News-Media Queries

Reporters and editors—here is our view of this unusual scandal, as of July 4, 2003:

A world-ranked, martial-arts instructor and retired Ohio University professor, Dr. Maung Gyi, is strongly criticized by some military-veterans groups and ex-students after his celebrated “military career” and “combat heroism” are exposed as lies in 2001. The man arrogantly and stubbornly refuses to admit to his deceit and publicly apologize. (Think of this, sort of, as Bruce Lee meets Vietnam-veteran wannabe Joseph Ellis, the noted history professor and liar.)

Publications that unwittingly contributed to Gyi’s clever sham over the years include Inside Kung-Fu, Masters of Kung-Fu, Command, and Soldier Of Fortune magazines. Loyal members of the Burmese-born grand master’s cult-like organization, the American Bando Association, close ranks around Gyi—who recently was visited by a federal agent and warned to cease and desist. A local newspaper reporter in Athens, Ohio, researched the scandal but is intimidated away from writing a story. Both the American Legion and the VFW are now reviewing his "lifetime" membership.

Meanwhile, gullible true-believers across the nation bitterly condemn the veterans group whose investigative Web site (which you are reading now) is averaging upwards of 100,000 hits a week, mostly to the Gyi pages. The martial-arts specialty press, however, turns a blind eye to the disgrace. Legends fall hard.

For more information or to request an interview with this Missouri-based, not-for-profit  POW/MIA group, e-mail  info@pownetwork.org.

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