Fake Military Heroes Current Events by Donald Burleson

Update 1 FEB 2015 - The Stolen Valor Act is passed, and effective December 2006 it is a Federal offense to wear of claim to have earned US medals:

Under the Stolen Valor Act it is now a Federal Offense, punishable by up to $5,000 fine and six months in jail (double that if the offense involves valor awards or the Purple Heart), to claim VERBALLY or in WRITING, to have received any military award you did not.

If you know anyone who has made false claims of valor, contact the FBI immediately and INSIST that they arrest the offender. 

Tracking arrests under the Stolen Valor Act

The pown Network web site has a list of heroes of villains and they are tracking arrests under the Stolen valor act. Now, these guys are real heroes.

Here are recent arrests under the stolen Valor act.

As an Army brat I grew-up on a military base and like many kids of the 1950's we were in awe of military heroes.  We learned to recognize the ribbons of valor, and read the "fruit salad" to instantly see their history of foreign campaigns and citations for heroism and valor:

Distinguished Flying Cross

Bronze Star

Air Medal

Air Force Medals

In a very disturbing report by USA Today, we see a rash of the most appalling theft, scumbag pretenders who have the dishonor to wear the uniform of a commissioned officer and medals for heroism that they never earned:

"The cases are sometimes difficult to prosecute because the phony heroes have to be caught wearing the medal. And because the crime — unauthorized wearing of military medals and decorations — is a misdemeanor, the penalty is small."

This article on fraudulent heroes is very disturbing, a general discharge (less than honorable) Air Force enlisted creep who self-awarded himself the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and many medals for heroism:

"Among the awards he wore were a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and the Navy Cross, which is second in significance only to the Medal of Honor."

Here are some photos of phony war heroes, human filth who are despised more than child molesters by many war veterans:

Here we see a real Medal of Honor winner who is also disgusted by this theft from the legitimate war heroes:

"This is as much a theft as any other fraud and theft," he said. "These people are literally stealing the recognition of those who legitimately earned these awards. It's illegal and it's disgraceful. These people are criminals."

This great web page offer advice on how to spot these impostor criminals:

Sketchy records. When asked to verify details of their military record, phonies often say they didn't go through the normal military channels. Appearance matters. Impostors put on pretty lousy impersonations. They're often out of shape or have a "slovenly appearance in uniform," Top secret? Probably not. A phony often will say details of his career exploits are classified. "My dog ate it." Phonies often say their military documents were destroyed in a fire or some similar disaster.  Watch that rack. Check their decorations; phonies often wear medals in the wrong order or in disproportion to their time in service.  Check the birth date. When it comes to the Medal of Honor, age matters. Just ask. Don't be afraid to test someone if you think they're faking, FBI agents say. Surf the Web. Still not sure? Check out the online databases of information about both real and phony war heroes. The site www.homeofheroes.com has a confidential online "bust a phony" form. Information submitted is turned over to the FBI. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society maintains a list of living MOH award recipients at www.cmohs.org . Also, www.pownetwork.org  maintains a list of phony veterans.

This web site has a most-wanted page for military impostor criminals and it's shocking that there are hundreds of these scumbags wearing honors and rank that they did not earn:

Donald Garlock Fake USAF Colonel

Martin Edwards Fake Bronze Star/Air Medal

I recommend the great book Stolen Valor for a treatise on this despicable criminal practice and encourage support for the Stolen Valor Act which would impose appropriate criminal prison terms for these thieves, many of whom go free on technicalities:

"Illinois District Judge Michael O'Brien displayed two Medals of Honor in a frame on the wall of his courtroom. Everyone in his city believed their judge was not only an honorable man of the judicial profession, but one of America 's greatest heroes.

O'Brien's fraud was discovered when he tried to apply for Medal of Honor license plates for his vehicle. Illinois provides valid Medal of Honor recipients with distinctive license plates for their personal vehicles. When Judge O'Brien applied for his Medal of Honor plates for himself, someone at the Department of Motor Vehicles happened to contact a true recipient and learned O'Brien was a fraud."
 

Let's have some military justice for these creeps

This is more than just a Halloween dress-up fraud, it should be punished by the same stiff prison sentenced that are meted out for those who impersonate medical doctors and police officers.  Let's get tough with these creeps and honor the real heroes.  It's sad that the crime of impersonating an officer has a statutory maximum penalty for the first offense of five years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine.

Here we see an outrageous and disgraceful case of a fake Marine who only got 8 months in prison instead of a firing squad.  Me, I have a great idea to circumvent these horrendous acts. 

It's difficult to get Military Police to arrest these fakers and take them onto a Military base, but it's still possible to get real justice.  Since these cretins are both brazen and extremely dumb, all we need to do is ask them to show-off, in uniform on a military reservation.  Once outside the scope of lenient Federal military impostor laws, a court marshal might use the UCMJ to toss them into Leavenworth for life in prison, where they belong.

Still at large: