Media Coverage JULY 2009
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In plain view
Military imposter's local presence irks
former allies
by Anthony
Lane
His grim-faced mug shot appeared in newspapers across the
country next to words like "imposter,"
"fraud" and "fake." A chorus of military
veterans and bloggers opined that his bogus tale about getting
his brain rattled while serving in Iraq should win him prison
time, if not a plane ride to the front lines and a chance to
finally "walk the walk."
All of which makes it strange to see Rick Strandlof, once a
prominent veterans' advocate known as Rick Duncan, calmly
surfing the Internet at a downtown Colorado Springs Starbucks......
— lane@csindy.com
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http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/07/navy_silver_stars_072609w/
Navy yet to name nearly 50 recipients
By Andrew
Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 27, 2009 7:35:59 EDT
The Navy has awarded 63 Silver Stars to sailors and officers since
Sept. 11, 2001, a Navy spokesman said. The number is much higher than
previously thought.
Doug Sterner, an expert in combat award citations and curator of the
Military Times’ Hall of Valor project, has confirmed only 15 Navy
Silver Star recipients for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Silver
Star is the third-highest award for combat valor.
Of the 63 Silver Stars, 33 were awarded for action in Operation
Enduring Freedom — likely for action in Afghanistan — and 30 for
action in Iraq. The total does not include Marines who’ve been awarded
the medal.....
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Crowley vet's POW claims
raised red flag
Posted: 07/26/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
A Vietnam veteran responsible for assisting other vets with their
benefits in Crowley County has been stripped of his state VFW office
and is under investigation for allegedly falsely claiming he had been
a prisoner of war.
Ronald Crumley, who denies lying about his record, is employed as
the county's veterans service officer. He has been receiving 100
percent disability payments based on the three years he says he was
held as a prisoner of war.
Crumley was a Marine. And he did earn a Purple Heart. But the POW
claims he made in May at a week-long Veterans Service Officer
conference "raised red flags," said Joe Potter, a veteran
and a member of Gov. Bill Ritter's Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs.
.... Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
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Veteran’s POW, service claims
challenged
A Crowley County official
contends he can prove he was a POW.
By ANTHONY A. MESTAS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
ORDWAY - The Crowley County veterans affairs officer is disputing
claims by military historians that he lied about being a prisoner of
war.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Ronald Crumley said he is a former
POW and that he will prove it at a meeting next week.
"All of the allegations will be answered by two people. One is a
four-star Marine general and the other is a former assistant U.S.
attorney general," Crumley said....
anthonym@chieftain.com
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4:55 PM Wed, Jul 22, 2009
Tanya Eiserer/Reporter
Recently, I have received a number of emails from readers wanting to
know what's been going on with accused police imposter Ryan Caskey.
He's the 22-year-old that authorities say
duped Dallas police by pretending he was a military officer as he
helped them answer calls and make arrests.
Caskey fled the state after an encounter on the night
of April 23, when a police supervisor questioned him on a police call
in Far North Dallas and began to suspect that he was not a real
officer.....
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MARINE CORPS TIMES
July 27, 2009
Stolen valor : Fraudulent DD-214s may be common
By William H. McMichael
bmcmichael@militarytimes.com
Simply claiming to be a Medal of Honor recipient is one
thing. Claiming that status on a falsified government form is
another.
There’s no way to know how often fakers use falsified
forms to illicitly procure government benefits, preference for
admission to schools or, as in a recent case in Florida, an
undeserved state license plate emblazoned with “Medal of
Honor.” That individual has been indicted for violating a
federal law, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005.
But news reports and private-sector military-honors
watchdogs indicate the practice is still widespread � and
that the means is often an altered or counterfeit DD-214, the form
distributed upon discharge from military service that contains a
concise capsule of a service member ’s career.
Many private watchdogs spend long hours hunting down those
who, for self-aggrandizement, claim military service and high
decorations � to gain an edge in a political campaign, for
instance....
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NEWSMAX Magazine
August Issue / America
Phony Vets Spin Good Tales, But Dishonor Real
Heroes
by Clayton Reid
3 page article
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This was one of the editorials in the Columbus
Dispatch
Editorial: Short takes
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 3:00 AM
• MILITARY
HEROES and their loved ones are right to resent people who
cheapen their sacrifices by telling false stories of valor.
