Veterans Push For Crackdown On Medal Of Honor Fakers

[MalahatTwo7]

Being Canadian, I will never receive one of these, but this is just WRONG!

Veterans Push For Crackdown On Medal Of Honor Fakers

POSTED: 6:15 pm EDT April 30, 2006
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EDT April 30, 2006

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Faking American medals of honor is apparently a growth industry.

In fact, federal authorities now say there are more Medal of Honor impostors than actual living recipients.

Some fakers are just braggarts, but some wear military uniforms and bogus medals. The FBI has about 25 pending investigations of such phony heroes.

Anyone convicted of fraudulently wearing a Medal of Honor faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. But there's no such penalty for other medals. A proposed bill, called the Stolen Valor Act, would penalize distributors of phony medals and people claiming to be decorated veterans.

As one FBI investigator put it: if the integrity of the awards can't be maintained, "the real ones won't mean anything."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.

[lvwrench]

We call them wannabees. Too many of these so called heros use this stuff to gain all kinds of things from just plain sympathy, money to political power. The strange part is that some of these people actually served in the military but just were not awarded a medal for any kind of action. They really hurt those that were awarded a medal for a real action. There are those that go to the trouble to obtain (illegally) or doctor up their own forms to back up their phony awards. I have seen a few of these phonies in action and they do not do justice to the real veterans.

[MalahatTwo7]

For the most part, at least for those I've met, who have "heavy medals" for extreme actions are more embarrassed (mostly) for receiving them. Those who make lots of noise generally didn't really "earn" them. (this may have not been expressed quite right for the intent...)

What I mean is, that most guys who make a lot of noise about being somewhere usually either were not really there, or they were so far in the rear, that they make REMF's look like front line troops.

[scfire86]

People faking military decorations? Especially the CMH? I'd almost feel sorry for these folks if they weren't so pathetic.

And I agree with Malahat. Most of the veterans I meet who did see actual combat and have actual medals rarely talk about it. And none of them belong to veteran's groups. Not putting those groups down. It has just been my experience.

Here is a good place to start when someone starts regaling you with their tales of daring do. It is odd to me how everyone who starts talking about their military experience was a Ranger, a Sniper. or some kind of Spec Ops. No one was ever a mechanic, a cook, or a clerk.

POW Network (http://www.pownetwork.org/)

[MalahatTwo7]

HEY.... I'm a Clerk! :D:D Done some goofy time with the army and the navy, but still a Clerk. But other that my sandy medal for OPERATION APPOLLO/ENDURING FREEDOM 2001-02, and UN in Cyprus, there is nothing of special note.

[DaSharkie]

Malahat...You're a clerk? Do you know what we call clerks in The Corps or in the Navy??????

Pogues. Just kidding man. I used to like the guys in S-1, they made sure I got all the money I could from my rich Uncle Sam.

As for these scumbag twit useless bastards I'll wring their friggin' necks.

An excellent book to read is Stolen Valor about Viet Nam mostly but a big part on the scumbags who think they deserve more or imitate real Warriors.

According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society there are only 113 living recipients of the Medal of Honor.

I doubt the voracity of anyone who brags about their receipt of any combat medal because these Warriors do not brag, as SC has said. They are the most humble men and women you will meet and defer ALL honor to those who did not receive the honor.

[MalahatTwo7]

Pogues.

Actually I prefer Pongo myself...... Oxford defines it as "a Pongid, denoting a large ape" . :D

[DaSharkie]

You going to start making grunting noises and pulling nits from your mate's hair?

Perhaps start swinging from trees?

[MalahatTwo7]

Nah, I'm one o them domesticated apes. I use indoor plumbing and have been known to hang from chandelliers when the mood strikes me :D

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Where's Charlton Heston when you need him? :D

BTW it's already a federal offense. Not sure what else can be done.

[MalahatTwo7]

Actually from reading between the lines on this one, I think the problem is more in line with not being able to track down those who are making false claim, and enforcement more than anything.

[RoughRider]

I have read a few threads here about MOH recipients’ and started the recent "'No Gun' Medal of Honor Recipient Buried” thread. After reading the official citations of these brave men I was always amazed by their bravery. I can't believe someone would stoop so low. It disgusts me.

SC, MOH recipient Jack H. Jacobs works for my firm and I recently had the honor to meet him. After thanking him for all that he has done for our country
I asked a few questions about his experience. It was like getting water from a stone. He wasn’t pained by ghosts from his past but humbled by the honor. He definitely is not into self promotion based on the MOH.

There is not enough O's in smooth to describe this man. He is very soft spoken and as cool as ice.

F ing MUTTS!! I would rather jump off a cliff than wear a medal I wasn’t awarded or deserve.

[scfire86]

Thanks guys. I would agree with your assessments of REAL heroes. One of our union guys likes to say "heroes aren't made, they're cornered."

I believe there is more to that statement than just getting a chuckle.

