|
INTRODUCTION V V A - Claims by members of Vietnam Veterans of America ================================== |
Heroes or Villains? |
Individuals reported as
of 03/2008
Note: These individuals are IN ADDITION TO those investigated and named in the book STOLEN VALOR. Those
with a "LINK" have records, news articles, pictures or tales
posted |
THOSE CLAIMING MEDAL OF HONOR
|
|
A [1] |
| Name | Date Reported | Hometown | Claims | Findings | ||||||
| Abbate, Steven | 05/2004 | . | Claims Medal of Honor, black ops.... works with another of questionable claims and character - PISTILLI - as Sensei. | Deceased 2007 | ||||||
| Abbott III, Marshall Rand aka Randy Abbott |
05/2005 | Carlsbad, Oceanside CA | Claims he was issued
the Medal Of Honor for some type of mission that had nothing to do with
any type of conflict or war.
He works at Weseloh Chevrolet, right next to a Marine Corps Base.... he says this to Marines so that they will like him, and so they will buy a car or truck from him. |
. | ||||||
| Abel, Warren
Douglas aka "Doug" |
05/2007 02/2008 |
Cincinnati, OH | Claims
Capt, USAF, Special Forces. Claims Sniper with work in Cuba, Osuth and
Central America.
2008- in Cincinnati, with a big horse boarding and
training facility still playing the role of Captain in the Special
Forces, PBR Bull Riding Champion, and former big executive with
Southwest Airlines.
|
Served USAF Jan 23, 1984 - Feb 28,
1984. No military education, no awards or decorations.
Worked for SW Airlines as a ramp agent (baggage buster) from 2002-2004. |
||||||
| Acel, Stephen | 02/2004 | . | Claims
SEABEE, Vietnam Vet "12 years in the fleet and 14 years
as a Sea Bee." Uses
ANYONE'S actual service as his own from vets posted chats and
profiles on AOL. Online known as Gsmythy02@aol.com . |
QUESTION EVERYTHING !!!St. Louis MADE A POINT to note: Service in Vietnam or in its territorial waters is NOTa matter of record -- [CLICK blue text FOR RECORDS.] Claims 100% PTSD - VA has no records of care/disability. |
||||||
| Adams, Terry Lee | 04/2003 | Memphis, TN | Thrown out of American Legion - conduct VERY unbecoming - accused
of theft and worse by Legion members. Claims black ops in Laos,
found himself zipped "in a body bag". Claims Marine
D.I. Caused problems at WALL
with Family member and USMC..... Now raising money to send
items to troops in war. If prior alleged conduct repeated, troops
may never see a thing.... Campaigning for STATE positions in both Legion and VFW (5/2003) |
QUESTION EVERYTHING !!!NO RECORD of Vietnam Service. Record of "AdminClkCrs - 1970" |
||||||
| Agioto, Joseph Anthony aka Agiato, Joe |
2000 2005 YET, AGAIN |
Florida | Claiming SEALS and/or
Frogman... SEAL, Police officer |
|
Served
from April 1958 to January 1960. Records
indicate no SEAL training. Rank at discharge "FA".
Coral Springs Police state also "impersonated a police officer" |
|||||
| Akers, Shawn Paul | 03/2006 09/2006 10/2007 |
Missouri | Claims:
2007 - Claims continue - and "armed to the teeth" confirmed |
|
||||||
| ALBERT, JACK | . | . |
WAS RETURNED TO THIS POSTING AFTER NEW CLAIMS WERE REPORTED 04/25/2005 |
The rest of the story | ||||||
| Allen, John David | 07/2006 | . | . | |||||||
| Allen, Martin A | 10/2007 |
|
Claims he's a Green Beret and gave numbers for Camp
McKall and Ft Bragg, all which turned out to be bogus. The uniform is
not a "real" military uniform but some civilian type copy. He
goes from American Legions, to VFWs, to bars owned by military people
foraging for free drinks. Traveling across the country. |
|||||||
| Allen, Robert T | Wheaton, IL | claims Korean War POW, USMC - DOB 1939 | . | |||||||
| Alleva, James Anthony | 09/2007 11/2007 |
DE | The
Alleva story
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/aug/allevainfo.pdf |
.
