Stolen Valor

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/john-donald-cody-harvard-_n_1931841.html

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/bo...ty-scam/2157308

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/05/26/4884594/fort-worth-police-say-colonel.html?rh=1


They are every where.

Just a quick note. Not all medals are on everyones DD 214. For instance, I got out and several months later a medal showed up in my mailbox. I was told it is on a DD 215 by a recruiter who called one day 5 or 6 years ago. I have never seen my DD 215 personally so IDK.

I carry a copy of my DD214 in my phone. If I were working with vets, I would ask to see their DD214. I show mine at HD and Lowes to get the discount.

There is a special place in hell for those who embellish or flat out lie about their service or lack thereof.

OP does a wonderful thing for us true veterans, and anyone who takes advantage of his kindness should get a good old fashioned @ss whoopin.

I am pretty sure that everyone I have ever met and believed to have been a phony was some type of special forces. I think I have met at least 100 or so in or around the Austin area and it pisses me off everytime.

I worked for my company in Austin for a little over four years, ending about 10 years ago, personally interviewing Veterans for job placement. I interviewed an average of 34 Veteran's a week-day over that time period, you do the math. If everyone who said they were truly was there must have been a Green Beret under every tree, bush, and shrub in "The 'Nam," as they all called it. I was fortunate enough to meet some genuine heroes, but also a BUNCH of lying a-holes in that town. I learned fast, and I'd let them know, after hearing their story, that I'd been given special access to computer files to verify service information. As soon as my fingers hit the keyboard the ohs, ahs, and buts would start flowing. There is a web-link to verify Purple Heart recipients, though. I think I still have it on my office computer and I think it's public. If that would help I'll forward the link to the OP. Speaking of, thanks for what you do.

I seen a marine who had army jump wings tattooed on his arm. I said I didn't know there were airborne marines. He went on this story how he went to army jump school but only did one jump oh and his jump school was 6 months lonf. I instantly called him a liar in front of his wife. Then went on to break down his story piece by piece.

That made more sense because there were no Seals in the 60's.

Between fake guys, guys that only want to set up their buddies, people telling you that you are to crazy for how much money you spend, to guys not showing up, to taxidermist not following through, to guys wanting to change everything...

It is really hard trying to help people some times. Not trying to bitch but I get it. Funny how 7 or 8 bad hunts can ruin 400+ good ones.

The guy that duped us had a fake ID and a fake DD 214. All I can do is talk to these guys and try to get a feeling that they are telling the truth. Brian Culp fooled the VA Medical Center so I will just have to trust my gut.
Pat

One of the best caught in the acts yet.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=910957412248547

I saw that video earlier on Facebook he knew he was busted you can see him getting nervous and in his eyes

The person that this post is about (Brian Culp) called me today and told me that If I did not take this post down he was going to sue me for defamation of character. I always say don't pick a fight with an old guy, he can,t run so he will just hurt you. Does anyone think I should take it down.

The person that this post is about (Brian Culp) called me today and told me that If I did not take this post down he was going to sue me for defamation of character. I always say don't pick a fight with an old guy, he can,t run so he will just hurt you. Does anyone think I should take it down.

This guy keeps calling and threatening me with a law suit. The dumb [censored] doesn't know that if it is true he can't sue. He now calls himself Chaz, is that gay or what. He is a real dipstick.

Just a quick note. Not all medals are on everyones DD 214. For instance, I got out and several months later a medal showed up in my mailbox. I was told it is on a DD 215 by a recruiter who called one day 5 or 6 years ago. I have never seen my DD 215 personally so IDK.

I never knew Marines were excepted to Army jump schools. That is good info right there. I appreciate that being posted up here.

Yes, Marines attend Army jump school and the basic jump wings are the Army's. Although I'm a former Marine, I have a 101st AB Screaming Eagle tattoo on my left arm because I attended their jump class. It does say "USMC" in the banner, though, and not 101st AB Div.

