{"id":110353,"date":"2021-02-09T06:58:12","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T11:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=110353"},"modified":"2021-02-09T07:28:48","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T12:28:48","slug":"les-brown-even-in-death-the-claims-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=110353","title":{"rendered":"Les Brown &#8211; Even in Death, The Claims Persist"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_110354\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110354\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-110354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-333x333.jpg 333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-110354\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Les Brown<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other than the question of the Annual Chili Feed, we thought that the chapter of Les Brown was closed with his death. We posted about that here.<\/p>\n<p>Well it seems that the good people of Elko, Nevada are still under the impression that Les retired from the military as a Master Sergeant and are raising money with that claim even after Les has died.<\/p>\n<p>Also, Les now seems to have been awarded a Bronze Star.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-110355\" src=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser.jpg 912w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown_fundraiser-452x333.jpg 452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>None of this shows up on Brown&#8217;s official military records.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_110356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110356\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-110356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003.jpg 1700w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/foia-brown-_003-257x333.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-110356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>FOIA &#8211; NPRC &#8211; Summary Sheet &#8211; Lester Kent Brown<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The rest of Brown&#8217;s records can be found in the original post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=89053&amp;cpage=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Master Sergeant and Bronze Star claims do not even show up on the DD-214 that Brown presented in his defense of embellished claims.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>NOTE: The bronze star on the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a small bronze star that designates a second award of the NDSM and should not be confused with the Bronze Star Medal.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_110357\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110357\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-110357\" src=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992.jpg 1275w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lester-kent-brown-dd214-1992-257x333.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-110357\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>DD-214 Presented by Lester Brown<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But none of this has seemed to deter those familiar with Les Brown from raising money based on these claims.<\/p>\n<p>Here is Les Brown wearing unsubstantiated Master Sergeant rank insignia out in public &#8211; one at a parade and another during a school visit with kids.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_110358\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110358\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-110358 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt-500x264.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt-500x264.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt-300x159.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt-768x406.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/lesbrown-mastersgt.jpg 1717w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-110358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Les Brown with Master Sergeant Rank Insignia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We have no issue with raising money to help with expenses, but it should not be done under false pretenses.<\/p>\n<p>It is surprising that the Elko Daily Free Press did not do an article honoring Les Brown upon his passing &#8211; especially since they rigorously defended him and his claims when Brown was called out.\u00a0 I would have expected to see them double down and have an article with photos of Les Brown visiting the schools and hugging the children with his military uniform on.\u00a0 That would have fully completed the Les Brown circle.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Elko Daily Free Press could have even donated a full-page tribute to raise money off of the claims of Master Sergeant and Bronze Star?\u00a0 Seems only fitting since Brown was a local military legend.<\/p>\n<p>What about those kids who hugged Les Brown with tears in their eyes after hearing his stories?\u00a0 Don&#8217;t they deserve to hear some kind of tribute with his passing?<\/p>\n<p>If the Elko Daily Free Press would have published a tribute and\/or fundraiser for Les Brown, they could have counted on us to bring awareness to them bringing awareness.<\/p>\n<p>After all, the driving principle seems to be that it does not matter whether something is true or not, what matters is whether you can invoke passion and prompt people to donate money.\u00a0 Les Brown fully embodied this principle as well as taught this to people around him.\u00a0 Les Brown was quoted as saying <em>&#8220;They talk about things we wear on our vests that we didn\u2019t earn. Well, we all wear something on our vests that we didn\u2019t earn.\u201d\u00a0 (<a href=\"https:\/\/elkodaily.com\/news\/local\/local-head-of-pow-mia-under-fire\/article_195a40c4-ee66-5db5-b5bc-7885b33384ac.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elko Daily Free Press &#8211; July 26, 2019<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Or is it all just too uncomfortable to print?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>[Special thanks to MarineDad61 for the awareness and links.]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Other than the question of the Annual Chili Feed, we thought that the chapter of Les &hellip; <a title=\"Les Brown &#8211; Even in Death, The Claims Persist\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=110353\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Les Brown &#8211; Even in Death, The Claims Persist<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":110354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[392,408,391],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-armyposer","category-stolen-valor","category-valorvultures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110361,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110353\/revisions\/110361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/110354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}