Media Coverage JUNE 2009


Vet Network Roots out Fake Heroes

Military.com - USA
By day's end, 63-year-old Kenneth Eugene Reed was branded a liar on Schantag's Web site, www.pownetwork.org. Then a large, well-connected network of people ...
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1289765.html

THE AREA | Swindlers focus on military families

Scammers are using information gleaned from online social networking sites to make targets of relatives of U.S. military personnel, the FBI says.

Relatives, specifically grandparents, of deployed military members have been contacted by imposters purporting to be their deployed relative. The impostor says he is returning home on leave but asks them not to say anything so their families can be surprised.

Soon, the impostor contacts the relatives again, saying the service member’s car broke down and asks the relative to wire money for repairs....

INDICTMENT

 

Man accused of lying about military honor

Published: June 25, 2009

TAMPA - A 62-year-old Palm Bay man pleaded not guilty this afternoon to a charge he falsely claimed to have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Gary B. Amster faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted of representing verbally and in writing that he was awarded the nation's highest military award for valor....

INDICTMENT

Accused con man surfaces as 'general'
Worcester Telegram - Worcester,MA,USA
Reached through an e-mail address listed on the phony card, Mr. mcmanus acknowledged in a telephone interview from Florida that he owes a lot of money to ...

not  to be confused with kevin joseph mccmanus, former pow

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies506.htm

MULTIPLE ARTICLES/TV Coverage on Jeff Muller in PA

RONALD ALAN BRYANT
URGENT - LOOKING FOR
Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090618/NEWS01/706189914&news01ad=1#Murder.suspect.not.the.military.veteran.he.claims.to.be

Murder suspect not the military veteran he claims to be

He called himself "Gunny" and reportedly told his pals in the Minutemen American Defense border-watch group that he was a decorated Special Forces veteran who'd survived combat in Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Instead, there is no record that Jason Eugene Bush served in the military as he claims, spokesmen at the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Court records reveal Bush, 34, to be a sometimes-violent ex-convict who spent much of his teens and early 20s behind bars, and once told the court he had long-standing problems with debilitating mental illness.....



Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com.
Arizona Daily Star

A former administrator at Tucson’s veterans hospital was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $365,000 from hospital coffers between 2002 and 2006.

Connie Sue Wilkinson, 55, former clinical director of education, training and development for the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, also was ordered to repay the stolen money, which she largely squandered on shopping sprees.

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Tucson, Arizona - Connie S. Wilkinson, 54, of Tucson, Ariz., was sentenced here Monday by U.S. District Judge David C. Bury to 27 months in federal prison, and ordered to pay restitution of $365,816 to the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System. Wilkinson pleaded guilty on October 2, 2008 to Theft of Public Money, Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud.....

A jump from the truth?

Vet’s account of ’44 air drop over France questioned

 
Howard Manoian, 84, whose accounts of a parachute landing on D-Day in France, have recently been questioned. 

A man whose accounts of landing behind enemy lines as a paratrooper on D-Day earned him ample press attention may have fabricated them, according to a newspaper report and military records......

May 19 - OREGON: Mike Francis wrote a piece for the "Oregonian" titled: "Congrats to USMC Lance Corporal Jesse W. Bruce" noting among other things:

"Got the word this week that Lance Corporal Jesse Bruce, an Oregon City High School graduate who now lives in the Spokane area, has been awarded the Navy Cross with Valor for his actions in the battle of Fallujah in 2004….Here's the text of the citation, relayed via a relative: 'This is to certify that the President of the United States has awarded the Navy Cross with Valor to Lance Corporal Jesse W. Bruce for his actions against the enemy in Al Fallujah, Iraq on June 24th, 2004.'"

After being made aware that Mike Francis is NOT among the 22 Marines who have received the Navy Cross in the Global War on Terrorism, Mr. Francis deleted the story and published an apology. ....



http://blog.oregonlive.com:80/oregonatwar/2009/05/congrats_to_usmc_lance_corpora.html

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-druggist-appeals-records-ruling/article/3376800

Oklahoma City druggist appeals records ruling

BY JAY F. MARKS
Published: June 11, 2009

Pharmacy murder suspect Jerome Jay Ersland will ask a state appeals court to block prosecutors from obtaining copies of his military records, his attorney said Wednesday.....

Ersland, 57, has described himself as a disabled Gulf War veteran, but The Oklahoman has learned he left the U.S. Army before the war began. ...

Ersland admitted last week he had misrepresented his military service. He said he was a liaison officer for the Air Force during the war......