[DaSharkie]

Corpsman from Texas to receive Silver Star
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The Navy is awarding the Silver Star to only the third corpsman in the past four years. The recipient is a San Angelo native who, while injured and bleeding, treated and dragged three wounded Marines out of a fierce firefight in Iraq.

The medal will be pinned to the uniform of Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio, 32, during a ceremony later this month in Corpus Christi, where he now works in the much-quieter confines of the base’s family clinic.

“I couldn’t have done the things I did without knowing that the Marines had my back, giving me security,” Rubio said in a phone interview. “I owe everything to those guys.”

The Silver Star is the nation’s third-highest medal for valor in combat.

During his seven years in the military, Rubio has treated victims of a terrorist attack in this country and victims of a war halfway around the world.

Working at the naval hospital in Bethesda, Md., he aided those injured in the 9-11 Pentagon attack. He then served on the USS Comfort hospital ship, which was sent to New York after the World Trade Center attacks.

He then volunteered to become a corpsman with the Marines, who don’t have medics of their own.

Rubio served with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Afterward, he became the corpsman for 4th Platoon, Small Craft Company, which performed reconnaissance work for the 1st Marine Division. He returned to Iraq in 2004.

On Jan. 1, 2005, Rubio’s platoon was ambushed on the Euphrates River. The Marines left their boats and pursued the attackers, only to have an explosive set off nearby.

Rubio and three Marines were wounded. Despite having shrapnel wounds in his legs and arms, Rubio belly-crawled to the injured Marines and treated their injuries. He then dragged each of them across open terrain, under fire, to safety behind a wall.

He showed the uninjured Marines how to care for the wounded troops and then began directing covering fire while he helped take the wounded back to the boats.

“Your actions saved lives and you have set an example for future corpsmen and Marines to emulate,” wrote Maj. Gen. R.F. Natonski, who wrote a letter endorsing the medal. “Your service is coveted by each and every Marine in the 1st Marine Division.”

One Marine died that day, Lance Cpl. Brian Parrello. Rubio believes Parrello saved his life.

“He took a big chunk of artillery,” Rubio said. “He absorbed 90 percent of the explosion for me. I owe my life to him.”

[RoughRider]

God bless Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio and thank you.

[MalahatTwo7]

One of our union guys likes to say "heroes aren't made, they're cornered."

I like that one even better than the one I read as a kid in a novel:

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, so naturally they became Heros."

[scfire86]

The FBI (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-20-phony-war-heroes_x.htm) is looking into fakers. I have mixed feelings on this. Part of me wants them pursued and have the book thrown at them. Another part of me believes the FBI has more important things to do.

[DaSharkie]

The FBI (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-20-phony-war-heroes_x.htm) is looking into fakers. I have mixed feelings on this. Part of me wants them pursued and have the book thrown at them. Another part of me believes the FBI has more important things to do.

I think the fibbies have better things to do too. So let the vets take care of them. Our punishment will be much more fitting. Heh, heh, heh, heh.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Actually, Tom Cottone was assigned to the Newark Field Office during my time in law enforcement. I worked with him several times. He is completely dedicated to this crime. And it is not his primary assignment.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/062106/TRI_BA5Q551B.060.shtml

[CaptainMikey]

A good punishment would be to put them through USMC basic 5 times straight and then make them run the cruicble 5 times straight, then drop them straight into a combat zone. IF you are going to fake a medal of honor, you should be punished very severly.

[pvfire424]

BTW it's already a federal offense. Not sure what else can be done.


I have an idea, when caught sentance them to a week in a military prison. I think that would provide some badly needed "behavior modification"

[MalahatTwo7]

Hmmm not sure about what happens down "south", but back home (from word of mouth of course :) ) the guys who go to Detention Barracks in Edmonton, would prefer a longer sentence to a shorter one. Reason being after the first 3 or 4 weeks the staff start to provide limited privilages, which include being almost polite. The shorter the term, the greater the interim punishment. But of course those perks are only provided for good behaviour, which is almost always forthcoming. Funny that part....

[doughesson]

A good punishment would be to put them through USMC basic 5 times straight and then make them run the cruicble 5 times straight, then drop them straight into a combat zone. IF you are going to fake a medal of honor, you should be punished very severly.

How about attending Basic for ALL services and then attend officers training for each afterwards?Then push them through BUD/S and forbid them from DORing their way out of it?At each stop,they should have to wear a sign reading"I faked an award"just to make them stand out from the crowd.THEN,if they can recite each and every MOH winner,where he came from and a brief synopsis of what they did to earn their award,I might think they had learned not to fake medals and ribbons.

[MalahatTwo7]

I like that idea!

[CaptainMikey]

How about attending Basic for ALL services and then attend officers training for each afterwards?Then push them through BUD/S and forbid them from DORing their way out of it?At each stop,they should have to wear a sign reading"I faked an award"just to make them stand out from the crowd.THEN,if they can recite each and every MOH winner,where he came from and a brief synopsis of what they did to earn their award,I might think they had learned not to fake medals and ribbons.

Very well put.