Category: Phony soldiers

Master Chief Jeffrey L. Sparenberg recited his experiences aboard the USS Cole at the time of the terrible bombing of that ship on October 12, 2000 to the Navy Times;

Master Chief Jeffrey L. Sparenberg, the highest-ranking enlisted crewman aboard, was testing oil in the midship lab with Ensign Andrew Triplett.

Sparenberg said Triplett should lunch first, but relented.

“Mr. Triplett told me to go ahead and eat and he’d stay in the oil lab,” he said.

So Sparenberg, who now lives near Stanton, headed up a few decks toward the galley, stopping to wash his hands.

Then “I felt a noise so loud, you didn’t hear it,” he said. “It was like, when you hit your head really bad, that moment you feel before you know what happened.”

His first thought was that something had gone wrong with the grounding line and the fueling rig exploded.

The idea of a terrorist suicide bombing never entered his mind.

Sparenberg goes on to describe the chaos and his derring-do over the next few days as the ship and it’s crew tried to recover. The only problem is; Sparenberg didn’t arrive on the ship until four days after the bombing;

Retired Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the Cole’s skipper at the time, said he distinctly remembers being told after the attack that a new crew member was in Bahrain, waiting to join the ship.

Someone back in the States asked whether they should send the sailor back to the U.S., but Lippold – who’d just lost 17 crew members, including a senior chief – knew he could use more help. He gave approval for Sparenberg to join the crew.

“During the time he was on board the ship following the attack, he did an excellent job in helping the ship through some difficult times,” Lippold said.

However, he added, “I know for a fact he wasn’t aboard the day of the attack.”

Luckily, Sparenberg also wore a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in the picture above, so the boy is doing jail time.

You’d think the Navy Times would have done a bit of research on the fellow whose pants are apparently on fire.

Thanks to all of the people who sent the links over the past few days.

Jerry920 sends us a link to a FoxNews story about the launch of a new reporting system at AMVETS for reporting Stolen Valor cases.

The Stolen Valor Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2006, amended the provisions of previous laws concerning unauthorized usage, manufacture or sale of military decorations and medals. A violation of the law is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $150,000 fine.

“What we’re doing is creating awareness of this crime,” Agg said. “We think it’ll be a very good deterrent for those contemplating stealing the valor of others.”

Aside from violating federal law, Agg said, the “real harm” when someone impersonates a veteran is the lasting effect on how the public views former and current service members.

Our buddy, Just A Grunt, who also writes at jammiewearingfool, wrote about the new website and mentioned us.

While I think prosecuting these Stolen Valor cases is important, the media and the public in general, don’t understand and don’t report the connections some of these phonies have to anti-war organizations. For example, where, besides This Ain’t Hell, have you read that Richard Strandlof was deeply steeped in the anti-war organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War and VoteVets. It’s been virtually overlooked, but it’s important because it speaks to the character of those organizations who seem to be more interested in the anti-war message than the messenger. False but accurate is their guide.