Stolen Valor

[vmstan]

Ooops, too. You're fogetting the part that said he was in the Marine Corps Reserve....Vietnam Era

I didn't forget anything. His quote didn't say "I served during the Vietnam era" ... which he very much did ... he said "the days that I served in Vietnam" ... he's the one who forgot.

[Short Field]

He's not even eligible for VFW membership, so why is that organization (by all appearances) defending him?

Maybe because they know him and remember all the years he DIDN"T claim to be a Vietnam vet while supporting them and don't want to condemn him for a slip in one speech??  This is just partisan politics - not stolen valor.  Getting all kinds of press now but was ignored when it happened over TWO years ago.

(Full Disclosure - I qualify for membership in the VFW but have not joined)

[raivo]

I've been looking and trying to find what exactly he said, and where. The impression I'm getting is that he sure liked to *imply* he was in Vietnam, and once or twice he accidentally said that he was.

If I ever start calling myself an "Afghanistan-era veteran," someone shoot me.

[EMT-83]

Blumenthal is very busy making sure he appears on the local news at least once a week. He is probably the most recognized public official in Connecticut, other than the governor. Every word he speaks is carefully thought out and rehearsed for the cameras. As someone who has watched his performances over the years, I find it highly unlikely that he "misspoke" not once, but several times, when talking about his service.

It's really unfortunate that he couldn't simply tell the truth. He served honorably in the reserves when he clearly had the political clout to avoid the military. Maybe that story didn't sound as good on television?

[a2capt]

Sounds like he should be named Bluderitall instead..

[Fifinella]

An even more serious case of stolen valor/stolen honor: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_army_infiltrator

[Майор Хаткевич]

An even more serious case of stolen valor/stolen honor: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_army_infiltrator

I know things work differently in the Guard/Reserves, but how is it that no one checked ANY records? It seems that they needed someone, and took the guy out of desperation.

[Flying Pig]

Most people are not conditioned to check facts or be suspicious.  Fortunately or unfortunately, most people still take others at face value.  Sometimes I think people are looking for "heros" and are thrilled when they find one.  Or think they found one.  Even those phonies who are so over the top with their medals and decorations it makes most of us laugh. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

Most people are not conditioned to check facts or be suspicious.

The guy probably had to do MEPS "again", and go through the background checks...something somewhere in the system failed.

[WheelsUp]

An even more serious case of stolen valor/stolen honor

It's a [darn]ing indictment of the Army personnel system. This guy bluffed his way into a leadership position, and could have gotten someone killed.
  And in true Army fashion, they are circling the wagons rather than addressing the problem.
  I'm aware of a similar case in which a guy who was kicked out of the Army forged/altered a DD214 to change his reenlistment code to something positive...and he managed to get back in.
 

[WheelsUp]

If you read the story about the Army (supposed former Marine) impostor, you'll notice that in the picture, his Navy and Marine Corps Medal ribbon (top left) is upside down.

DOH!

[Cecil DP]

Most people are not conditioned to check facts or be suspicious.

The guy probably had to do MEPS "again", and go through the background checks...something somewhere in the system failed.

Prior service entering the Guard or Reserve don't go through MEPS, but how he got a security clearance which takes a minimum of a year for a secret and 2-3 years for a Top Secret is a mystery.

[Eclipse]

An even more serious case of stolen valor/stolen honor: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_army_infiltrator

Here's a question...

Was it his fake medals, etc., that impressed the recruiter enough to get him where he landed, or was it that he pushed too
hard with the story and had he flown lower no one would have noticed and he'd probably be in Iraq?

[WheelsUp]

I think the recruiter just failed to do a routine check of this guy's forged 214 that he submitted. The services don't seem to talk to each other too much. On the other side of that coin, Army recruiters are definitely under pressure to bring in new folks.

But when I came back in to the National Guard in 2001, my recruiter did check my previous Army active-duty records. Perhaps different recruiting commands (Active, Reserve, NG) have different procedures.

And if this guy, as you said, had "flown a little bit lower," he may have been in the position of leading soldiers in combat. And that scares the hell out of me. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

And if this guy, as you said, had "flown a little bit lower," he may have been in the position of leading soldiers in combat. And that scares the hell out of me. 

Oh come on! He had like 6+ weeks of Marine OCS training under his belt! I'm sure he watched some movies as well!

[/fearful sarcasm]

[WheelsUp]

Oh come on! He had like 6+ weeks of Marine OCS training under his belt! I'm sure he watched some movies as well!

[/fearful sarcasm]

"My name is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman!"

[Ned]

Here's another question:

What does a "Corps Support Airplane Company" do?

I've spent my fair share of time floating around a Corps Headquarters ("America's Corps!") , but I'm having trouble imagining what this unit does.

Any ideas?

[WheelsUp]

I checked that out, and it IS an actual USAR unit. Now, I don't know which Corps it belongs to, but as far as I can tell, that's the actual name of the unit. It's listed on the Fort Worth-area Navy base's list of tenant units.

I was in the Army for nearly eight years, and never heard of such a unit name, either.

[vmstan]

An even more serious case of stolen valor/stolen honor: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_army_infiltrator

Makes you wonder who slipped through and is still active.

[Short Field]

What does a "Corps Support Airplane Company" do?

I checked that out, and it IS an actual USAR unit.

I couldn't find it.  I did find the Army Reserve Fixed Wing Detachment flying RC-12 Guardrails and the B Co, 90th Aviation Support Battalion which provides helicopter support.  I think the reporter just garbled the unit name because all the hits I got were related to the fake Marine.   My money is on the B Co, 90th ASB since the RC-12 should have better background investigations.