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

Category: Phony soldiers

  • What Military Fakers Steal From Us (Guest Editorial)

    Even before I joined the US Army the idea of military fakers has bothered me. I have never fully understood what makes someone want to present him or herself as something they are not, or wearing something that they have not earned. For starters, I am the “Blackfive Reader” that submitted Darrel Tracht to the Blackfive, that was followed up on here at ThisAinthell.us and the Blackfive.net. It was my first experience actually encountering a military faker, or phony veteran. I myself am a combat veteran, and current member of the US Army Reserve. I was deployed to Zhari District, Kandahar Province in support of Operation: ENDURING FREEDOM X and XI.

    Recently I relayed my experience about this fraud to a friend, during that discussion in explaining that this certain individual was posing as a US Navy SEAL, he asked me a very pointed question “but what did he take from you”? In some ways he was right, while I am graduate of the JFK Special Warfare Center and School, I am not a SEAL, I am not SF, how could I be bothered about someone faking to be something I myself am not? That question got me thinking about what we are really losing or what is really being stolen from us as a result of the epidemic of military fakers. What they have stolen for us as veterans is our trust in one another.

    To me one of most important things we have as soldiers and service members is trust. From the earliest days in basic training we are taught to rely on each other, to rely on the team, the bond that holds that team together is trust. We have that trust in our fellow soldiers that we will support each other, that if we fall someone will come get us, we will share our last water or food even though we are hungry or thirsty, we will sacrifice for one another even though we may have only know each other for a short time.  It is in our creed, that we will never leave a fallen comrade, and we live it on deployment. We believe and trust that these are facts and not ideals. To us this trust is a scared thing, for many us of after deployment the only people some of us are even comfortable trusting is our own families and military families.

    Military fakers break that faith, that strong bond of trust soldiers place in one another, they do this to us because when we meet a fellow veteran or someone claiming to be, no matter how hard we want to believe their story or service record in the back of our minds we are asking ourselves, is this guy a fake? The epidemic of military fakers has caused us to doubt the experiences of our fellow veterans. Instead of embracing one another in our shared hardship and experiences of serving our country, we question if it is authentic. I am sure as you read this submission you are thinking of asking me for my DD214, to verify my service. Since becoming a combat veteran I felt as though I shared unique bond with veterans of other wars, as a community of veterans we represent such a small fraction of our total population. And as we all know, our community of veterans continues to decrease every day.

    The trust we have in each other is what military fakers or phony vets have really robbed us of. Because of them, when someone claims to be a vet, instead extending a hand and calling them brother, often our first inclination is to be suspicious of them. In doing so we doubt that trust. That trust, that we have at one time or another placed in the hands of complete strangers that we have served with. Beyond the stolen benefits, the fraud, or the stolen accolades, these liars, have caused us to be suspicious and doubt one another.

    We cannot deny that we do it. We seek details to verify those things only we would know, or try to notice specifics or inconsistencies that seem out of place in their stories. It’s not that we are paranoid, we want to believe each other but we closely guard our status as combat veterans, and due to the epidemic of liars, we are conditioned to be on the lookout for those who would steal and malign that status. This doubt now has even extended to civilians doubting service members and veterans. News and local organizations have to ask for verifying documents, because all to often when they have not it has been proven that they have been duped by a fraud.

    To that end, that is what I believe these liars steal from us, but because we want to honor those we have served and bled with we continue to root them out, to not let them tarnish what we have earned. While we may lose some of our trust in one another, the greater good is that we continue to expose these frauds because we will not allow those who have not earned, to steal from those who have paid for those honors with their lives.

     

    Combat CAsh is a current member of the US Army Reserve. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Civil Affairs Specialist Course. He was deployed to Zhari District, Kandahar Province, in support of OEF: X and XI (surge). His email address is CombatCAsh5(at)gmail(dot)com. 

     

  • Going full ‘tard with the Stolen Valor/fraud thing

    Apparently, Dunard Morris thought pretty highly of himself and his ability to commit fraud in regards to his employers, Metropolitan Urological Specialists in St Louis, MO. After getting his job by telling his potential employers that he “won” the Navy Cross while he was in the Marine Corps, he then proceeded to fleece them for hundreds of thousands of dollars, including giving himself unauthorized raises and charging meals and entertainment expenses to the group, says AdVert;

    Morris, 48, St. Charles, Missouri, was indicted by a federal grand jury late Wednesday on five felony counts of mail and wire fraud and one count of stolen valor.

    If convicted, mail and wire fraud carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. Violation of the Stolen Valor Act carries a maximum of one year and/or fines up to $100,000. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges. Additionally, upon a finding of guilt, Morris will be subject to a forfeiture allegation, which will require the forfeiture to the government all property derived from the illegal activity.