Most don't have the time to track down every
fishy-sounding story and investigate its veracity, so groups such as
Mary Schantag's perform a useful service. The Missouri woman belongs
to a network of volunteers who use Google alerts and other means to
monitor news sources for claims of military heroism. They check the
stories against Department of Defense records and, when they find
someone making phony claims about military service, they expose it on
blogs across the country.
The Stolen Valor Act, a federal law passed in
2006, makes it a crime to falsely claim military honors or lie about
combat service. It's not aimed so much at barstool braggarts as at
those who attempt to gain something of value, such as a tax break or
free meals or special license plates. ...
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MARINE CORPS TIMES
July 27, 2009
Association wrestles with how to treat fakers
By Dan Lamothe
dlamothe@militarytimes.com
The Marine Corps Association is ignoring fraudulent
veterans in its ranks, say a growing number of critics disgusted
with the organization for publishing a member ship directory listing
dozens of unearned military decorations.
The criticism follows the association’s response to
learning that at least 40 profiles printed in the 2009 Marine Corps
Association Membership Directory had false or fraudulent medals
listed, including 16 Medals of Honor and 16 Navy Crosses. The Nation
al Personnel Records Center, which maintains former service
members’ paperwork, also had no record of at least five people
listed in the directory ever serving a day in the military.
Tom Esslinger, MCA’s chief operating officer, said no
members have been expelled from the organization, including Donald
Laisure Sr., 80, a former private who admitted to Marine Corps Times
that he pretended to be a retired four-star general with a Navy
Cross and Silver Star....
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Veterans
network roots out fake heroes
Sunday, July 19, 2009 4:03
AM
This past Memorial Day, a
Vietnam veteran in London, Ohio, shared a harrowing story.
He told a newspaper reporter
how, when he was an Army private in 1967, a North Vietnamese soldier
climbed a tree, stuck a P-10 pistol into his ear and took him
prisoner. How he survived for three months on dirty water and an ounce
of rice a day.
He said he escaped by breaking a
guard's neck and shooting the others with the AK-47 he ripped from
that dead soldier's hands....
hzachariah@dispatch.com
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Fort Myers mayoral hopeful's claim may violate law
Record shows no Special Forces stint
By Gabriella Souza • gsouza@news-press.com •
July 17, 2009
The man who authored the Stolen Valor Act said he believes it is
possible Fort Myers mayoral candidate Derrell Gardner could be
prosecuted under his law's guidelines.
On his Web site, Gardner claims he was in Special Forces. His
military record gives no indication he completed Special Forces
training, and former Special Forces soldiers say this shows he never
served in the elite unit....
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090717/NEWS0110/907170388/1085/NEWS01
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http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=315730&
July 14, 2009
Webb Calls on Veterans Affairs Department to Examine Reports of
Misrepresentation of Military Service
Letter Asks for Immediate Action to Root out Fraud and Abuse in VA
System
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http://www.spokesman.com:80/stories/2009/jul/14/phony-covert-military-agent-gets-six-months-swindl/
A man who convinced his girlfriend he was a covert military agent
and swindled thousands of dollars to fund his gambling habit will
spend the next six months in jail.
The woman felt so bad her bank lost money that she repaid it.
Now her ex-boyfriend, Thai M. Cao, is required to pay her back
after he’s released from jail.
Cao, 24, also faces a theft charge in Colorado, where he worked in
a military finance department before becoming addicted to gambling and
ruining his career, he told Spokane County Superior Court Judge
Maryann Moreno on Tuesday.....
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Stolen Valor Act
Watchdog
blog: Special Forces vet questions whether Fort Myers ...
The News-Press - Fort Myers,FL,USA
The Stolen Valor Act is a federal law enacted in 2006 that
makes it illegal to falsely claim any military decorations and medals.
It's unclear whether the ...
