![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Richard-Currey3-294x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center>We wrote about this Richard Currey<\/a> fellow earlier this month – about how he’d written a novel about a Fleet Marine Corpsman and his experiences in Vietnam and how none of it was based in reality, because, although he had been a Fleet Marine Navy Corpsman, Currey had never been in Vietnam. He has spent the last 40 years or so presenting the image of a Vietnam veteran, one that the general public could understand – that of the reluctant warrior. Well, the mask has been lifted. An interview with Currey that was scheduled to broadcast on NPR in Idaho over Memorial Day weekend was cancelled<\/a> because he couldn’t prove to the interviewer that he had been to Vietnam;<\/p>\n![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Richard-Currey-PBS-Facebook-174x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center>His story now is that he spent 75 days in Vietnam but, the Navy screwed him because he was so anti-war during his service and they deleted it from his records. I wonder where they deleted it;<\/p>\n![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Richard-Currey-Assignments-232x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center>He provides this DD214;<\/p>\n![\"DD-214_Richard](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/DD-214_Richard-Currey-231x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center>I’ll admit to one mistake that I made. I thought that CLNC meant that he was a medic in the clinic, but after thinking about it, it probably means Camp Lejeune, North Carolina – that makes more sense actually. The DD214 says that he spent a year and change on a ship and outside the Continental United States, however I don’t see that in his records. I certainly don’t see 75 days in Vietnam, either. Of course, Currey says that he can’t give the names of anyone that he served in Vietnam with 40 years ago. I’ll bet most of you Vietnam veterans could find someone who served with you. Desert Storm was 24 years ago and I can point you towards at least ten people who served with me – within about ten minutes or so.<\/p>\nCurrey was looking forward to the reissue of his books, but that’s been postponed for the time being. His publisher, Andrew Griffin writes to a friend of ours;<\/p>\n
Richard’s books are works of fiction. By your argument, we should condemn George R.R. Martin for never setting foot in Westeros, or J.R.R. Tolkien for never having visited Middle Earth.<\/p>\n
And, no, don’t say that’s not the same…because it is.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, no, it’s not the same. Vietnam really did happen, The Lord of the Rings didn’t. What Mister Currey writes about the Vietnam War reflects on real people. Stank-ass hippies like Currey have perpetuated myths about Vietnam veterans for decades. For example, there was Bill Chengelis<\/a> who claimed that during his fake Vietnam service, he had cut the ears off of dead Viet Cong as one of his company clerk duties. That was fiction, too, but it reflects poorly on all Vietnam veterans.<\/p>\n
Mr. Griffin complains that initial posting about Currey on this blog has injured him financially, well, then he should be more careful about the writers with whom he does business. It’s not our fault that Currey lied about his service. We’re in the business of truth-telling, Mr Currey has built a reputation on his lies.<\/p>\n
75 days in Vietnam would be documented in his records and the Navy has no credible reason to delete a record of his service in Vietnam, and he has no service medals for Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Griffin claims that he’s going to conduct his own investigation, because the NPRC’s records aren’t enough to convince him. I don’t know how he’ll do that since Currey claims that he has no documentation, nor does he have any witnesses to vouch for him. So, good luck with that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"