    This highlights the need for an online database of veterans that our buddy Doug Sterner was advocating in Congress last week. The existence of that database might have prevented the doctors from hiring Morris in the first place and saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraud and now legal fees to recover the ill-gotten booty.

  • Grifter Bradshaw in the wind again

    We first mentioned Michael Allen Bradshaw last month when police were looking for him, then we mentioned when he walked in to a diner and surrendered himself to lunching officers. Bradshaw had posed as a wounded veteran and bilked several people out of money in their sympathy for him.

    Well, it seems that police have released him again.

    Police said they can’t say how many times Bradshaw may have used a false identity to con someone, and unfortunately, there is little they can do until he strikes again.

    “Lots of people didn’t even feel like they had been victims until they saw the (media) coverage,” said Cpl. Jake Smith with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

    That’s because, according to police, Bradshaw was very convincing while performing his con.

    So you folks in the Atlanta area need to be aware of this bullet head and his proclivity for being a lying shitbag.

    Thanks to Dominick for the link.

  • Congress looks at Stolen Valor

    Yesterday, some of our friends were in Congress urging them to mandate that the Department of Defense create a database of military honors that have been awarded to curb the recent rash of Stolen Valor claims. But the DoD and the National Archives doesn’t see a problem;

    Representatives from the Defense Department, Army, Navy and Air Force testified in a House hearing Wednesday that creating a centralized database of military awards would take more effort than it’s worth and they defended their separate record-keeping practices.

    “There appear to be adequate procedures in place to verify fraudulent claims to military decorations,” said Lernes Hebert, the director of the Defense Department’s Office of Enlisted Personnel Management.

    Yeah, their “adequate procedures” rely on the cottage industry which has sprung up to identify and shame these criminals. The main supporter of the new database seems to be Utah’s Jason Chaffetz who claims he was burned twice by awarding medals to people who didn’t deserve them. One of whom, Myron Brown, we discussed recently.

    Yeah, I think it’s a hoot that the government says that it’s not worth their time or effort to create a database. When I called the Baltimore FBI office and handed over all of the evidence I had on Charles Baxter, the idiot on the phone told me that I have too much time on my hands. She also didn’t know about the Stolen Valor Act and had to find out if it was a real crime. Of course, they never returned my call, and subsequent calls got the same reaction.

    If it’s not worth their time, why even have Stolen Valor laws? Why give out medals if anyone can just go buy them whether they deserve them or not?

  • J Wayne Duckworth; another AWOL Ranger

    Meet J Wayne Duckworth, who calls himself “Sir Duck”, but I call him “Ducky” for short, because…well…he’s just so f*cking ducky. According to his Facebook profile, he’s pretty f’n high speed, too.

    CIA and the Air Wing of the State Department…also he’s self employed. It must be hard to be all of those things and still find time to pose in his mother’s backyard for those pictures, huh? According to our friends at POW Network, he’s been stylin’ for awhile. He wears these flashy duds anywhere the media shows up for a veteran event and wipes his eyes from the crocodile tears and gives them exactly what they want.

    And here’s a poem he sent one of our friends at Right Truth in which he also poses as an OIF/OEF veteran and a Seminole Indian.

    According to POW Net;

    J.W. Duckworth had been a private first class in the Army, and his only overseas duty was in Germany. Court-martialed while at Fort Hood on two charges of AWOL, Duckworth had been sentenced to 40 days hard labor and reduced to private E-1 before being discharged.

    Yeah, because that’s the kind of pilots the State Department is looking for. Mavericks in the mood to stick it to the Man. Looking through his Facebook pictures, he seems to gain 40 pounds every time he goes to the desert. It looks like he gets shorter, too. It must be the lighting and that KBR chow. It couldn’t be someone else’s pictures, could it?

    You Cav guys will be happy to know that he likes to wear Stetsons and 1st Cav patches.

    Thanks to David for the links. I think someone else sent me the links a few weeks ago, but I can’t find the email now. Sorry.

  • Darrel Tracht wants you to know he’s sorry

    For those who don’t remember, Darrell Tracht, was the gun dealer in South Carolina who we caught, thanks to a Blackfive reader, wearing a SEAL Trident along with a CIB and a pair of jump wings. Well, he mailed the other night, intially, to tell me to “get [my] facts straight”. As I predicted when I wrote post, he told us that he was wearing the Trident at a “wounded warrior” event to “honor” SEALs. Of course, I wasn’t buying it. So I asked about the claims on his website that he was an “operator” with Special Operations in combat.

