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

Category: WTF?

  • Think Lightning Never Strikes Twice? Think Again. (Updated)

    Remember about 6 weeks ago when a former VA employee in Rhode Island got sentenced for stealing VA tombstones awaiting disposition and using them to pave his carport?  Think it couldn’t possibly happen again?

    Well, you’re right.  It didn’t happen again.

    At least not exactly. This time it was a patio and a staircase that were found to be paved with what appeared to be VA-provided veteran’s tombstones.  And it was in Missouri vice Rhode Island.

    I’m dead serious.

     

     

    The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article with more details. It’s worth a read.

    Sheesh. You’d think the cheap bastard who did this would have at least had the decency to turn the headstones name side down.

    At least now the matter is under investigation by the VA OIG.

     

    UPDATE:  well, it looks like no investigation will be required.  The owner of the home in question has admitted that the patio was made from discarded headstones he found in a landfill. (A local monument company apparently did at one time did make VA headstones.)  He also went on to say, “I was just making something out of nothing . . . I didn’t know.”

    Presumably he means “I didn’t know that was a bad thing to do.”  Make up your own mind whether you believe the guy or not.

    The guy also indicated he’ll remove the patio.  Presumably that goes for the staircase, too.

     

     

     

  • And In the (Historical) “WTF?” and “YGBSM!” Departments . . . .

    Remember how Jimmy the Clueless treated the military just “oh so well”? (Yes, that was sarcasm.  This article includes much of that.)

    The recent mention of Operation EAGLE CLAW here got me curious, so I did a bit of digging.  I discovered something I never knew.  And as the old Southern expression goes:   “Y’all ain’t gonna believe this sh!t!”

    Take a look at this list. It does not include an entry for Operation EAGLE CLAW – AKA the Iranian Hostage Rescue Mission.

    Now, take a look at this list – specifically, at the 7th entry on the list’s 2nd page. I suspect you’ll be as shocked as I was.

    Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Military personnel who actually flew into Iran on that mission DID NOT receive the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM). Instead, they received . . . the Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM).

    I wish I was kidding.

    I’m not slamming the HSM; humanitarian assistance missions are legit, and they can be dangerous as hell too.  We recently lost some Marines on a humanitarian mission in Nepal.

    But it just seems to me that going in harm’s way to rescue American citizens and military personnel held hostage as the result of an act of war by a foreign government is fundamentally different than any kind of humanitarian relief operation. IMO serving in such an operation should receive a different kind of recognition.

    But it didn’t; don’t ask me why.  Only thing I can figure out is that either the Pentagon or the POTUS must have felt attempting to rescue US prisoners held by Iran after they invaded sovereign US territory (the US Embassy in Tehran) was essentially no different than helping resettle the criminals Castro palmed off on us during the Mariel Boat Lift.  Or maybe they were afraid of p!ssing off the Iranians even more if they offered appropriate recognition with an AFEM.  (Either way, my money’s on the POTUS – but I could be wrong.)

    In a bit of historic irony, US military support for resettlement of those Mariel Boat Lift “refugees” is the next operation on the list of officially recognized HSM operations. It started 2 days after Operation EAGLE CLAW.

    If this little bit of historical “appropriate recognition” doesn’t fall into the WTF? And YGBSM! categories, I’ll just be damned if I know what does.

    Thanks once again “oh so much”, Mr. Peanut.

  • Military Collectors, Eat Your Heart Out!

    Many people enjoy collecting things.  Some even collect military items and other military memorabilia.

    But this one is going to be pretty hard to top.  In fact, maybe this guy went a bit overboard.

    Seems a 78 year old German man in the town of Heikendorf had an interesting collection in his cellar.  As you might guess, his collection included a few old German military items.

    Including a torpedo, an anti-aircraft gun, some other old weapons . . . and a complete Panther tank, circa 1943.

    Seriously.

    The man also apparently made no real secret of the fact that he had the tank.  The town’s mayor indicated he’d been seen driving it previously during the 1978 snow emergency in the region.

    German authorities have at least temporarily confiscated the man’s collection.  It’s unclear whether he’s broken German law or not, since the weapons the man owned appear to have been rendered inoperative.

  • That Prestigious NDSM!

    That Prestigious NDSM!

