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

Category: Phony soldiers

  • In Honor of the VVAW

    I didn’t see any heavy ground combat, and didn’t earn any heavy duty medals… But I do like a good sea story. They begin “This ain’t no shit…”

  • Strandlof spotted at Occupy Denver

    Phony IVAW and voteVets spokescreep icon whom neither organization now acts like they ever heard of him, Rick Duncan/Strandlof made an appearance at Occupy Denver this weekend according to the Denver Post;

    That protestor with an angel tattoo on one calf and a devil tattoo on the other appeared to be serial impersonator Rick Strandlof. When approached for his name by a Denver Post photographer, the scruffy man walked a way, collapsing his tent and disappearing into the crowd.

    Since he rarely uses his real name, Strandlof was probably confused by which he should give the reporter.

    He’s been a race propomoter, a wounded veteran and a jewish lawyer in the space of a few years – his most successful persona being a veteran, now he claims he’s homeless and his brain fell right out, according to his blog. Nothing he doesn’t deserve.

    Thanks to Kate for the link to the Denver Post and to TSO for the link to his blog.

  • Jesus Garcia avoids jail time for phony Ranger act

    We first wrote about Jesus Garcia back in June. Well, it seems that the little twerp is going to avoid jail time for scamming people out of thouseands of dollars in his little dress-up game;

    The Greenwich man who posed as a wounded U.S. Army veteran will not serve jail time, but will be confined to his home on Veterans Day and Memorial Day as part of his punishment, his lawyer said Friday.

    Granted accelerated rehabilitation in state Superior Court on Friday, Jesus M. Garcia, 21, has been ordered to turn over all military uniforms and memorabilia, complete 150 hours of community service and attend counseling, according to his attorney, Mark Sherman.

    Staying locked up in his house on two days a year are probably for his own protection…and big damn deal he has to turn over his uniforms. WTF kind of punishment is this?

    Sherman described his client as being “grateful to the court for this second chance.”

    You bet your ass he’s grateful that he lives in a milktoast community that tolerates fraud and phonies.

    Thanks to Jim for the link.

  • Calandra: PTSD made me lie

    Terry Calandra, who we discussed here and here, released a statemnet this weekend blaming his PTSD for his lies about a Silver Star and Distinguished Service Cross “to help justify the things I did over there”. Yeah, he said he earned the Silver Star by jumping on a grenade. First of all, didn’t anyone notice that he wasn’t dead? Secondly, how does telling people that you jumped on a grenade help you justify anything?

    Calandra said he returned home in 1970 angry about his experiences and the receptions Vietnam veterans confronted.

    He said he watched a friend die in his arms in Vietnam and he’s struggled for more than 40 years to erase the horrors of other experiences. He hasn’t been able to do it.

    Millions of people came back angry, but they didn’t start making shit up. he already had 3 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star – none of which should be sneezed at like Calandra did. What made me suspicious of him in the first palce is the fact that he tried to get Arlen Specter to upgrade his Silver Star to a medal of Honor. Now, I’ve heard of groups of people trying to get someone alse’s medal upgraded, but never have I heard of someone trying to get their own medals upgraded.

    The author of the story, in the comments tries to tell the people ripping Calandra to shreds that Calandra isn’t looking for sympathy, but that’s not how the article reads..he blames the war for his cowardly behavior in regards to his pinning on medals and making shit up. Liek I said, millions of motherfuckers went to the war and didn’t come back telling lies. They honored their brothers by being faithful to their memory.

    Calandra is a petty fuck.

    Thanks to Average NCO for the link.

  • Maryland court steals more valor

    In the case of Aron lawless, the Maryland former Marine who scammed Glock out of a free trip to Las Vegas meant for a real hero. Maryland’s federal Disrict Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional, on the grounds that the law was too broad. From the Journal-Star;

    The law was so broadly written, they said, that it would apply to an actor playing a role in a movie who claims to have received a military decoration.

    They argued it was unconstitutional, on its face and specifically as applied to Lawless.