Watchdog blog: Special Forces vet questions whether Fort Myers
mayoral candidate violated federal law
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07/14/2009
S&S has a new blog, and thought
you might want to pass this url along to you list. It has the recent
cases:
http://blogs.stripes.com/blogs/stripes-central/rash-phony-vets-fake-medal-recipients-exposed
Sincerely,
Doug
“Congress is
complicit in the Stolen Valor cases we see in the news every week by its
lack of even taking the time to learn how big the problem is or how
simple the solution can be. Representative Susan Davis (San Diego, CA)
seems to be our biggest obstacle; as Chairwoman of the Sub-Committee to
which the "Military Valor Roll of Honor Act" is assigned, she
refuses even to give one hour to a hearing on this issue, despite the
fact that one-third of the members of her sub-committee are co-sponsors
of the bill to fix this. One would think preserving the history of our
TRUE heroes, while quickly exposing the myriad of phonies out there,
deserves at least a hearing.”
Doug Sterner
C. Douglas Sterner
3111 Thatcher Ave.
Pueblo, CO 81005
(719) 564-1755
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Subject: FW: What a Week !!!!
Date:
Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:37:18 -0600
Big story is the poor victim of the
Vietnam War in Houston…suffering PTSD and Survivors Guilt after
becoming “disillusioned by the prejudice he says was within his
unit,” who can blame him for awarding himself medals, giving
interviews with unbelievable stories, and posing with a REAL MOH
Recipient….
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6524197.html
Please take the time to register and leave a note of sympathy for Mr.
Bass…..
AND…this just out today regarding one of the NINE Phony Navy Cross
recipients we encountered in the last week of May (Memorial Day
Weekend)…again, in Texas…. http://www.rockwallheraldbanner.com/local/local_story_191195018.html
“LaFlamme said he had undergone a name change in a “long,
drawn-out story that I’m not allowed to talk about.” Those
covert ops and “sealed records” get you in trouble every time…..
And, of course…in case you missed it our guy who lied about serving in
Vietnam and then forged the paperwork to show he had completed the
community service he was sentenced to for that Stolen Valor: http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_12808049
Oh yes… and the CIVILIAN (never served) who earned the Navy Cross and
Silver Star… FOX NEWS in Arizona did a GREAT PIECE on this in case you
didn’t see it: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/only_on_fox/fake_marine_07_06_2009
And FINALLY…Tom Richards (NX/RVN) good work in:
1) Busting a phony Navy Cross Recipient two days before he was to be
Grand Marshall of an Independence Day Parade: http://www.rgj.com/article/20090708/FERNLEY01/907080313/1306/FERNLEY/Legion-of-Valor-weighing-whether-to-pursue-charges-in-Navy-Cross-controversy
2) The Problem of Erroneous Claims in the MCA Directory: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/07/marine_mca_fakers_070609w/
Sincerely,
Doug
C. Douglas Sterner
3111 Thatcher Ave.
Pueblo, CO 81005
(719) 564-1755
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By Dan
Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 6, 2009 7:01:15 EDT
Donald Laisure Sr. has a biography that could wow nearly anyone.
The retired four-star general earned the Navy Cross, the Silver
Star and an Air Medal in a 54-year career that included service in
Vietnam, Panama and the Persian Gulf War, according to his profile in
the 2009 Marine Corps Association Directory. He went on to become the
CEO and chairman of the board at Laisure Oil Refinery & Production
Company in Greenville, Texas, the directory says.
It’s a great story of a self-made man making it big.
Too bad it’s not true.....
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MARINE
CORPS TIMES
6 July 2009
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[EDITORIALS
]
A
black eye for MCA
The Marine Corps Association ought to be a pretty exclusive
club. Turns out, it has a problem with fakers.
Not one or two or three, but possibly dozens. At least 40
member profiles published in the organization's most recent
directory are flawed. There are 16 bogus Medals of Honor, for
example, 16 fake Navy Crosses and at least eight phony Silver
Stars listed, based on a Marine Corps Times analysis. There
are also at least five members listed who claim to have been
Marines, but who appear never to have even served in the
Corps.
There are victims in this mess, as well. A handful of
legitimate combat heroes are listed with incorrect medals
because of data-entry errors made by the third-party firm
hired by the MCA to update its 2009 members directory.....
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