    One of our regulars here (sj) speaks very highly of the National Defense Service Medal – though from the context of his comments, if I’m reading him right I believe he’s doing so somewhat tongue-in-cheek.  But it turns out that there is a surprising quirk when it comes to this medal.

    Here’s a trivia question.  True or false: it is not possible for someone legitimately to rate the Vietnam Service Medal (VSM) unless they also qualified for the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM).

    It turns out that the answer to that question is somewhat surprising. At least, I was surprised by what I ran across the other day.

    Best I can tell, the answer to the question is, believe it or not, “False.”  It does appear possible for someone to legitimately rate the VSM without also qualifying for the NDSM.  In fact, there appear to be at least two different scenarios in which an individual might do exactly that.

    Here are the details.

    1.  DoDM 1348.33-V2, dated November 23, 2010, w/Change 2, specifies the eligibility criteria for the NDSM and VSM. The NDSM’s criteria are given in Enclosure 3, pp. 59-61, of the document; the NDSM’s, on pp. 66-70.

    2.  Per the DoDM, the NDSM Vietnam eligibility period runs from 1 January 1961 to 14 August 1974. The VSM’s eligibility period is from July 4, 1965, and March 28, 1973.

    So, that means it is not possible to have a legit VSM without the NDSM, right?  Well, that would seem to be true.

    Except it’s not.  There’s another thing that DoDM 1348.33-V2 also allows – called “AFEM conversion”.

    3.  Personnel serving in Vietnam between 1 July 1958 and 3 July 1965 were eligible to receive the AFEM for service in Vietnam.  On application, DoDM 1348.33-V2 allows these personnel at their option to elect to convert their AFEM for service in Vietnam to the VSM.

    (They may also opt to retain the AFEM – but they can’t receive both the AFEM and VSM for service in Vietnam.  So if an individual served in Vietnam both before and after 4 July 1965, it appears that DoD policy requires that they must remove any AFEMs awarded for service prior to that date to receive the VSM.)

    4.  Conversion of AFEM to VSM is also allowed for those personnel awarded the AFEM for service in Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon) on 29-30 April 1975.  The two conversions are specifically authorized in para 17.e.(2)(a) and para 17.e.(2)(b) of DoDM 1348.33-V2.

    What that means is that there are at least two hypothetical scenarios in which a person could technically – at the individual’s option – legitimately rate the VSM without rating the NDSM. The first such scenario would be that of a young Soldier who joined the Army in 1956, served in Vietnam very early (during 1959-1960), and then left active duty prior to the end of that year. The second scenario would be a young Airman, Sailor or Marine who enlisted in 1974 on or after 15 August, went to training, was assigned to a unit or ship supporting Frequent Wind, and later left the service prior to 2 August 1990.

    In both cases, the individual would have originally received the AFEM for their service in or supporting Vietnam.  However, conversion of that AFEM to the VSM would be authorized.  They could apply to the appropriate Board for Correction of Military/Naval Records to do so.  (I believe I’ve seen a case or two where an early Vietnam vet did exactly that – e.g., applied to the appropriate Board well after discharge to have their AFEM converted to the VSM.)

    But in neither case would the individual be eligible for the NDSM.  All of their service would be outside a qualifying period for award of the NDSM.

    So, I guess sj is right:  the NDSM really is a big deal after all.  It turns out you can rate a campaign medal and still not qualify for that prestigious NDSM!

    That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. (smile)

    . . .

    For what it’s worth:  the same is true for the AFEM regarding service in a whole laundry list of operations.  And it’s also true for a number of operations qualifying for the Navy Expeditionary Medal or Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.

    It’s also true for service qualifying for the Kosovo Campaign Medal if the individual joined the military after November 1995 and their service ended prior to 11 September 2001, too (provided they didn’t join the Selected Reserve or a National Guard unit after leaving active duty).

    . . .

    Remember, folks:  we’re talking DoD policy.  It doesn’t have to make any sense. (smile)

  • Waverly “Wave” Reynar, The Rest of the Story UPDATED

    Waverly “Wave” Reynar, The Rest of the Story UPDATED

    At the bottom of the post I have added an example of how he altered forms to prove his lies.