No. Culp is a coward, he won't show up here.
Pat

I think Slow Drifter is talking about a tattoo he had showing his jump status. I don't see a thing wrong with that.

My time in the service was back in the 60's and if my memory serves me I think each Airborne division had their own jump school. I may be wrong there. I see you coming on here trying to call someone out right off the batt over a tattoo and his wording in his post and I don't think that is right. Maybe his wording wasn't exactly the way you think it should have been but I didn't see anything wrong with it.

No. Culp is a coward, he won't show up here.
Pat

I will be going back to McKinney to testify against Culp again in December. This guy just won't quit.
Pat

Understood. I respect your position. And I still hold my position, even if you don't think it is right. What you think doesn't dictate my actions.

I'm sure he can answer for himself if he wants or he can ignore me totally. It should be much easier to simply answer and clarify than defend without explanation. I never questioned his wording or stated how I think it should be... I just wonder why a Marine would get an army tattoo to show airborne status and then remove the word "airborne" to replace it with "usmc". I doubt you have usmc tattoo's after your army service. If you did, I would probably ask why out of curiosity.

And by the way... Thank YOU for your service.

There are prob more real service members that embellish or straight up lie about their service and achievements/experiences than there are straight up posers who never served.

A simply ask to see their DD214 to prove their military service and so called valor claims would fix the issue if you are donating or contributing to any veteran. If they act all pissy than they are hiding something.

I co founded a nonprofit called Hookset Brothers Combat Recovery a 501c3 organization that empowers Veterans with Combat related PTSD by providing free hunting and fishing trips. If we ever question one of the combat veterans that get selected for our trips we simply ask for dd214.

There are prob more real service members that embellish or straight up lie about their service and achievements/experiences than there are straight up posers who never served.

I found it amazing on how many veterans that have actually served that claimed things that never occurred.

I found it amazing on how many veterans that have actually served that claimed things that never occurred.

There are prob more real service members that embellish or straight up lie about their service and achievements/experiences than there are straight up posers who never served.

There are prob more real service members that embellish or straight up lie about their service and achievements/experiences than there are straight up posers who never served.

That�s severely depressing. Thanks guys.

After serving in the Air Force and moving back to Texas in 93, I went to several gun shows with my buddy over the next several years. I was amazed at how many Seals, Rangers & other special forces people I met. Of course my BS meter would go off. I made the comment to him that no one claims to be just a grunt. I asked him where are all the grunts?

You ain't lying. Any real grunt would puff up his chest and proudly proclaim the Infantry

Fake SEAL pleads guilty to stolen valor...

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/stolen-valor.html

It doesn't matter what your MOS was while in the service. All of us were needed to protect our country whether you were a clerk, cook, mechanic, infantry or special ops. We were all needed to do exactly what we were assigned to do so we are all heroes. Even me, I fueled helicopters.

