POTTER, Marvin Enoch "Buddy"

 

EXPOSED

 

FOUND GUILTY

Moving to Tennessee the end of October 2003

10/2002- claims USMC, earned the Navy Cross in Vietnam - stole citation of Medal of Honor recipient and presented it as his own. Claims 3 Silver Stars, PH, 3 tours in Nam,  70-73,  in Briar Patch  - operating in a "Shadow Force", attached to VMFA-333 (Trip-Trey), F-4 fighter jet squadron.  After attending jump, diving, survival,  recon schools assigned to  Force Reconnaissance  - may not show up due to him being CIA.  

VVA member. 

Veteran gets probation for lying about medals
 GINA ZOTTI , Staff Writer  09/18/2004
    ......  In his guilty plea he admitted he was not on a pilot rescue team but that his primary job was gathering supply parts for helicopters; that he did not serve in Marine Force Reconnaissance as he had told his wife and others; he never worked for the CIA and did not participate in any classified operations; he did not attend diving school in the Philippines; he altered his Department of the Navy letter and discharge certificate to include unauthorized medals and additional training.
     He also admitted he wore his dress uniform with the unauthorized medal representing himself in public as a winner of the Navy Cross.
      Authorities also found photos of Potter wearing the medals.
      Potter told authorities he felt "shortchanged" for his service and offered that as his motive for falsifying his discharge certificate and wearing the medals he was never awarded.

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POTTER PLED GUILTY TO THE INDICTMENT ON SEPT 17, 2004.  The judge reportedly sentenced Potter to 6 Months Probation, Forfeiture of all Unauthorized medals & awards, A letter was to be written to the President of Vietnam Veterans of America (unknown if National or Local Chapter), and a $500.00 fine to be paid in full during the probation period. Judge Smith felt that "this sentence was appropriate considering the health and financial condition of the Defendant..."     {"He walked hunched over, grimacing in pain, with the aide of a cane; rolling a portable oxygen bottle in front of him."

National Archives Personnel Center/Military Personnel Records  refutes his claims of "CIA special operations", Briar Patch,  the Purple Heart (3), the Silver Star, the Navy Cross and  'special ops' training.
02/24/2003 - The Marine Corps IG completed their investigation of Marvin E. "Buddy" Potter and concluded that he was, in fact, a fraud. He had NOT earned the Navy Cross, Silver Star, 3 Purple Hearts, parachute wings nor "Navy dive bell', as he claimed. They have turned this matter over to the FBI. 
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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8702840.htm?1c
Ex-Marine exposed as phony war hero

Marvin Enoch Potter Jr. is an ex-Marine and Vietnam vet who is charged with falsely posing as a war hero to lecture school kids on his combat experiences.

Potter, formerly of Chester County, spent seven months on an aircraft carrier off Vietnam during the war as a "material control unit" sergeant. He was charged yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia with wearing medals he never won, including the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Potter, a Toughkenamon native, now of Mountain City, Tenn., faces misdemeanor charges of wearing unauthorized medals and altering his discharge certificate.

Some heroics Potter attributed to himself were actually performed by Raymond M. Clausen, a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam in 1970, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Arteaga.

http://www.dailylocal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11789583&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=6%3E

Attorney: Veteran’s medals are fake
GINA ZOTTI , Staff Writer, 5/26/04

There’s a U.S. Marine who served in the Vietnam War and assisted his fellow injured Marines to safety.  [clipped]

That Marine was Pfc. Raymond M. Clausen.

That Marine was not Marvin Enoch Potter.

But it was Potter who allegedly claimed Clausen’s actions were his own. It was Potter who reportedly said those actions earned him the Navy Cross Medal, the second-highest military award for valor.

Potter, 53, formerly of Toughkenamon, was indicted last week in federal court for altering his military record to show awards he never received and wearing those military medals and decorations without proper authorization.

"We have people fighting and dying in Iraq. We have people putting themselves on the line and in the process dying," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose R. Arteaga. "And, this guy is walking into a store and pinning on a medal. In reality, he’s a fraud."

In addition to the Navy Cross, Potter allegedly altered his honorable discharge certificate to include awards of the Silver Star Medal, the third-highest military award for valor, the Bronze Star Medal, the fourth-highest military award for valor, the Purple Heart Medal, Airborne Wings and SCUBA badge. He also reportedly took several photographs of himself wearing his uniform with unauthorized medals, badges and decorations attached.

"Nobody’s going to tell you this is the crime of the century. It’s not," said Arteaga. "But, it’s a crime that affects veterans that are living and who have died.".......