To all concerned, Over the
last four months I have been very quiet while some drag my name and
that of my family through the mud. Enclosed is a letter to all of you
explaining what happen and what I did. EVERY case is different, and I
hope all of you understand. At any time you may contact me for a clear
explanation. A member who e-mailed me said it all. He stated I don’t
care about their past, all I see is what you have done now for us and
the League over all. I joined the MCL in 1994, I found it to be very
rewarding, except for those who made fun of my medical and mental
health. When I joined the League it gave me a whole new purpose in
life being medically retired. I love the Corps as I do this
detachment. When I joined this detachment I jumped right in to do
whatever I could to make it a better detachment. But I guess because I
do not believe in clicks I have had a upscale battle. I had this one
member put his shoes next to mine telling me his shoes were shinier
than mine, this same member with his friends have made comments about
my weight, my wife, and my PTSD. I joined the League to be with my
peers, and most have been very accommodating. I made it or tried to
make the small group just go away. What was done to me and my family,
and this detachment could have been done differently. But it has been
done and like the fighter I am I will NEVER back down, and I will not
resign, nor ask for a transfer. According to my lawyer, she told me to
wait all of this time to see what happens before we start any Civil
case. I served this Detachment with everything I had and I do not
believe I should end it this way. My only desire is to serve Veterans
and their family. I will however bring suite to those involved if this
matter persists. I was told that the Detachment has done a complete
turnaround. For the first time our Detachment has received awards from
National and Department for our Newsletter, and last year we received
the best of the best. I received over 60 Christmas cards, and I thank
all of you for your support and understanding. I also APOLOGIZE for
any hurt that may have scoured during all of this. I always put the
detachment first, as I will continue to do so. I will do everything I
can to make the transition a smooth one and I hope all will support
the New Commandant as I will. God Bless, Happy New Year SF………….Jim Alleva |
||||||
| Allinson, Harold "Cherokee" | 03/2006 09/2006 |
KY | Claims Special Forces, turned down the Medal of Honor. | MORE | ||||||
| Allward, Mark | 08/2007 | Fontaine CO area |
Claims former Navy fighter pilot, P3 pilot, Navy SEAL, and now
claims that he is a Sniper for Blackwater. He shows up every
once in a while, claiming that he has just gotten back from Iraq.
================================================== I greatly
appreciate your interest in upholding the honor of the US Navy SEAL
Teams, and your search for the TRUTH. Before answering your questions I
must make clear that I am a private individual, not affiliated with the
US Dept. of Defense or any other government organization. I am one of
about a dozen men in America who possess a copy of the SEAL Database, a
comprehensive and regularly updated listing of all men who trained and
served with the Naval Special Warfare units (SEALs, UDT, NCDU, S&R)
from the end of WWII to the present day. I also have access to archival
sources who can verify/deny claims of service DURING WWII. As a former
US Navy SEAL myself, I am fully familiar with the NSW training program
and the standard operating procedures used by the Teams, as well as an
in-depth personal knowledge of many of the ‘insider’ events and
incidents which UDT “Frogmen” and SEALs offer as a part of their
bona fides. My efforts to expose SEAL imposters are performed free of
charge, as a service to the public, and in honor of my SEAL Teammates
who gave their lives in service to our nation… men who truly earned
the right to the title “US NAVY SEAL” but who are no longer able to
stand forward in defense of their honor, their reputations, and their
TEAMs. If the name
you provided is spelled correctly, I do NOT find a listing in the SEAL
database for anyone named MARK
ALLWARD. Be aware that I have also examined possible
alternate spellings, and names with similar pronunciations.
In fact there are no names listed in the entire SEAL Database (10,700+
names) which begin with the alphabetic letters “ALLW”. Unless he has
undertaken the unlikely action of a legal name change (an action for
which there would be court documentation) since his claimed service with
the SEAL Teams, and based upon the information you have provided, I can
state conclusively that MARK
ALLWARD has NEVER completed SEAL training, and he is
not now, nor was he ever a US Navy SEAL or UDT “Frogman”. Please be
aware that the SEAL database includes the names of all men who served
with the Underwater Demolition Teams (“Frogmen”). Since 1983 when
the UDTs were all re-commissioned as SEAL Teams it has been the
convention within the Naval Special Warfare community to use the modern
term “SEAL” when referring to all men who ever served in any of the
SEAL ‘precursor’ units. When members
of the Naval Special Warfare community meet others who claim similar
service, but whom they do not recognize, there is a conversational
exchange of information that establishes the bona fides of each to the
other. There is no set formula for this exchange, nor for the
information that is exchanged, but it ALWAYS takes place, and the REAL
Naval Special Warfare members can ALWAYS spot a phony as a result of
this exchange. I urge you (or those who may have contact with him) to
ask Mr. ALLWARD
three questions: (1) What was
his BUD/S Class Number?
(NB: No SEAL ever forgets the class number he shouted all day long,
every day, for 6 months) (2) Where
did his training take place? (NB: Training has been conducted at several
locations over the years; different portions in different places) (3) When
did he graduate from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training?
