Category: Phony soldiers

The Tallahassee Democrat tells the story of Floyd Garrett, a 47-year-old veteran who had a stroke recently. Floyd claims that he earned two Purple Heart Medals during the first Gulf War.

Soon afterward, Garrett was assigned as a scout in the Operation Desert Storm combat zone of burning Kuwaiti oil fields, unknown chemicals and landmines. One day, an American mine-clearing tank blew up just in front of Garrett.

While he was being evacuated with a life-threatening groin injury strapped to the slides of a helicopter, Garrett was struck by a stray bullet that shattered his ankle. Still lodged in his ankle, the bullet causes constant pain and difficulty walking.

Garrett spent months in various hospitals recuperating and was eventually discharged stateside. It was on a visit to his parents’ home that he had his first episode of PTSD. And other odd ailments began to plague him: migraine headaches, tremors, and neurological symptoms. Garrett would be diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome, a cluster of medically unexplained symptoms bedeviling returning veterans. Still, there was the lovely German woman.

According to his records, Floyd was assigned to 6/6 Infantry which was assigned to the 1st Armor Division and deployed to Desert Storm, but he was a petroleum specialist and a supply clerk, not a scout. His records show a single Purple Heart, not the two that he claims.

I’m pretty sure that it’s been decades since injured soldiers were strapped to the outside of helicopters.

I doubt the Purple Heart in his records, too. There are no service awards for Desert Storm.

Our partners at Military Phonies shared their work on this fellow, James Krupsky who pretends that he was wounded at the Beirut bombing of October 1983, that he earned four Purple Heart Medals. He also pretends to be his wife on social media, then he denies that he even has a wife;

Except for serving in the US Marine Corps, most of the claims attributed to James Peter Krupsky are not supported by his official military records. He was a Marine that served for 4 years on active duty… but his records do not show that he served for 12 years. He served an additional three years in the Marine Corps Reserve.

He got out as an E-3 vs. an E-7. No CARs (Combat Action Ribbon), no Sea Service Deployment Ribbons and no Purple Heart(s).

We first wrote about Gregory Schaffer more than six years ago, before we knew his name. He was pretending to be a Navy SEAL to attract underaged girls to his bed.

He was sentenced to twenty years in prison for one such encounter. Now he’s been sentenced to 40 more years locked up for filming his encounters with underaged girls. From NJ.com;

According to the complaint, Schaffer sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in a Union City towing office and then abused a 14-year-old girl in a hotel room. In both cases, he filmed the assault without the girls knowing and stored the video on his computer. Other explicit images were also found on his computer.

He was convicted by a jury of two counts of producing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography in October and was sentenced on those charges Tuesday morning.

Well that’s one we don’t have to worry about for a while. NJ.com thinks he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison, but, it’s New Jersey, so who knows.

We’ve been talking about Stafford, New Jersey mayor John Spodofora for six years for pretending to be a Vietnam veteran. Every election cycle would see the phony US Navy veteran secret squirrel win the election. Well, that has ended finally. He was defeated by a narrow margin in yesterday’s primaries;

Adios, finally, Johnny-boy.

Our buddy, Don Shipley sends us this fellow, Robert Stephen Willey, who claims that he is a Navy SEAL. Just eight years ago, he was arrested in Florida for robbing a bank and for bad checks. He was a fugitive from justice out of Michigan at the time. Don busted him for pretending to be a SEAL in November 2016.

Mr Willey shows folks this sad-ass forged DD214 to make up for his lack of military service;

I don’t know where Lebanan, Beruit is, but it must be a dangerous place. Also, the dates for his dental exam is confirmed ten years after the discharge date. Another time traveler. Don also reminds us that the Navy uses stars for multiple awards and not oak leaves.

That 25-meter stare so prevalent among Navy SEALs plays to his advantage, though.

Frank Dux was busted more than 20 years ago by BG “Jug” Burkett in his book “Stolen Valor”.

