Category: Phony soldiers

AnotherPat sends us a link to the story of Joshua Linney, a candidate for mayor of Holmes Beach, Florida. Linney claimed that he was a veteran of the 1st Gulf War – even though he was only 15 years old at the time the war was fought;

“I’m a Gulf War veteran whose worked to overcome war, trauma, alcoholism, chemical dependence and PTSD, while living with disabilities, and I conquered them all,” Linney, 42, wrote in a biography submitted to the Manatee County supervisor of elections office and posted on the agency’s website.

According to the article, Linney joined the Army in 1993 and went to Kuwait, earning the Southwest Asia Service Medal, but well after hostilities.

Linney still claims to be a Gulf War veteran and that he has been diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome, a multi-symptom medical condition that has affected many veterans of the war.

“The reason I say Iraq to people, I’m not saying it to be misleading,” Linney said. “Saying I flew into Saudi Arabia doesn’t explain what they are asking so it’s easier to say Iraq. It’s not a misrepresentation.”

In his biography, Linney states that while he was in the Army, he turned down an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to attend airborne and Army Ranger training. He also said he graduated from Advanced Infantry Training.

However, there is no such thing as Advance Infantry Training in the Army. Every soldier who goes through basic training regardless of job description undergoes Advanced Individual Training for their particular assignment. In Linney’s case, he was a cook and not an infantryman.

“I misspoke there,” Linney said. “I wasn’t trying to misrepresent myself as infantry. I know what AIT is and I wrote it down wrong.”

Linney did complete jump school, but there is no indication he attended the Ranger Indoctrination Program, or RIP, a three-week course that must be completed before being eligible to attend Ranger School. Linney claims he was attending RIP when he was injured on a jump and was reassigned.

Yeah, not much chance there was a Ranger School slot for a spoon.

Dude is a hot mess. He’s been arrested for DUI, and several drug charges. His Facebook page says that he’s Chief Technology Officer at Veterans For Cannabis.

In 2012, Linney was charged with petit theft and battery, but the charges were dropped. In 2013, he was charged with petit theft for shoplifting at the Cortez Road Walmart, and paid restitution and court costs. He was charged again in 2016 for misdemeanor theft for shoplifting at the Walmart in Palmetto for which he again paid restitution and court costs.

Linney had trouble remembering most of his run-ins with law enforcement, but he said most of the drug arrests were dropped, including one arrest for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and another arrest for possession of cocaine.

“I never had any problems with coke,” he said. “It doesn’t work for me and it’s something I never enjoyed..”

Someone sent us their work on this fellow Kevin Hipple who told his local news people at KSWO that Fourth of July fireworks trigger his PTSD;

On Independence Day, we celebrate the founding of our nation with friends and family, BBQ’s and fireworks. But the jaw-dropping light shows can trigger PTSD in veterans.

“People like me, we’re not rare, but we have an injury you can’t see,” said Kevin Hipple.

Kevin Hipple is referring to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hipple served in the United States Army for 13 years, fighting for our freedom in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. His time in the 82nd and 18th Airborne Corp exposed him to the unthinkable.

“You get people blowing off fireworks and it reminds me of what I did over there,” he said. “I did some mean, nasty, ugly things that my country made me do to protect it. I get real bad nightmares.”

Hipple was diagnosed with PTSD 10 years ago when he spent six months in the hospital for the disorder. While the Fourth of July is a time to celebrate our country and thank those who keep us safe, Hipple encourages people to find out if their neighbors are veterans and give them a heads-up about the fireworks.

“Not everyone has done what we’ve done,” Hipple said. “If you’re going to blow off fireworks, at least check out your neighbor and see if they’re okay.”

In the video at this link, you can see his Ranger Tab tattoo.

He did go to Desert Storm with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery which deployed to Desert Storm as part of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps which supported the 101st Airborne Division during Desert Storm.

According to his records, Hipple attended two weeks of Pre-Ranger training but he didn’t go to Ranger School;

I don’t know what Hipple thinks were “mean, nasty, ugly things that my country made me do to protect it”, but since he was assigned to a unit that made the some of the loudest noises on the battlefield, I kind of doubt that pop-pop-pop fireworks trigger him.

And, he’s not a Ranger because he attended a two week orientation for Ranger School.

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this Justin Bloomfield fellow from Hereford, Arizona. Justin claims to be a former Navy SEAL, a second generation frog man who likes hideous hats and shirts;

He also likes to play dress-up on Veterans’ Day to get a free meal;

The US Navy has never heard of him, though;

Goofy-looking turd;

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this fellow Benjamin Eric Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. These are pictures from his wedding – he wore the SEAL Trident and the badge for SEAL Team Four;

The Navy remembers his time with them differently;

Based off of Benjamin’s DD-214 it shows that he served on active duty in the US Navy for 3 years, 11 months, 29 days (2008-2012) and was discharged as an AM3 (E-4) Aviation Structural Mechanic. Benjamin received a few medals/ribbons and was stationed at Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Seven in Norfolk, VA. After 2006 the SEAL Teams obtained their own rate Special Warfare Operator (SO). Benjamin did NOT attend BUD/S, did NOT receive the SO rate, was NOT stationed at a SEAL Team and was NOT a SEAL. Looks like he’ll have some explaining to do to his newlywed.