    Waverly Reynar was a Marine, we knew that. He was also in the Navy, we also knew that. He was a cook, we knew that too. What we didn’t know is he did do some time in Vietnam. 6 months and some change. He was based in Danang.

    Everything else he claimed is a lie of pants on fire proportion.

    This guy really pisses me off. He hurt Real Wounded Warriors with his lies. He took free trips given to him based on those lies. He even had the balls to claim his own son was killed in action,

    But it’s also brought grief – Reynar’s son was killed in Iraq.
    “That miserable war isn’t worth one more life,” Reynar said before bursting into tears at the Leduc Legion, where he was celebrating Remembrance Day with friends, among them several members of the RCMP.

    That is despicable. What kind of low life bottom dwelling shitbird fakes being a Gold Star Father?

    This turd will die someday, his coffin will be draped with a US flag. he will bring more disgrace to that flag by laying beneath it than anyone ever did by walking on it or burning it.

    The Records;

    The Navy says he served 11 years and got out as a E-5

    REYNAR_FOIA-R_Navy_1968-1979_20150601-page-001 REYNAR_FOIA-R_Navy_1968-1979_20150601-page-002 REYNAR_FOIA-R_Navy_1968-1979_20150601-page-003

    The Marines say he served 4 years and was discharged as a corporal, that’s almost the same as 20+ years he claimed  and being a Gunny, after all whats 16 extra years of service and 3 pay grades between friends?

    reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-002 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-003 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-004 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-005 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-006 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-007 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-008 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-009 reynar_waverly_charles_nprc_2-page-010

    This guy came from Canada and Joined the Marines when herds of hippies were running to Canada to avoid being drafted. That one fact right would have been enough for most people to give him all the praise and accolades he could ever have wanted.  He ruined all of his good service with the decades of lies.

    His lies have hurt real Marines that are trying desperately to  get on with their lives.

    I’m calling this one early, Waverly Reynar is the next Blue Falcon award winner. Bernath doesn’t hold a candle to Wave when it comes to out right lies and deception.

    UPDATE

    I wanted to add an example of how he altered documents, the photo below is of the request he sent in to the Dept of the Navy to have his medals replaced. He uses this as proof of the medals he says he has. IF you look you will see the some of the check boxes are done in blue ink. The rest are checked in black. The black checks are computer generated, the blue he added. This is basically a picking picked used when the replacement medals are sent.

    med2688

  • You Say, “Pix or It Didn’t Happen”? Here Ya Go.

    Well, the road trip is over. But on the way back, I had a chance to verify something.

    I previously posted an article about an, um, “interestingly-named” town in Florida. Well, in case anyone thought I – or Google Maps – might be pulling yer leg, here ya go: photographic proof.

     

    Yeah, the picture sucks, and is fairly blurry. Sorry – but YOU try driving in traffic with one hand while snapping a photo of a smallish road sign with the other.  At the time, stopping in the middle of the road to get a better shot was NOT a viable option. It’s at least fairly readable.

    As I said previously: only in America!

  • Maybe A Potential New Home for Someone We “Know and Love”?

    Many folks that regular TAH readers “know and love” reside in Florida. Indeed, the list of Florida residents featured here at TAH is fairly long.

    At least one of them also seems to have some interesting ideas about the English language and/or human anatomy. Well, “that guy” might be interested in what follows.

    If that aforementioned       Dumbass      “great guy” ever tires of his current residence and decides he wants to move, I’m pretty sure now he’ll be able to stay in Florida. I found this the other day while poking around on the Internet. Based on some of his previous statements, I think he’ll find it quite to his liking.  I added the red oval to the image to highlight the location’s name.

     

    No, that’s not a joke.  It’s an actual unincorporated village in Seminole County, Florida.  That is indeed its formally-designated name.

    Beats hell out of me what the Seminole County Commission was thinking at the time they named the place. Maybe they were just unaware of the more, um, “informal” definition of the term.

    Only in America. (smile)

  • Yer Friday Funny, Part 2: You Ain’t Gonna Believe This Sh. . . .

    It looks like we may now have a verified, actual occurrence of what the late Kurt Vonnegut referred to in Cat’s Cradle as a “pool-pah”.

    Literally.

    As the article points out: at least the party was memorable. (smile)