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-i-2009-04-09-193660.112113_Perkins_In_Own_Private_Idaho.html
Mon, Jun 15, 2009 10:30 AM
June 11, 2009 issue
2009-04-09

Perkins In Own Private Idaho

by Scott D. Yost
County Editor

April 09, 2009
Ever since the Nov. 4, 2008 election, residents of Guilford County have wondered what happened to mystery man Kirk Perkins, who ran in and won the five-man race for Guilford County soil and water conservation district supervisor. ....
"They said, 'We don't believe this guy has ever been in the military,'" Oliver said.

According to Oliver, when he confronted Perkins/Newell about his claims of military service, Perkins/Newell had a highly questionable explanation.

"He said that he was in covert ops," Oliver said.....

Scottsdale man accused of impersonating war hero
Associated Press - June 11, 2009 2:54 PM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - Authorities have arrested a Scottsdale man who they say pretended to be a highly decorated Marine, wearing a uniform and ribbons representing the prestigious Navy Cross and Silver Star.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Thursday that 31-year-old John William Rodriguez was booked into Maricopa County jail Wednesday and faces 13 charges of felony fraud schemes......

By Nok-Noi Ricker
BDN Staff

BANGOR, Maine — A 58-year-old woman who collected 18 months’ worth of veterans benefits sent to her dead aunt must pay back the government and serve a short prison sentence, according to her sentence imposed Monday in federal court.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced Lorraine Rich, who now lives in Bradenton, Fla., but who lived in Waterville when the crime occurred, to four months in prison and three years of supervised release.

She also was ordered to repay $27,675, the amount of veteran spouse benefits she collected illegally.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31130493//

Dance With The Devil

A wife is trapped in her husband's mysterious web of deception

By Dennis Murphy
Correspondent
Dateline NBC
updated 7:10 p.m. CT, Sun., June 7, 2009

....  I don’t find anyone with the surname ......................... who got the NX in Korea. He is not listed by Blakeney. Any chance this was a late award and one we’ve missed, or is this Number EIGHT for phony NX recipients this Memorial Day?   ds

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63172

Veteran imposter says he did no harm

Drifter lied about Iraq service, PTSD

Rick Duncan spoke passionately and knowledgeably about homeless veterans and he knew well the intricacies of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He even helped found the Colorado Veterans Alliance......

 

A Deception, and a Reluctance to Ask Questions

 
Published: June 7, 2009
 
DENVER — The thick-muscled man with close-cropped hair who called himself Rick Duncan seemed right out of central casting as a prop for a Democratic candidate running against Bush administration policies last fall.

A former Marine Corps captain who suffered brain trauma from a roadside bomb in Iraq and was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks. An advocate for veterans rights who opposed the war. An Annapolis graduate who was proudly gay. With his gold-plated credentials, he commanded the respect and attention of not just politicians, but also police chiefs, reporters and veterans advocates for the better part of two years......

http://www.gazette.com/articles/strandlof-55969-story-deception.html

Marine impostor's deception began years ago

The troubled past of Rick Strandlof

The Denver Post

A tattoo of an angel illustrates his right leg. A devil decorates his left.

But an elaborate web of deceit has left Richard Glen Strandlof with another indelible mark: fake military hero who misled veterans, politicians and others. All had bought into the story of Rick Duncan, the wounded soldier rallying opposition to the Iraq war and support for struggling vets.......

http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_12537680?source=commented-

Many faces of 'fake vet' Rick Strandlof exposed

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12537123

Faking military duty is easy; unmasking "why" is more complex

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=117130&catid=339

Fake vet admits he didn't tell truth, blames mental illness

written by: Jace Larson additional reporting by: Chris Vanderveen

EL PASO COUNTY - The man who successfully duped politicians, veterans and advocate groups into believing he served three tours in Iraq admits he did not always tell the truth.

"I admit that not everything I said was as factual as I wish it had been," said Rick Strandlof in an exclusive interview with 9Wants to Know.

"Some assertions made in public were not true," he said......

If you have information or would like to contact 9Wants to Know reporter Jace Larson, e-mail him at jace.larson@9news.com or call 303-871-1432.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_06_06_Phony_paratrooper_to_be_feted_by_French:_D-Day_vet_‘misrepresented_his_service_/srvc=home&position=3

Phony paratrooper to be feted by French

D-Day vet ‘misrepresented his service’

By Richard Weir
Saturday, June 6, 2009 -

An Army veteran who has masqueraded as a D-Day paratrooper for decades is due to receive France’s highest military award, although records reveal the 84-year-old Lowell native didn’t jump into Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Howard Manoian’s gripping accounts of landing behind enemy lines with the elite 82nd Airborne Division have been widely reported by the Herald, The Boston Globe and other newspapers.....