Category: Phony soldiers

Someone sent us their work on this Craig Graham fellow. According to former workmates, he’s full of tall tales, like his work history on his Facebook page;

He was a cannon cocker Staff Sergeant E-6, in the Army National Guard for 14 years, an honorable endeavor, but then he had to add that he has training in reconnaisance, basic infantry, long range operations, small arms, demolitions, operational planning, LRRP, and SAS training. He claims 20 years of service in the active duty Army on LinkedIN;

No reason to embellish this record, at all;

In social situations he’s suddenly become CIA agent, I hear.

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this Bill Hightower fellow who claims to be a Navy SEAL on his Facebook Page;

He also claims to be a Navy Chief on LinkedIn, even though he can’t spell the rank;

He goes all secret squirrel when confronted;

Well, he was in the Navy and he served on the Gearing-class destroyer USS Bailey (DD-713) but the ship was in Charleston, South Carolina the entire time he was assigned according to her logs.

Based on Hightower’s FOIA Summary Sheet, it shows that he did just under 4 years of active duty in the Navy and not the 48 + years that he claimed. Bill was discharged as a Seaman Recruit (SR) E-1 vs. his claim of being a Chief (E-7).

There is no record of Bill Hightower attending BUD/S, NO jump school, and NO SEAL Command.

Our Partners at Guardians of the Green Beret share their work on this fellow Stephen Sanders who claims in his campaign for mayor of Lubbock, Texas to have been a special forces trained supply guy;

He was stationed at Fort Bragg with the 27th Engineer Battalion, of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps but he wasn’t even parachutist qualified;

The Guardians called him and he stuttered his way through an interview;

Stephen Sanders, fake Green Beret from Guardians Of The Green Beret on Vimeo.

About four years ago, we republished a blog post from Military Phonies about Dennis Chevalier who claimed to be an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel pilot. It turns out that his only military service was 20 days in the Texas National Guard;

He joined forces with Dan Bernath and Dallas Wittgenfeld in a joint effort to put an end to TAH. It looks like he’s followed the same path as the other DRG members. He’s been arrested for aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon;

It looks like he’s being held without bail.

And TAH still stands.

Our partners at Military Phonies send us their work on this Alvin “Double A” Boone fellow. He’s been claiming to be a Navy SEAL for decades;

From Military Phonies;

The records show that Boone did go to Coronado in 1986 to attend BUD/S training. With that information, we contacted past instructors that were there at the time. He is remembered for being there but did not make it through training. He would have classed up with class 140 which would have been a hell of a guess for the training announcement for the class he was teaching. On his resume, he stated he “attended BUD/S.” That’s not really a lie but at the end of the day, most people don’t list schools that they failed on a resume – since it is implied that they are accomplishments.

After all, if someone lists that they attended law school one would reasonably expect them to be a lawyer. If someone lists that they attended medical school we would, in turn, expect them to be a doctor. Stated another way – there is a reasonable expectation that they completed the training.

The SCRA is added to clarify for the FOIA.

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this Peter Edward Karpovich fellow. He claims to be a former Marine Corps Force Recon and a sniper;

The Marine Corps only remembers that he served for 60 days, not even completing Boot Camp, let alone Recon and sniper training;

He wasn’t even ninja enough to get away with Food Stamp fraud;

It doesn’t look like he suffered much or missed any meals without food stamps.

According to BBC, Conservative candidate Matt Lynch claimed to have been in the paratroopers for 12 years and claimed to be a veteran of the Falkland War, but actual veterans deny that he was there.

[Steven Flynn who served with the 3rd Parachute Regiment in the Falklands War] made his own inquiries with former servicemen and said: “To this day no one knows of him [Lynch].

“It’s an insult to most people and their families. There were men who died on Mount Longdon who never saw their newborn baby. It’s an insult to them.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Matthew Lynch has been suspended pending an investigation.”

His name will still appear on the ballot papers in the St Helen’s ward, as the latest date for withdrawal has now passed.

Lynch hasn’t responded to BBC’s request for an interview – the election is scheduled for tomorrow.

Robert Kenneth Hume, the fellow who thought that an altered DD214 would help him get a job as Fire Chief in Marietta, Georgia turned himself in to the police on Sunday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution;

He was charged with first-degree forgery, a felony, and false statements as a military veteran, a misdemeanor, according to Marietta police.

On Sunday morning, Hume surrendered and was booked into the Cobb jail. He was released that afternoon after posting $10,000 bond, booking records showed.

When applying for the vacant fire chief position April 5, Hume allegedly altered his military discharge paperwork, known as the DD214, to show he had earned a silver star medal, a bronze star medal, a purple heart medal and numerous others, according to police. On April 17, police secured an arrest warrant for Hume.

“The accused also presented a fraudulent certificate stating he had earned the rank of Master Sergeant, when the highest rank actually obtained was Sergeant,” the warrant states.

Finally. A police department that takes forged DD214s seriously.