    Yeah, the law has been around for six years and no one has filed charges against Clint Eastwood for his portrayal of Gunny Hiway, the Medal of Honor Marine in “Heartbreak Ridge”, nd I’ pretty sure that a federal prosecutor would find it hard to live with reputation of the guy who indicted Clint. Even if soeone did bring charges, is the Maryland courts saying that the justices couldn’t restrain themselves from allowing the case to go forward?

    In the journal-Star article, it says that Lawless did indeed deploy to iraq, however, a Baltimore Sun article that I linked to earlier this year reports that Lawless only served 35 days nthe Marines before getting booted.

    But i wouldn’t trust the Journal-Star article anyway. The author wrote;

    Lawless enlisted in the Army in March 2005 and was sent to Iraq as an infantryman and awarded an Infantry Badge and the Iraqi Freedom Campaign Ribbon. In July 2006, he returned to the United States to be treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a pre-existing brain lesion.

    What’s an Infantry Badge? The SUn wrote that he was a Marine;

    Lawless did serve in the Marines, according to his military records — but only for 35 days. He was discharged in June 2003 for not disclosing an injury to his right knee before joining the corps, the affidavit said.

    So unless the Marines discharged him and then he enlisted in the Army, journalists have a lot of work to do to straighten out the details of this story before they start writing about it.

    Thanks to ROS for the link.

  • Robert Daly, Deadliest Warrior designer resigns

    CPT Saber send us a link to an article that reports that Deadliest Warrior designer, Robert Daly resigned his position at Pipeworks because of his dishonesty about his military records;

    “I am honoured to have served with the 12th Special Forces Group as an Intelligence Analyst (96B) from 1991 until 1994,” said Daly. “While I wore the green beret as part of my uniform, I utterly regret that I have misrepresented my role by creating the impression that I was a Green Beret. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Green Berets and my fellow servicemen, and I respectfully apologize to the Special Forces community.”

    “At this point in time for the best interests of Pipeworks Software and F9E I am voluntarily resigning my position of Studio Head of Pipeworks effective immediately. Furthermore I have no plans on appearing in any more episodes of Deadliest Warrior.”>

    If he had just stuck to the truth instead of trying to be something he wasn’t, he’d still have his job.

  • Calandra admits stolen valor

    We first wrote about Terry Richard Calandra, 59, of Forks Township, Pa. back in December 2009. He’d spent decades forging a phony record and living from his lies which included a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with a “V” device, and FOUR Purple Hearts. He even enlisted the help of former Senator Arlen Spector in an attempt to get his phony story elevated to a Medal of Honor, which finally turned out to be his undoing.

    Finally, after years of insisting upon the veracity of his record, he finally admitted today that it was all manufactured;

    On Tuesday, the former Forks Township resident admitted that the record of heroism he held out as worthy of the United States’ highest military honor was a web of lies backed by falsified documents.

    So for the folks who said we didn’t know what we’re talking about in this case, you can write your apologies to the email address in the “Contact Us” page. Sometimes you don’t need the records to spot a phony.

  • Deadliest Warrior phony still fighting

    We discussed Robert Daly the other day when our friends at Professional Soldiers sent us his records. The word seems to spreading throughout the gaming community.

    The folks at POW Network sent us this link to an industry article in which Foundation 9, the video games developer says that Daly provided them with documentation that Daly was indeed assigned to a Special Forces unit;

    Foundation 9 has issued a statement in support of Daly, saying that he had provided information that would prove his service in the tight-knit community of the Special Forces. Foundation 9 president David Mann reiterated his support for Daly, saying that “Foundation 9 is very proud of Robert, the leadership he provides his studio, and his service to this country.”

    ProfessionalSoldiers.com founder Jeff Hinton, former member of the Special Forces, remains skeptical, along with the other members of PS.com. The website, who works closely with the Special Forces Association and United States Special Forces Command, has made it clear that they believe Daly has used his attachment with the group to profit.

    JD stands by the original post and so do I. The folks at Foundation 9 need to talk to someone else besides Daley about this documentation they’ve received, which are apparently orders assigning Daley to Support Co, 3rd Battalion, 12th Special Forces Group, which no longer exists.