C  [2]

Actual Records Indicate/Notes

08/2003

For more claims see Elk Lodge newsletter!

Elks Lodge newsletter in Dallas: 
YOU HAVE TO READ IT FOR YOURSELF !!!!

When military records were requested with FULL NAME, date of birth and social security number, St. Louis National Personnel  Records Center could locate NO RECORD of military service for Clabough.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: 
Andy (Andrew) W. Clark,  Monaville, West Virginia, active VVA member.

He states " I was a POW and the government didn't even know that I was missing because they thought that I was dead.  My mission was so secret that they didn't even know that I was gone for several months". 

Served  July 28, 1969 to Jan 5 1972.

Discharged a PRIVATE. MOS 13A4P - Field Artillery Crewman

ONLY awards National Defense and Parachutist Badge.

NO foreign service noted.

Transcript of court martial not in file.

He was in Nam... Never a POW. Instructor the first tour in 1968.

Supply Sgt the 2nd in March 71.

COAKLEY NOAH L AR E06 76Y4H N

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2004/0830/local/stories/01local.htm\

NAME MISSPELLED IN NEWS ARTICLE

========================

Man’s fabrications rankle local Indians

Clifford ‘Two Smokes’ Coiner retracts tales of Vietnam heroism he told the Mail Tribune for a story last month

for the Mail Tribune

Following an uproar in the local American Indian community, a Phoenix man has apologized for claiming that he was a Marine officer, a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was decorated for heroism.

Clifford "Two Smokes" Coiner recanted his story after being asked to come before the Warrior Society, a local organization of American Indian military veterans based in Grants Pass. Coiner confessed that his statements regarding his military service, printed in the Aug. 30 edition of the Mail Tribune, were "a pack of lies" that came from "living in a fantasy world."

Nick Hall, executive director of Southern Oregon Indian Center in Grants Pass, said Coiner’s misrepresentations of his military record were offensive to Indian veterans, who could not find his name on any POW or Marine veteran Web sites and requested he publicly straighten out the record.

Rather than being a decorated Marine Corps officer and POW, Coiner now admits he only served two years as an enlisted man in the Navy just before the Vietnam War.

"I’ve insulted and hurt a lot of people with these stupid ego fantasies," Coiner said. "It was a fantasy I made up seven years ago when my daughters found me on the Internet. We were apart 31 years and I wanted to impress them so they wouldn’t think I was a bum."

The Warrior Society, which operates within Southern Oregon Indian Center, asked Coiner to publicly apologize for misstatements made at the Pottsville pow-wow, where his wedding — the occasion for the newspaper story — took place. He delivered a brief apology, Hall said. Coiner said his wife "supported me through this" ordeal over the fabrications.

While the Aug. 30 story focused on Coiner’s wedding, it also made reference to his alleged military experience, describing him as "a highly decorated Vietnam combat veteran" and "a martial arts instructor who spent 19 months in a POW camp." He said he had retired from the Marine Corps in 1984 as a lieutenant colonel.

Hall and other local American Indians said Coiner’s published statements also stereotyped or misrepresented Indian custom, dress and ceremony and offended many in the local American Indian community.

"Just about everything he said was fabricated," said Hall, "and my phone was ringing off the wall with calls from Native Americans and veterans."

In particular, Hall said, Indian regalia, such as the sacred eagle feather bonnet, sacred shirt and scalp locks worn by Coiner, are earned and worn only by designated people, with the consent of elders.

The Warrior Society "takes care of the people and tries to protect our elders, using traditional ways to deal with the situation," said Hall.

"This is a real problem in the Native American community," said Jerry Aaronson of the Choctaw tribe. "People go around and claim certain status or position when they have never been designated such by the tribes they claim to come from."

"He apologized and did what was right," said Warrior Society and Shasta tribe member Jim Prevatt. "We don’t hold any animosity. If you misrepresent yourself as a leader or Sundancer, you answer to the Creator for everything you do. You have to do things in a good way and treat people as you want to be treated."