He was also featured on the old POW Network website. But Dux has never conceded defeat, mostly because his wild-ass stories formed the basis for the Van Damme classic movie “Bloodsport” – and you know that Hollywood is never wrong. So last year we took our wacks at him. He claimed to be an elite Force Recon Marine who earned a “secret” Medal of Honor, a Navy Cross, a Distinguished Service Cross (actually an Army award), a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a Navy and Marine Corps Medal.

Actually, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves two weeks after the Vietnam War ended for the United States. Two months later, he reported for four months of active duty training – his only period of active duty during his six years of time as a Marine Corps reservist;

Actually, Dux has no awards, he served during a time when there was no National Defense Service Medal, so, naturally his other awards are bogus claims, too. So, Dux has taken to disparaging those of us who keep his lies in perspective – even the techs at the National Personnel Records Center suffer his slings and arrows of outrageous fortune;

Prior to the PC age the St. Louis VA Records Center burnt down and military service record books were lost and, poorly reconstructed.

If you believe in the DD 214/ SRB confirmation myth you also have to assume the military establishment is founded and run by a bunch of imbeciles, in uniform.

Yes, it is possible that the NPRC records fire consumed the military records of Frank Dux more than two years before he enlisted…he must be a time traveler.

For the most part, Stolen Valor Vigilantes stubbornly refuse to accept the historically proven reality the US military and government does not always competently or willingly record or tell the truth all the time.

That when it comes to concealing its embarrassing truths or for purposes of national security the military and intelligence apparatus as well as political appointees will, when necessary, go so far as to manufacture entries and create a fraudulent DD214 and/or SRB known as a “Front File” to provide them plausible deniability.

I speak from personal experience that this practice is necessary and real and had left this author vulnerable to Stolen Valor Vultures and misinformation propaganda.

Frank Dux was a Marine Corps Lance Corporal who wants you to believe that he was one of the most decorated Marines of the Vietnam War – his Medal of Honor is so secret that he can talk about it ad nauseum on the internet and in his books, but he can’t cough up any proof. He was a secret warrior, so secret that the story can only be reconstructed by Hollywood and shown on screens around the world.

Stolen Valor Vultures, historically speaking, could care less if they invariably punish the innocent along with the guilty. Their acts and words betray a mindset where being accused is enough to make you guilty.

The displays of indifference to fairness and the truth is why the Stolen Valor Vulture will predictably keep others operating in ignorance by continuing to propagate and defend the DD214 and SRB confirmation mythology.

Their smug indifference to the truth and operating with extreme bias is made that much more visible through the Stolen Valor Vulture’s unwillingness to challenge the evidence before using it. Or allow the accused to defend their reputations where the accused voice and the contradictory evidence does not end up obfuscated by them.

I have a mountain of files on my computer of former members of the military whose claims have been proven by the NPRC to be true. Frank Dux’ file is not among those.

Our partners at Military Phonies share their research on this fellow Marvin Chapman, who goes by the name Chuck Chapman on social media. He claims to be a veteran of US Navy SEAL Team 2, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, and a Navy SEABEE. He doesn’t like Donald Trump or Jews;

The Navy responded to a FOIA request by asking “Who?”;

Way to shit upon your family’s legacy, Marv;

Photo Caption: Voepel sits at his desk (perhaps updating his resume) wearing the Small Craft Insignia (that he is not authorized to wear) and an upside down Combat Action Ribbon.

By: MCPO (SW) Terence B. Hoey, USN (Ret.)

June 1, 2018 New York City

As the primary for the CA State Assembly 71st District approaches Voepel has not been seen or heard of in public since we broke the news, on March 29, 2018 (Vietnam Veterans Day) here at TAH and on LinkedIn, that he, the last Vietnam Veteran serving in the California Assembly, is a confirmed Valor Thief. He has conducted no public appearances or town halls, baby holding, handshaking, TV and radio gigs or caucus meetings. But, he is proud of his service.

Let’s review what we have learned about Voepel through FOIA requests, official service records, testimonials, his extensive digital footprint, video evidence and his own words:

Voepel was a very junior sailor and radarman onboard the USS GURKE (DD-783) and USS Buchanan (DDG-14) during his Vietnam era service – TRUE.

