this kind of clown a “Five Jump Chump”.  Private Arroyo might want to stop telling people he was a Ranger.  All he gets from actual Rangers is a yawn and an eye roll when he does that nonsense.  He could try something like, “I was injured and medically retired while training to become an Army Ranger.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Blast From the Past: Gregory Charles Banks, the phony just passing through

    Blast From the Past: Gregory Charles Banks, the phony just passing through

    This week’s BFTP spotlight goes to Gregory Charles Banks aka “Egregious Greg”. The original post is located here: Gregory Charles Banks, the phony just passing through  which amassed over 829 comments, and a cool “Wanted” poster was also made for Gregory here: Wanted: Gregory Banks. Greg also made it to the Shitbag Sixteen during the 2014 Blue Falcon Stolen Valor Tournament. Just another phony with the response of “Who dat?” from the NPRC.

     

    Jonn’s original post:

    So one of our readers is a Mason up in Connecticut and this dude passes through his lodge on the way back from his combat assignments. Sometimes he’s in ACUs, other times he’s wearing his blues, like in the picture above. Of course, he’s Special Forces (isn’t everyone, these days) and in addition to his duties as an Army officer, he’s also a counselor with two offices. The man is a freakin’ machine.

    Gregory Banks Counselor

    Well, he didn’t turn up in any of my databases, but, you know, he’s probably so secret squirrel that he wouldn’t, but CID can’t find him either. Nor can NPRC;

    Gregory Banks FOIA

    We’re told that his lodge just threw him a big celebration for his recent award of the Bronze Star Medal so obviously, he loves attention – so here is all of the attention you could ever want, Greg-baby. It looks to me like he stole a midget’s jacket.

    Added; more pics;

    GregBanks

    Banks, Greg C.

    I emailed these pictures to our counselor friend, Greg Charles Banks and asked if these are not him in the photos, and he hasn’t answered back. I guess he’s going with “identity theft” as an explanation.

    OK, I just got an email from him and he admits that this is him in this picture taken at the lodge not wearing the uniform;

    Banks at the Lodge2

    I don’t know, you judge.

    Gregory Banks comparison photo

  • Mitchell Shoemaker charged for impersonating Hans Gruber

    Mitchell Shoemaker charged for impersonating Hans Gruber

    A Cypress man has been arrested for impersonating a federal agent in order to train real police officers.

    Mitchell Gregory Shoemaker, 31, has been charged in federal court. He is accused of impersonating a Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) special agent.

    According to the criminal complaint, Shoemaker solicited police officers at a private, law enforcement-only gun range in Magnolia, telling them he could train them.

    In a sting on Tuesday, undercover DSS special agents took him up on it. Court records say he wore a badge and a tactical vest with “POLICE” on it and told them DSS recruited him based on his experience as a U.S. Navy SEAL.

    However, during his arrest, he said he was really a CIA agent “on covert assignment to DSS.”

    His girlfriend told officers Shoemaker had numerous guns and badges. Neighbors say authorities raided his townhome on Mill Ridge in Cypress Wednesday night.

    Shoemaker remains in custody. He was already on deferred adjudication in Harris County on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which prohibits him from possessing a firearm.

    Source: Cypress man Mitchell Shoemaker charged for impersonating federal agent | abc13.com

  • James Jeenou Thao – No More Royalty

    James Jeenou Thao – No More Royalty

    You may remember the articles by Military Phony and This Ain’t Hell about James Thao, the guy claiming to have fought in Afghanistan when we could find no record of military service.

    James won the Mr. Hmong Royalty pageant, and the military service claims most likely influenced pageant officials.

    Well, after our article came out the pageant officials were notified and they formed a special task force to investigate.  After asking James several times to produce the proper military documentation — and subsequently never receiving any — James was removed from his position as Mr. Hmong Royalty and the title given to the runner-up.

    I guess since James never responded, we may never know for sure.  It doesn’t look good, though.

    Kudos to the Hmong community, pageant organizers and Mr. Xiong for doing the right thing.

    They even posted their findings on their Facebook page.  Please show your support by liking the post, if you are so inclined.  https://www.facebook.com/MrHmongRoyalty/

    Oh yeah, we wonder what happened to the $1500 prize money?

  • William Marlar – Phony US Army Special Teams Ranger Sergeant Combat Medic

    William Marlar – Phony US Army Special Teams Ranger Sergeant Combat Medic

    The folks at Military Phony send us the case of William Joseph Marlar who claims he was a US Army Special Teams Ranger Sergeant.

    Bling adorns his bike, who he affectionately refers to as “Vicky.”

    But he also points to “My rack” and implies that he earned all medals and badges displayed on the side of his bike.