(i.e. a specific graduation DATE) The answers
to those three questions may then be compared to hard, firm,
comprehensive documentation to absolutely verify his claims. There are
many other questions which could be asked to further establish the level
of veracity or untruth regarding his claims, but those three questions
are absolutes; the answers are totally UNCLASSIFIED, and every real SEAL
will gladly provide that substantiating information upon request. If Mr.
ALLWARD
offers you any specifics which he claims are definitive and valid
answers to these questions (or if he offers reasons why he cannot answer
them), I would be very interested in learning about it. The only men
who can legitimately call themselves SEALs are US Navy sailors who have
completed the entire SEAL training program which lasts approximately 2
years and who have received a formal/official designation as
“Combatant Swimmer [SEAL]” with an attendant entry in their military
records of a specific Naval Enlisted Classification Code (NEC). There
are no SEALs in any other branch of the US military armed forces.
While many units of different branches of the military services are
called upon from time to time to work “WITH” the SEAL Teams, it is
incredibly rare for any non-SEAL to ever be engaged in an operation as a
part of a deployed SEAL unit. These rare exceptions generally involve
members of highly trained Special Operations Forces from those other
branches of service or ‘other government agencies’ involved in
gathering/evaluating intelligence information. Non-SEAL Navy units and
other branches of the US military services do occasionally send men to
the SEAL Teams for brief training sessions. Those training sessions do
NOT confer the qualifications for being a SEAL on any of those
‘students’. Such training is most generally intended to facilitate a
familiarity with the way SEAL Teams operate, and are intended to make
cooperation between different units easier and more effective when they
are in the same area of operations. It is quite
common for those making fraudulent SEAL claims to cite a “secret”
training class, “special selection and skills which allowed them to
bypass BUD/S training”, or “secret missions” as an explanation for
the lack of military documentation to back up their stories. SEAL
imposters also tend to claim their military records are “sealed” and
cannot be accessed. Occasionally inventive imposters claim their records
were destroyed in a fire at the I might
suggest that you also ask Mr. ALLWARD
to specifically identify WHICH SEAL Team(s) he served on, and when. I am
in direct contact with several hundred of my SEAL Teammates whose
collective experience covers virtually all time periods from the Korean
War to the present; I can quickly contact those individuals to verify
any specific names, events, or other claims offered by Mr. ALLWARD.
If he feels that his name has somehow been mistakenly omitted from the
SEAL records, I’d be pleased to speak with him and hear details of his
service which would serve to validate his claims. The Director of the
Naval Special Warfare Archives – a close personal friend and SEAL
Teammate – is only a phone call away and standing by to amend the
records if this is ever found to be true. However, I’ve made the same
offer to more than 3,600 SEAL imposters in the last five years, and none
of them ever turned out to be a valid SEAL. If Mr. ALLWARD
subsequently suggests to you or others you know that he has contacted
me, the Department of the Navy, or “the government” in some way and
“straightened things out”, I’d be very interested in hearing from
you again. You will not
be surprised to learn that false claimants of being a US Navy SEAL
vastly outnumber the men who actually earned that title.
Informally-gathered statistics (2001-2004) indicate that there are
approximately 350 imposters for every real SEAL who ever served in the
Naval Special Warfare community. I recently visited a web site which
ranked claims overheard by bartenders during the course of their work…
“I was a Navy SEAL” was at the top of the list! Statistically you
are more likely to encounter someone who has played football in the NFL
than you are to encounter a real Navy SEAL. So, ask yourself this; how
many professional football players have you met? I checked
another online database held by the Department of Defense and accessed
through www.military.com
under the Freedom Of Information Act by using their Buddy
Finder. That database contains over 20 million records, is
one of the most complete available to the general public, and is fairly
accurate from about 1974 to the present day. That database originally
began as a listing of all military service personnel who might have been
exposed to Agent Orange while on duty in One last
note; It was formerly a violation of federal law to WEAR
specific military unit insignia, badges, patches, pins, tabs, awards,
commendations, medals, or uniform garments for which one did not have
formal/official authorization. Such actions were listed as a
prosecutable offense under Title 18 US Code Section 702 and 704, which
specified up to $5,000 in fines and up to 6 months imprisonment per each
count on which an offender was convicted. It was subsequently recognized
by lawmakers that a loophole of sorts existed within the wording of
Title 18 USC which allowed imposters to make false verbal claims
regarding military credentials, and to then display items for which they
had no legitimate authorization as keepsakes without legal repercussions
so long as they did not actually wear them on their person. To avoid
prosecution false claimants often filled their walls with forged