Voepel has been photographed and regularly wears a Combat Action Ribbon upside down – TRUE.

Voepel regularly wears the Small Craft Insignia that he is NOT authorized to wear – TRUE.

Voepel and his Chief of Staff Mason Herron distributed to the media an altered DD-214N as proof positive of his combat experience – TRUE.

Voepel is a confirmed Valor Thief – TRUE.

Served with Korean Tiger “Battalion” – FALSE.

Purple Heart Recipient – FALSE.

Combat wounded – FALSE.

Heavy Combat – FALSE.

Multiple combat tours – FALSE.

Two combat tours – FALSE.

Served in combat IN Vietnam – FALSE.

Assigned to Task Force 117 – FALSE.

Newly Released … 17 kills – FALSE. Note: Number of kills is eerily similar to the Task Force number (we see this a lot).

Served onboard PBR – FALSE.

Bow gunner onboard PBR – FALSE.

Inserted SEALs from PBR in Mekong Delta – FALSE.

While onboard USS GURKE (DD-783) supported inserting SEALs in Mekong Delta – FALSE.

While onboard USS GURKE (DD-783) manned a 50 caliber, under supervision for offensive and defensive purposes – FALSE.

Served in the US Navy Infantry – FALSE.

Has experienced in combat body fluids of all sorts, blood soaked uniform and taste of blood in the back of his throat – FALSE.

Knows what real combat is like – FALSE.

Still has his “monsoon” (boonie) hat from Vietnam – FALSE.

Has (and self-diagnosed) PTSD from his multiple combat tours in Vietnam – FALSE.

The above is only a partial list as we have not released all evidence collected to date.
As the California and San Diego GOPs, the CA State Assembly and paid political pundits largely ignore Voepel, take no action and wait this out … so does the MSM. The original reporting of Voepel’s Stolen Valor activities by the MSM was weak, technically wrong, full of errors, relied on old documents and incorrect information, clearly biased and ignored the very evidence that has been in the public domain for years. The evidence was easy to obtain, yet the media failed to do the hard work, research and develop the evidence. One MSM outlet referred to a real witness as an “alleged” witness. The “alleged” witness was one who provided real damning video evidence. One MSM outlet said we called the DD-214N a “phony”, we called it “altered.” Another said we called the DD-214N a “forgery”, we called it “altered.” One outlet edited their tape of the April 16th press conference at the USS Midway Museum to make it appear that I said, “pure fantasy” with respect to Voepel’s Combat Action Ribbon claim. I was clearly referring to a separate wild claim and never addressed Voepel’s Combat Action Ribbon claim at that press conference. A reporter from the same MSM outlet suggested that I drop my pursuit of Voepel and that I should “watch my back”.

Fortunately there are some real journalists in the San Diego area and they are hot on the bread crumb trail that we have laid with respect to Voepel. We have more testimonials. People are stepping forward from Santee City Hall to Voepel’s own VFW and all the way to the California State House and back again to San Diego. It seems many had heard the wild and comedic claims of Voepel’s military derring-do. In addition, I suspect authorities with jurisdiction are either following the Voepel story very closely or may already be investigating, but I am not privy to that information.

Now back to the “altered” DD-214N, Combat Action and Purple Heart claims … these issues are NOT just going away with time and neither will I. Voepel has to face the truth … he will have to either confess and resign, be removed by the CA State Assembly for violations of CA AB 153 (California’s Stolen Valor Act of 2017 which he supported and voted for) and or be prosecuted by federal authorities for violations of the US Stolen Valor Act of 2013 and 18 USC 489 before this case is closed. PERIOD.

As a 4 time voting member of the US Navy E8/9 Selection Board, I have reviewed thousands of US Navy Service Records, tens of thousands of associated documents (including various versions of DD-214 and DD-214N) and I know a BRAVO SIERRA service history when I see, touch, hear and smell it. The particular stench emanating from Voepel and his view of his service record is simply rancid.

So, tune in and watch the results on June 5th in CA State Assembly 71st District.