Someone sent us their work on this fellow Clifford Gregory from Ocean City, Maryland who claims he’s a Navy SEAL. Who else do we know from Ocean City who claims he’s a SEAL? That’s right, Joe Cryer;

Yeah, Cliff and Joe vouching for each other. But Cliff is the real bad ass;

The National Personnel Records Center and the Navy ask “Who?”

Well, there are records that exist that the NPRC doesn’t have;

Our partners at Guardians of the Green Beret share their work with us on this Brett Watson fellow who claims that he was a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam.

Of course, he scrubbed his Facebook presence, but not soon enough. Yep, tattoos and a vest;

We see his units as:

Co. B 4th Bn 1st BCT Bnd USATCI, Ft Bragg N.C. (Basic Training) 1968

Co. C 7th Bn 3d AIT BDE Ft Gordon Ga, (AIT) 1969

48th Co 4th Stu Bn, Ft Benning Ga, (Basic Airborne Training) 1969

HHC 2d Bn 508th Inf, Co. A 4th Bn 503rd Inf, Co. A 2d Bn 509th Inf (RVN 1969-1970)

Co. A 2d Bn 8th Inf Germany 1970-77

Never did he complete or even attempt the SF Course which was called SFTG back in his era, Special Forces Training Group. He was not assigned to an SF Unit his entire time spent in the service.

His records below show what was earned and what are his lies:

Row 1) Silver Star False

Row 2) Bronze Star True

Purple heart w/ Oak Leaf False

Air Medal False

Row 3) Army Commendation Medal True

Army Good Conduct Medal True

National Defense Service Medal True

4) Air Force Outstanding Unit Award False

Vietnam Service Medal True

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal True

5) Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal False

Need This one??? False

Multi-National Force and Observers Medal False

CIB True

SF Tab False

Ranger Tab False

SF SSI False

Leadership tabs False

5th Group flash. Depending on the picture he wears both the RVN era and the Solid black one. False

Master Parachutist False

Pathfinder False

Military Freefall False

SFC False

4 Service Stripes False (He does have 2)

Vietnamese Jumpmaster Wings False

WKRG tells the story of Darryl Touchstone in Escambia County, Florida who worked for a cabinet-maker, Cabinets Direct. He told his employer that he was a major in the National Guard and that he’d have to take off from work to fulfill his military obligations. Being patriotic, his boss continued to pay him while he reported for duty.

Finally, Touchstone bit off more than he could chew – he told his employer that the Guard was increasing his responsibilities and that he didn’t have time to work for Cabinets Direct;

That’s when his supervisor found out that the alleged deception went much further. According to court documents, Cabinets Direct discovered several incomplete sales contracts. Customers were complaining. Court documents indicate that Touchstone was running a side-gig, selling Cabinets Direct to customers, but then installing his own cheaper cabinets.

That’s when the issue of stolen valor finally came to light. Cabinets Direct contacted the unit Touchstone said he was serving in the guard to complain about his behavior. That’s when they learned he wasn’t a major, and he wasn’t even in the military. Those court documents indicate he was thrown out of the guard for going AWOL, absent without leave, a year earlier. He was never a major, but a low-level enlisted specialist.

He had bilked his employer out of $12,000. Touchstone was arrested for larceny and fraud last Thursday. It looks like he’s still on probation for an insurance fraud conviction.

Our partners at Stolen Valour – Canada send us their work on this Robert Cooper fellow who claims that he was a hero of the Canadian Army. SV-C has a tougher time verifying claims than we have;

Our team conducted a thorough review of all available records, this included websites, newspaper articles, photographic images, regimental tour books, searchable data bases of medal recipients and extracts from military documents in Canada and the US in order to determine the legitimacy of his claims.

SV-C then reached out to the regimental and corps associations, their museums and other organizations in which Cooper has claimed to have served. The publicly accessible records, that we have had the opportunity to review, do not support the majority of his claims. That being said, the absence of verifiable records alone does not conclusively prove that an individual is a fake or embellisher, it just indicates that there are no records…

What we do know, Cooper was a Signalman (Private) radio operator in I Headquarters and Signal Squadron located in CFB Calgary in the early 1980s. By all accounts, he had a some what lack lustre career trajectory, he couldn’t pass the Battle Fitness Tests required of all soldiers in the field force and it’s reported he went AWOL on at least 2 occasions! And, he was shown the door…

I guess he was at a trial in February wearing his phony finery and he was confronted by another veteran. After months of investigation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police knocked on his door and took his medals;

Cooper claimed that the US awarded these medals when he served as a contractor in Afghanistan;

From the Red Deer Press;

“An investigation was commenced and on April 30 with the assistance from Stolen Valour Canada, the Wetaskiwin RCMP executed a search warrant in rural Wetaskiwin. Seven replica military medals were seized from the home.

“53-years-old Robert cooper of Wetaskiwin has been charged with (7) counts of unlawful use of military medals.

“The Wetaskiwin RCMP would like to remind the public the wearing of military medals and impersonation of military veterans is unlawful and disrespectful to our wounded and fallen and to their service to Canada,” added Hepburn.

He could afford the medals, but he complains that he can’t afford a lawyer to defend him from 7 counts of martial buffoonery.