citations, commendations, and awards for valor, and then posed for
pictures beside those false certificates, but never actually WORE them
on their person. A recent
amendment to Title 18 USC, Section 704, called the “STOLEN
VALOR ACT” (S.1998), which was signed into law on 20 Dec
2006, now makes it illegal to even make false VERBAL
claims of receiving “any of the
service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, the
ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration, or medal, or
any colorable imitation of such item”. It must be presumed
that since the earning of the status of US Navy SEAL carries with it a
special Naval Enlisted Classification (NEC) code and a unique breast
insignia (SEAL Trident badge) that the offering of false verbal claims
of being a SEAL would fall within the jurisdiction of this amended
version of the 18USC. This matter, of course, would be for the courts to
determine. Thank you
again for your concern in this matter, and for your assistance in
upholding the honor of the US Navy SEAL Teams. As noted in my opening
paragraph, I am a private individual and am in no way affiliated with
the US Department of Defense or the US government. Despite any reports
you may make/send to me regarding Mr. ALLWARD’s
false SEAL claims, any such information which I might pass along to the
authorities in this matter would be classified as “hearsay” and
therefore inadmissible in a court of law. The responsibility for
reporting the individual named in your inquiry to the federal
authorities rests with you and with anyone else who may have personally
heard or received these claims from the individual himself. Whether or
not you decide to report him to the federal authorities is entirely up
to you, but at least you now know the truth regarding his bogus claims.
If I can be of any further assistance to you in this matter, please
contact me at your convenience. Very
respectfully, Steve
Robinson |
|||||||
| Alvarez, Xavier (Javier) | 08/2007 | CA |
Claims 29 year Veteran of the USMC, 25 years with Recon, 2
purple hearts, a silver star and a Medal of Honor for pulling
the flag from the embassy in Iran during the hostage situation.
=========================================== From staff reports Article Launched: 04/30/2008 10:18:45 PM PDT Local water director Xavier Alvarez has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his false claim that he won the Medal of Honor, according to the case's federal prosecutor. Alvarez, who represents south Pomona on the Three Valleys Municipal Water District board, was taped making the medal claim at July meeting of the Walnut Valley Water District. He later admitted he never served in the military. As part of his agreement with the federal government, Alvarez has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating the Stolen Valor Act, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian. Missakian said he received the plea agreement Tuesday. Alvarez has also agreed to sentencing guidelines that would include probation only, with no prison time, Missakian said. The guilty plea and the terms of the agreement will not become final until Alvarez's court appearance Monday. Alvarez could still back out of the agreement before that date, Missakian said. The judge may also decide to issue Alvarez a different sentence than the one outlined in the plea agreement, Missakian said. As part of the agreement, Alvarez will still be able to appeal his case on First Amendment grounds to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Missakian said. Alvarez unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act. He argued that the statute violated the First Amendment by making medal claims such as his a criminal offense. Missakian said he expected Alvarez to appeal the case, though he said he had no direct knowledge of Alvarez's plans. The government has agreed to drop the second count of violating the Stolen Valor Act against Alvarez, Missakian said. The second charge was related to a taped medal claim that Alvarez made in November 2005 during an interview seeking the endorsement of the Pomona Police Officers' Association. Alvarez could not be reached for comment. His public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The U.S. Attorney's Office is still investigating charges that Alvarez illegally enrolled his ex-wife for health benefits from Three Valleys. Missakian said he could not comment on the investigation because it is still in progress. Alvarez has been censured by the Three Valleys board over the health benefits issue. |
|||||||
| Alvez (Alvarez), Dennis | . | . | Claims Medal of Honor, POW, SF | . | ||||||
| Alvis, Danny Louis | 02/2007 05/2007 |
. | Claims Army Captain, Special Forces retired. He was a local talk radio host and did business as an estate planner. He brought many people to his door via their love of our country and the armed forces. He died in a small plane crash on April 11, this year. In the weeks prior to his death, he told his investors and radio audience that he had been called back to active duty and was working at Bragg 2 to 3 days a week debriefing personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. He preyed on elderly investors. His claimed “MBA” from the U. of Washington was a lie. | deceased Was Special Forces. No COMBAT IS NOTED IN THE RECORDS NOR IN AWARDS AND DECORATIONS. Faced disciplinary action in June 1994 prior to discharge. |
||||||
A [2] |
||||||||||
|
|
|
CLAIMING VIETNAM PRISONER OF WAR: V V A - Claims by members of Vietnam Veterans of America ================================== |
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. |