This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Phony soldiers

  • Wilson Ryan Tinsley; phony Ranger, Special Forces

    Wilson Ryan Tinsley; phony Ranger, Special Forces

    Someone sent us their work on this fellow, Wilson Ryan Tinsley who claims that he is a special forces soldier and he has a Ranger Tab tattoo;

    His Instagram account is peppered with pictures that he wants you believe are pictures of him in combat, but they’re pictures that he snagged from elsewhere;

    On his resume, Tinsley claims to have been in Delta and the 3rd Ranger Battalion;

    Mr Tinsley, was in the Army from September 3, 1999 to December 27, 1999, he never left the basic training company;

    Another real over-achiever. And oh, yeah, he’s also served in the St Augustine jail for felony battery.

  • Ronnie Lee Yocum aka Ron Norris; phony Vietnam veteran

    Ronnie Lee Yocum aka Ron Norris; phony Vietnam veteran

    Someone sent us their work on this Ron Norris fellow who claims to be a Vietnam veteran of the Marine Corps variety.

    Of course, there’s a motorcycle and a vest involved;

    Here he is quoted in the Muskogee Phoenix;

    Ron Norris remembers being under Viet Cong artillery fire for 72 days in 1968 at Khe Sanh in Vietnam. He was in force reconnaissance with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines.

    This week, Norris came to the Muskogee War Memorial Park to see “The Wall That Heals” is a 250-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    Seeing the Vietnam moving wall means a lot, Norris said.

    “We’re bringing something to the people who didn’t know anything that happened from 1968 on,” Norris said.

    Well, he’s much more proud of his service now than when he was in uniform. He was a Marine during the Vietnam War, for about nine months, more than two of which he spent as a deserter; he took leave in July and didn’t come back until September.

    He spent the last three months of service in confinement and awaiting his discharge – no Vietnam service, no combat action, no Purple Heart.

    He’s kiddie toucher, too;

  • Donald Kimball; phony Silver Star, Purple Heart hero

    Donald Kimball; phony Silver Star, Purple Heart hero

    The folks at Military Phonies send us their work on this fellow, Donnie Kimball, from Pensacola, Florida, who claims to be a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart, and there are license plates and a motorcycle vest involved;

    Well, he was a Marine and he did serve in Vietnam, as a clerk in the local Marine Corps exchange (BX) and as a supply clerk in a Headquarters and Service Company;

    No Silver Star, no Purple Heart, not even a Combat Action Ribbon to indicate that Donnie heard any shots fired in anger.

    But, he does get an award for most creative excuse for missing records;

  • Wilbert Bass; phony SEAL update

    Wilbert Bass; phony SEAL update

    Last month we talked a bit about Wilbert “Beau” Bass who claimed to be a Navy SEAL on his LinkedIn profile. Of course, the Navy never heard of him;

    We suspected that he had Air Force service, and his FOIA just showed up;

    He was a real over-achiever in the Air Force, discharged after seven years on active duty as an Airman First Class (E-3) or maybe he was an Airman Fist Class like the FOIA says.

    Anyway, he’s still not a SEAL.

  • Peter Toth sentenced

    Peter Toth sentenced

    According to our partners at Stolen Valour-Canada, Peter Toth who was pretending to be a US Marine in a classroom last year, was in a Canadian courtroom today and convicted of violating two (of three) counts of section 419 of the Criminal Code of Canada, “Unlawful use of military uniforms or certificates”. He was awarded 18 months supervised probation and 200 hours of community service.

    The bogus uniforms insignia, medals and documents were seized by the Crown for destruction.

    Folks in the courtroom claim that Toth told the judge that he suffered from PTSD because of the heat and light that he got from Stolen Valour – Canada about his fuckery.

    Another successful cross-border operation with our allies.

  • Robert Cascella; phony SEAL

    We talked about Robert Cascella a few weeks ago, when he got into a barricaded stand off with local SWAT members in Churchill, Pennsylvania. For some reason, one of his neighbors thought that Cascella was a Navy SEAL and a combat veteran.

    The sound of gunfire was in the air as SWAT officers tried to get Cascella to surrender.

    “He is a Navy SEAL war veteran. They said he had high-powered weapons in his home,” said neighbor Tami Warfield.

    SWAT formed a perimeter around the house, and multiple police agencies were on scene trying to get Cascella to come outside.

    He was eventually shot twice in his torso and hauled off to jail. Other articles say that he was a Navy veteran and not that he’s a SEAL. That is a little more accurate – he spent less than seven months in the Navy in 1988 – 1989 as an Aviation Structural Mechanic, he went home from his “A” School after clawing his way to an E-1.

    Not a SEAL, barely a sailor. No combat except maybe in a Tennessee bar.

  • Rodrigo Ibarra Bowman; stolen valor fraud

    Earlier this year, Rodrigo Ibarra Bowman was charged with defrauding a customer who had a flat tire. Bowman worked for Riggs Roadside Assistance and Tires Plus in Mankato, Minnesota. After Bowman took care of the customer’s tire, he kept the credit card number and used it to have work done on his own vehicle. The customer was surprised to see his $285 bill jump to more than $2000. So, Bowman was charged with felony credit card fraud.

    On further scrutiny, it was discovered that Bowman went to the local Veterans’ Services office pretending to be a Marine;

    According to the complaint, Rodrigo Ibarra Bowman was wearing a U.S. Marine Corps ring when went to the Blue Earth County Veteran’s Service Office last year seeking assistance. Police say Bowman claimed that he had served three combat tours in Iraq and he boasted of being involved in secret, dark ops missions during his service as a Marine.

    During the visit, Bowman applied for help from the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans. As part of that process, he was immediately given a $50 gift card for fuel.

    Authorities checked with the Marine Corps and they had no record of him ever being enlisted.

    I hear that there’s room under the jail for him.

  • Garry Kaspar; phony Ranger, phony hero

    Garry Kaspar; phony Ranger, phony hero

    Someone sent us their work on this fellow, Garry Kaspar, who had claimed to folks that he was an Army Ranger on his résumé and to prove his military service, he had one of Bob Neener‘s Silver Star certificates;

    Well, after we filed for Garry’s records, he turned up dead;

    We’re not sure what the cause of his death was, and as far as I know, Kaspar wasn’t aware of our investigation. It doesn’t appear that he tried to take his valor to the grave with him, going by the various obituaries posted on the internet. That’s good, though, because the NPRC responded “Who?”