Hall and other American Indian veterans of the Warrior Society met with Coiner and heard his apology.

Diane Shadley, a Navajo-Comanche, said American Indians are happy to have non-Indians come to pow-wows and appreciate Indian ways but it’s a "sad thing" that they sometimes get "out of hand" and dance or dress inappropriately.

"What this all brought up was that this man should not have been looked to as a leader," said Shadley. "Anytime you say you are a leader or pipe carrier or you charge money (for ceremonies or healings), you’re not respected. A pipe-carrier or leader doesn’t have to say that’s what he is, because the people know."

Coiner said he once performed weddings in an Indian manner, but said a few years ago the Lakota tribe asked him to stop because "bad things were coming from people not of full blood doing sacred ceremonies." He said he has not done ceremonies since.

Local American Indians also disputed Coiner’s claim to have done the Lakota Sundance ceremony at age 12. However, Coiner maintains that he is half Lakota and dragged a buffalo skull attached by rope to a peg skewering one of his shoulders for two hours, but outside the Sundance circle. That method is one of several that is part of the Lakota Sundance ritual.

"I am so, so sorry," Coiner said. "I’ve made my peace with everyone and from now on I’ll try to be as honest and truthful as I can be."

36251    Dial Central Office Equipment Specialist
36251    Telephone Switching Equipment Specialist

MORE (with photo)

It is NOT Clay Conard from Iowa who served honorably in Vietnam as a radio operator.

STATED UNDER OATH in 2 depositions along with... no, never been married before, no, never been convicted of a crime, no, I won't sign a Social Security FOIA release or Military Records release or CIA employment verification release.... but I was discharged in ... or was it?? or maybe I was still TDY .....

"He is a veteran's representative with the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training, assisting recently discharged veterans with their transition to the civilian workforce.  He also hosts a local cable TV show regarding veteran's issues.  Therefore, he has placed himself on the frontlines of the local veteran's community, all the while he is lying in the face of these veterans who come to him for assistance or as a guest on his show.  He exploits the goodwill and gratitude we all feel for our combat veterans and those who endured captivity in Vietnam by falsely aligning himself with those honorable Americans." 

SO TRUE!!! 

==============
http://www.rt1automile.com/web/mall/vetrep/#top

http://www.rt1automile.com/web/mall/vetrep/index.html

http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-6331-1031103.html 
(article which says he's a retired colonel)

http://www.military.com/Careers/Content1?file=trans_
poe01.htm&area=Content 
(article which says he's a retired major)

http://www.naisp.net/users/plainvil/boards.htm

NO military records can be located.

05/2002

06/2005

07/2005

11/2006

04/2007

05/2007

SO MUCH MORE

07/2005 UPDATE:

Corley never signed an F180.

FOIA filed - St. Louis found NO records when provided with full name, date of birth and social security number.

Now if Mr. Corley wants to sign that F180, or provide the DD214 with a service number, we'd be glad to do it again.

NOT noted as POW nor USMC Silver Star recipient.

10/2007

02/2008

04/2008

He made claims of being a Navy SEAL and a Vietnam PW. It appears he is very convincing when relating his stories. Witnesses describe him as becoming very "emotional" and in some cases moved to tears. Last year Cross launched into a number of outlandish claims about his Navy SEAL service and of course the PW issue.

The OKLAHOMAN, article by 
Karen Klinka, kklinka@oklahoman.com or 292-6112. 
Saturday March 8, 2003 issue.