    Here is a larger version with an attempt to identify all medals and badges…

    Marlar was recently invited on a radio show that was honoring veterans and promoted him as a US Army veteran of Bosnia and Kuwait.  Wonder how they got that impression?  Anyway, he was asked to sing the national anthem on the air.

    In a still photo, one can see the Navy/Marine Combat Action Ribbon Patch thingy… on his Vest of course.  Not sure why he put U.S. Army under it.  Maybe he served in the Navarm Corps.

    So, his official military records were ordered.   The US Army didn’t quite see things the same way…

    His military records have him as a Private (E-1) vs. his claim of Sgt (E-5).   No record of him deploying to Bosnia or Kuwait.  No record of a combat zone or medals that indicate combat.  He was in Korea in 1993-94, but there was no conflict that would have earned him a Medical Combat Badge.

    In fact, a lot of his medals that he claimed on the side of his bike do not show up in his military records.  At least they weren’t tattoos, but it will still leave a mark to scrap them off.

    He was AWOL, which probably explains his achievement of Private (E-1) before he got out.  Why do these clowns that get thrown out of the Army always seem to claim Ranger?

    If you need a US Army Special Teams Ranger Sergeant Combat Medic, Marlar may not be who you’d want to call.  But if you need some bee’s wax for lip balm, I’m sure he’d be able to help.  I have no idea what kind of “Special Teams” little Billy here might have been on.  Ping Pong? Maybe badminton?  Some of you Army types might be able to explain how special this guy is.

  • Daniel Howard WHITESELL is he a Special Forces CWO / RSM or a navy reserve bin rat? – Stolen Valour Canada

    Daniel Howard WHITESELL is he a Special Forces CWO / RSM or a navy reserve bin rat? – Stolen Valour Canada

    Daniel Howard WHITESELL is he a Special Forces CWO / RSM or a navy reserve bin rat?

    We were asked to review the claims made by “Chief Warrant Officer” Daniel Harold WHITESELL (DOB 2X/03/195x) of Windsor, Ontario.

    Our review identified many inconsistencies in his presentation made to 600 school children at a Remembrance Day event @ Ecole Secondaire E. J. Lajeunesse in Windsor, On.

    He claimed to be a veteran with 38 years of service. He spoke to the students saying that he was former Joint Task Force 2 special forces operator and had served in Afghanistan for eight years, Rwanda, Bosnia, as well as served a short 2-year stint in the navy.

    He brought with him a framed photo of himself in uniform, surrounded by dozens of medals. He also presented some form of coin to show the entire school.

    During his presentation, he spoke about how he had done awful things that he was not proud of. 

    At first he said that as special ops he could not speak about the things he had done, however later during the Q and A period one of the students asked him “what the hardest job he had done was?”

    At this point he told us about how he was going after high ranking Taliban in small villages in Afghanistan. He said that his team would enter the villages in the middle of the night, and that if a teenager or child, the same age as the students he was speaking to had seen him, that he had to silence them by any means necessary to avoid giving up their position, Alluding to the fact that he had killed innocent children during his service.

    This horrified many of the students…

    His ridiculous claims combined with an image of him wearing a green beret and PPCLI “other ranks” hat-badge, gave us cause to question his entire military narrative.

    Our team conducted a thorough review of all available records, this included websites, newspaper articles, photographic images, regimental tour books, and extracts from military documents in Canada in order to determine the legitimacy of his claims.

    SV-C then reached out to the regimental and corps associations, their museums and other organizations in which WHITESELL has claimed to have served. The publicly accessible records, that we have had the opportunity to review, do not support his claims.

    The absence of verifiable records alone does not conclusively prove that an individual is a fake or embellisher, it just indicates that there are no records…

    Claiming to be a CWO/RSM with decades long service in the PPCLI!

    Dude, do you know how few men have been given the  honour and privilege to join that group?

    Every Patricia Regimental Sergeant Major is known and you ain’t one of them! 

    What we do know.

    Mr WHITESELL was an Ordinary Seaman in the Naval Reserve and employed as a Supply Technician in HMCS Hunter in Windsor, Ontario. We have been told anecdotally that he sailed in a Porte Class training vessel on a Great Lakes deployment in the 1980s and, that he may have spent a short period in the Army Reserve.

    Ordinary Seaman WHITESELL’s navy ride / sleek greyhound of death.

    By all accounts, he had a some what lack-lustre career trajectory, and left the unit in the early 90s.

    “CWO” Dan WHITESELL also known as
    Call sign “Chicken Legs”

    Well Mr Daniel Howard Whitesell, the puck is in your end of the rink. 

    It’s now time for you to surrender the PPCLI hat badge that you have absolutely no entitlement to; followed by a public apology for your shitbaggery. 

    Lest We Forget.

    Source: Daniel Howard WHITESELL is he a Special Forces CWO / RSM or a navy reserve bin rat? – Stolen Valour Canada