Timothy R. Webster

OMAHA WORLD HERALD
June 19, 2001

Cold Water Thrown on Nebraskan's SEAL Claims

BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Timothy R. Webster put a target on his chest by wearing the Trident symbol of the elite Navy SEALs when he posed with Sen. Ben Nelson during a Purple Heart ceremony in Columbus, Neb.

Now all of the military claims by Webster, 26, have been called into question.

To Nelson, the freshman Democratic senator, and Webster's employers at Behlen Manufacturing, everything seemed to be in order. Webster had a letter from the secretary of the Navy awarding him a Purple Heart for being wounded in the Persian Gulf.

The cake, punch and newspaper clipping might have been pleasant memories if Webster had not made the claim of being a Navy SEAL. Nelson has called for an investigation into the matter and has been told that the Navy has no record of Webster being awarded the Purple Heart, which is given to those injured in combat. ...

Columbus, Nebraska
June 18, 2001

Navy: City man not entitled to SEAL badge, Purple Heart

By DAVID HUDSON, Telegram Staff Writer

COLUMBUS - What was perhaps strangest about the ceremony April 17 was the pride on Timothy Webster's face when U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson pinned the Purple Heart Award beneath the Trident badge already hanging on the Columbus resident's suit jacket.

The pride was strange because, according to the U.S. Navy Awards Board and the Naval Special Warfare Command, Webster, 26, is entitled to neither award - the Trident, a symbol of the Navy's elite SEAL force, nor the Purple Heart, signifying a wound received in battle.

The Telegram - notified by Behlen Mfg. Co. that Nelson would be presenting the award during a visit to Behlen headquarters - learned afterward that Webster's claims were fraudulent. ...