Vietnam War: Facts, Stats & Myths
Credit: Capt. Marshal Hanson, USNR (Ret.) and Capt. Scott Beaton, Statistical Source
The following information is presented “as is” as a public service.
9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975.
2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam.
Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation.
240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.
The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him.
58,148 were killed in Vietnam.
75,000 were severely disabled.
23,214 were 100% disabled.
5,283 lost limbs.
1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21.
11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
Of those killed, 17,539 were married.
Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old.
As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged.
91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served.
74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome.
Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.
Vietnam veterans’ personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent.
87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.
There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study).
Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison – only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.
85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life.
Common Vietnam War Myths Dispelled:
Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 – 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population.
Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. “The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans’ group.
Myth: Common belief is that a disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War.
Fact: 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book “All That We Can Be,” said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam “and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. Black fatalities amounted to 12 percent of all Americans killed in Southeast Asia, a figure proportional to the number of blacks in the U.S. population at the time and slightly lower than the proportion of blacks in the Army at the close of the war.”
Myth: Common belief is that the war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated.
Fact: Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. 79% had a high school education or better.
Myth: The common belief is the average age of an infantryman fighting in Vietnam was 19.
Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age.
Myth: The common belief is that the domino theory was proved false.
Fact: The domino theory was accurate. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America’s commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism.
Myth: The common belief is that the fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II.
Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded, who survived the first 24 hours, died. The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border).
Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972 (shown a million times on American television) was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang.
Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. The planes doing the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. “We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF,” according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phuc’s brothers were killed in this incident. They were Kim’s cousins not her brothers.
Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam.
Fact: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike (a professor at the University of California, Berkeley), a major military defeat for the VC and NVA.
US Army Vietnam Veteran Cap
US Army Vietnam Veteran Cap
$14.95Add to cart
Army Caps, US Army, Veteran Accessories, Veteran Caps
Statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993
(the CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, aka The Wall)
Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action).
Deaths Average Age
Total: 58,148, 23.11 years
Enlisted: 50,274, 22.37 years
Officers: 6,598, 28.43 years
Warrants: 1,276, 24.73 years
E1 525, 20.34 years
11B MOS: 18,465, 22.55 years
Interesting Census Stats and “Been There” Wanabees:
1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures).
During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958.
As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between ’95 and ’00. That’s 390 per day. During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT.
The Department of Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially provided by The War Library originally reported with errors that 2,709,918 U.S. military personnel as having served in-country. Corrections and confirmations to this errored index resulted in the addition of 358 U.S. military personnel confirmed to have served in Vietnam but not originally listed by the Department of Defense (All names are currently on file and accessible 24/7/365).
Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers. – Nixon Presidential Papers.
The United States Did Not Lose The War In Vietnam, The South Vietnamese Did. Read On…
The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973.
How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? We fought to an agreed stalemate. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides’ forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful reunification. The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 than there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-War movement in the United States.
As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. Nothing could be further from the truth. Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous.

40% of service members do NOT see combat, and of the remaining 60%, only 10% to 20% are deployed into the combat premise. Plus, the majority of these members enter the arena as supporting units.

They are not the soldiers that are facing enemies face-to-face. Only 10% of the entire military force engage in battle. To help you visualize, that is 1 in 10 soldiers.

Facts. Most guys that do 20+ years and retire never fight.

War is mostly boring and monotonous dirty work. Building stuff, fixing stuff, guarding stuff, waiting for something to happen.

And usually only the best are selected for combat operations. There’re is a chance that the bad guys will pick you, but if you present a hard target they usually won’t.

There are always exceptions! Because it is unpredictable.

With 9 out of 10 people supporting the combat troops, many never see any action, but everyone of them is as important as the man that is on the frontlines. A good friend of mine joined the USAF about the same time I went in the Army. His first duty assignment after training was Dyess AFB. He retired at Dyess, never was stationed anywhere else, 20 years in the Base finance section making sure payday happened.

Cast, your Texas drivers license should show veteran status. Mine is at the bottom of the front side.

I showed it to both Lowes and Home Depot to get discounts on everything you buy.

That comment above about “most guys that do twenty years never fight” is the second stupidest comment I’ve heard but maybe tied with the first which was, “my 36 months in the Marines (kicked out for being a fat pencil pusher) were harder than your 20 plus in the Air Force”.

This kinda crap is why I don’t join the VFW nor American Legion and the reason most of us retires don’t. So many sniveling 1 termers.

This kinda crap is why I don’t join the VFW nor American Legion and the reason most of us retires don’t. So many sniveling 1 termers.

We should all be proud of our military service and respectful of other's service. Be proud of what you did and respect others for their service.

Political candidate accused of stolen valor claims his deployments are ‘classified’

An Air Force veteran running for a Congressional seat in Ohio spent much of his time on the campaign trail invoking tough combat missions he was on in Afghanistan in 2002. But reporting by the Associated Press found no evidence that Republican candidate J.R. Majewski had any such deployment, let alone a combat-heavy one as he claimed. Majewski has a simple, easy explanation as to why his service record doesn’t show the combat deployments he often brings up: they’re classified.

more:
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/ohio-majewski-military-stolen-valor/