==============================

"Lao Watcher, 
good question, and I've asked it myself. Interestingly enough, the two teammates of his that were KIA are not listed on any casualty lists either.  However, I'm in possession of a document, dated 1972, were the DOD confirms that Carlos is a POW. Requesting agency was the CIA. 
Today, Carlos receives VA benefits and is listed as a POW in its records (although I'm not sure how much importance to give to that fact).  Thus, although he is not on the lists, I can't take that as evidence that he was NOT a POW. "

06/05/2003
A retraction came out in the Star-Telegram today and read as follows:

The Vietnam War record of Jerry Culpepper, subject of a Memorial Day letter to the editor (My father, my hero) by his daughter, Jimmye Walker has come under question.  Two readers specifically queried the claim that Culpepper was a prisoner of war and that he had received such decorations as the Navy Cross as a US Marine.  Culpepper, questioned by the Star-Telegram, said that he was a Marine and he served in Vietnam but that he was not a POW.  He said that he has "some decorations" but would not discuss them.

Herald Democrat
04/22/2005

Life

Local Vietnam veteran honored By Lynette George  Herald Democrat On Monday, 137 Vietnam veterans were honored posthumously at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Among those names was the late Donald Eugene Cunningham of Texomaland....

.....Dixon says Mr. Cunningham was two weeks shy of being 17 years old when he entered the Navy in September of 1965. Soon afterwards, he became a POW.

"It was Donnie's job to drive the platoon boats carrying men and equipment to shore," said Dixon. "There were 2,500 boats headed to shore when they hit some mines. Half of the boats and people were lost. The rest of the boats and the people were captured by the Viet Cong."

Mr. Cunningham was among those captured and thrown into holes in the ground. Per Dixon, her late husband remained in the hole for 87 days, watching as fellow servicemen were taken daily and tortured to death.

An American medical helicopter accidentally spotted the camouflaged camp and the POWs were finally rescued. Mr. Cunningham, now weighing under 100 pounds, was among fewer than 100 men who came out of that jungle prison. Of those few, a number succumbed to the illnesses and injuries sustained while held captive and died soon after being rescued. Others, including Mr. Cunningham, lived a number of years, but suffered permanent physical and emotional damage. He was released from the military in the fall of the same year in which he'd enlisted. He and Dixon were living in Pottsboro when he died in September of 1996 from physical ailments resulting from his Vietnam service, according to Dixon.

"Donnie told me the only thing that got him through his captivity was thinking he would get out and kill as many of them (the Viet Cong) as possible," said Dixon. "But he really never got out of that hole (mentally). He couldn't ride in elevators, wear a seatbelt or even go into a bathroom stall. He could hear a helicopter when it was miles away. He couldn't handle feeling confined. There were a lot of serious problems."

In addition to the daily physical, emotional and mental problems, Mr. Cunningham and Dixon battled yet another war.

"The military rules for Vietnam said no one would be considered a POW unless they were in captivity at least 90 days. Donnie had been in that hole 87 days," remembers Dixon. "And it really hurt him when in Desert Storm and other military actions that the service men and women were granted POW status whether they'd been captured for an hour, a day or a month."

Mr. Cunningham finally received his POW status ... about a week after his death.....

Medals: National Defense and Armed Forces Expeditionary.

You wouldn't believe the "rest of the story..."

"I could only ask her to investigate the story further and write a follow-up article with the truth. She just ....  said, well I've already written the true story. There wouldn't be any sense in rewriting a story."

Lynette George, the articles writer, can be contacted at 903-893-8181. George states he has a POW Headstone too, and that she has "seen the papers" and the proof.

Served  Active Duty Nov 66 - Jun 1970
Discharged  rank: AN
Transcript of court martial: Not in File

Military Education: 
Basic Military Requirements
Training course for airman
MR PO #&2
Military Leadership (E-4)
NTc for AX 3&2

Claims POW

Not to be confused w/ Col. Thomas J. Curtis USAF RET

RE: ANY NAME ON THIS PAGE:  If anyone has viable proof of their captivity [or claims] which is accepted by the American Ax-POWs, NAM-POWs, DoD  and DMPO - PLEASE contact us immediately. We will take corrective action and work with them to be recognized for their sacrifice.