    That’s when he finally fessed up and came clean. He realized that I wasn’t budging and he wanted me to call him on the phone, but my hearing is shot and I don’t like talking on the phone. But in the end, he sent along his apologies to us for trying to be something he wasn’t. If you look at his records, I don’t know why he felt he needed to embellish. A drill sergeant who spent years in the 82d and wears an 82d combat patch with a CIB is all something I envy.

    Anyway, last I looked his website was down, I assume because he told me that he’s editing it to remove the offensive shit. His Facebook page was also down. So I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and think he’s learned his lesson. I hope the rest of the phonies out there learn from this, but I have no illusions.

  • One last Stolen Valor post today

    TSO called just as I was leaving to get my 2 MacDonald’s fish sandwiches for $3 (cuz I’m hungry, but I’m cheap), and he told me I should read the New York Times report on the Supreme Court business yesterday, so I did, cuz I always do everything TSO tells me. The Times, which by the way, filed an amicus brief on Alvarez’ behalf, seems to think that the Court will uphold the Act and Alvarez’ punishment;

    [Alvarez’] case ran into trouble at the Supreme Court as it emerged that many justices accepted two fundamental propositions. First, most of the justices seemed to accept that the First Amendment does not protect calculated falsehoods that cause at least some kinds of harm. Second, there seemed to be something like a consensus that the government has a substantial interest in protecting the integrity of its system for honoring military distinction.

    To arrive at those two propositions, the justices worked through any number of hypothetical questions and worried about the collateral damages to free speech values that a ruling upholding the law might generate.

    They also recounted two admissions by Alvarez’ attorney that may have flipped the case in our favor. When asked by Kagan what free speech will be chilled by the SVA, Libby responded;

    Mr. Libby’s response seemed to surprise Justice Kagan. “It’s not that it may necessarily chill any truthful speech,” he said. “We certainly concede that one typically knows whether or not one has won a medal or not.”

    Justice Kagan considered what she had just heard. “So, boy, I mean, that’s a big concession, Mr. Libby,” she said.

    Mr. Libby also acknowledged that the government may punish false speech that is intended to obtain something of value. Chief Justice Roberts asked whether Mr. Alvarez, who was politically active, benefited from his lie. Mr. Libby said that was possible.

    The chief justice said this, too, was “an awfully big concession.”

    The Times concludes;

    There was universal agreement on one point at Wednesday’s argument. No one spoke up for Mr. Alvarez, including his lawyer.

    “Certainly, people are entitled to be upset by these false claims,” Mr. Libby said. “I mean, I’m personally upset by these false claims.”

    Yeah, you’re pretty much screwed if your lawyer thinks you’re a jerkweed.

  • American Legion on Stolen Valor

    As you probably know, TSO and VTWoody are at the Supreme Court today listening to arguments before the Court in regards to Stolen Valor. The USAToday printed the American Legion’s stance on the issue. TSO tells me that he wrote it;

    Despite hyperbolic claims from opponents of the Stolen Valor Act, this legislation does not represent a slippery slope toward outlawing mere boasts in a tavern. This act recognizes congressional authority under the Constitution to safeguard and protect the reputation and meaning of military decorations and medals.

    As the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently noted in a different Stolen Valor Act challenge, “The Supreme Court has observed time and again, false statements of fact do not enjoy constitutional protection, except to the extent necessary to protect more valuable speech. Under this principle, the Stolen Valor Act does not impinge on or chill protected speech, and therefore does not offend the First Amendment.”

    Like I pointed out in my interview that wasn’t broadcast this morning, people have used their Stolen Valor to give them some sort of moral authority in a particular discussion. Ballduster McSoulpatch claimed that he was a highly decorated general/lieutenant colonel who despite his many awards was ejected from the Army because of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The truth was that he had been discharged years before the policy was enacted and he was an undecorated PFC when he was discharged.

    Rick Duncan/Strandlof, who had never spent a day in uniform, pushed the DADT meme, too, as a gay Marine captain. He also starred in VoteVets commercials for political candidates as a wounded Iraq veteran to entice people to vote as a wounded Iraq veteran would want them to vote.

    Xavier Alvarez, whose case is being discussed today, used his Stolen Valor to advance his political career without spending a day in a real uniform. Gunny Lauve, who had spent a few months in the Navy at the end of World War II had lived off of the kindness of his neigbors for decades. Phony SEAL Jason Truitt stole a hunting trip from some real wounded veteran and took his free rifle.

    All of these instances are egregious breaches of faith, but without Stolen Valor, none of those instances of fraud are illegal. The producer of the radio show asked me if I didn’t think that the penalties (up to year in prison) were too stiff. I answered that ‘no’ I didn’t think so. If laws are a deterrent to criminal behavior, it’d be easy to avoid a year in prison – all a person has to do is not make false claims about their military service.