Posted on 07/13/2009 7:17:19 AM PDT by laotzu
HOUSTON — Charles Bass had told the story about how he survived a deadly snakebite in Vietnam so many times it seemed natural to tell it again, this time in front of a TV camera on the Fourth of July. He pointed at scars on his hand and the crook of his elbow, explaining how he'd stuck a hollow bamboo in the vein to stop the venom from reaching his heart.
The camera panned a display case full of his medals at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum on Southmore Boulevard. A placard explained that Sgt. Major Bass had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Hearts for bravery and gallantry.
Bass, in a rumpled fatigue jacket, seemed humbled by the attention. “I thank God that I endured what I had to endure for my country,” the Houston native said.
The story on Channel 2 KPRC that day was less than three minutes long, but that's all the time it took for nearly 40 years of lies to unravel.
Five days later, a tearful Bass apologized for his dishonesty — not only about the snake, but also the rank of sergeant major, Special Forces status, and all the medals at the museum. He'd bought them in military surplus stores, he said, and forged certificates from forms he found online.
“It's a hell of a load off my shoulders,” said Bass, 66. “It's pressure off me. Things that needed to be said for a lotta, lotta years.”
Under the Stolen Valor Act, people who lie about military awards and citations can face up to six months in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000. If the violation involves a top decoration awarded for valor in combat — such as the Distinguished Service Cross or Silver Star — the penalty doubles.
Doug Sterner, a military historian from Colorado, estimates about 50 cases have been prosecuted since 2006, when the act became law. Sterner maintains a Web site that lists recipients of top military awards.
He said Bass' deception is particularly egregious because of the prestige of the medals he claimed and the fact that he duped a museum into honoring him with a permanent exhibit.
“I've seen these cases and they go on and on for years because it goes against our grain when we see a decorated veteran to question them,” Sterner said.
At his East Houston home last week, Bass ushered a Chronicle reporter into a small study decorated with American flags and faded photographs of himself in uniform. He pointed out a rucksack, helmet and combat boots he said he wore as an infantryman in Vietnam.
Then he closed his eyes and tried to explain.
Bass said he grew up poor in Houston's Fifth Ward. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he went to live with his dad. “I guess I cramped his style,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure. He dogged me out a lot: ‘You never amount to nothing, you ain't about this or you ain't about that.'”
Bass said he enlisted in the Army and deployed to Vietnam in 1969. He returned to the United States a year later, tortured by post traumatic stress and disillusioned by prejudice he says he experienced in his unit.
On his way home, Bass said, he bought some ribbons in a military supplies store, just to make his uniform look a bit more impressive.
First he told a few tall tales to his family, to make them proud. Then to fellow veterans, for respect. “For a while I was talking about it so much I was actually believing it myself,” he said.
No one ever questioned him until the Channel 2 story aired. After a local Vietnam veteran couldn't find Bass' name on Sterner's Web site, he raised concerns with Paul Matthews, executive director of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum.
Matthews asked Bass to produce his discharge papers for verification. The document showed Bass had served in Vietnam as a private from 1969-70, earning a Combat Infantry Badge, but no Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Stars, Bronze Stars or Purple Hearts. Army officials say it will take at least a week to verify Bass' service.
Matthews immediately removed Bass' exhibit.
Now Bass says he's too embarrassed to leave the house. “I ain't been able to sleep, I ain't been able to eat.”
He said he knows what he did was wrong. And he knows that telling the truth means he'll have to stop fighting imaginary battles and confront his real demons.
“Some 58,900 people were killed in Vietnam,” Bass said. “I'm supposed to be on that Wall. You have survivor's guilt. ... It eats me up. So it's like I'm trying to tell their stories, the brave men I wanted to be like. I'm trying to honor these people, but I'm dishonoring them. I understand that now.”
That poor, poor man.
Sounds like he served with John Kerry.
When I read the headline, I immediately thought it was about JOHN KERRY FINALLY COMING CLEAN. (Yeeeaaaaaah....like THAT’S gonna happen!)
Did he get three purple hearts without spending a day in the hospital?
Yes, it's always about "me."
I bet this AZZhole even gets disability benefits. I saw plenty of these fakes at the VA.
In Life,a person who have REAL accomplishments doesn’t brag.
They let their accomplishments speak for themselves.
Will Kerry do the same?
I wonder....which of the two are "better" men?
Headline:
Local Vet Hooks Bass!
Oh, Jesse! Oh, Charlie! Oh, Al! Help me, I'm a victim of prejudice (now that I've been caught.) It was the evil white man who kept me from joining the ranks of all my fellow black Americans who served honorably, valorously, and with distinction.
What a pant load.
And if all other excuses don't work, throw in the race card for good measure!
Sad story.
At least this guy came face to face with his own fantasy. He comments that those brave souls on “The Wall” are the real heroes.
Will Kerry do the same?
I wonder....which of the two are “better” men?
&&&
Agree.
I saw that interview and the snake venom/bamboo shoot seemed a little far fetched, but I decided I would soon go to this museum. Glad to see the fake exposed and the museum took proper action.
USMC 1971-1982
Headline’
Local Vet Hooks Bass.
According to the book “Stolen Valor”, the VA isn’t too meticulous about verifying combat records. Why disqualify vets for falsifying, and then lose them as clients?
The VA is the prime example why government run health care will never work. And the shammers I saw at the VA were never in the bush. One even admitted that he was scarred his “hootch maid” would kill him. PTSD my AZZ!
This guy earned the CIB. Sounds like if he told the truth in the beginning that would have been enough for respect.
I just dont understand how some people have to claim Special Forces, Sniper, Navy Seal, etc, and cant be proud of what they actually did!
Motor T, If you can’t Truck it .............
We all have demons to slay, and the best thing anyone can do--for his spouse, his children, and especially for himself--and for other people in general--is to confront and slay those demons at a very early age--the earlier the better.
When I was a teenager, I was suicidal. I went to a psychiatrist, over the angry objections of my mother, who was embarrassed and afraid that her friends would find out. I got a job working after school to pay him.
I was smart enough to realize that my life could be happy or it could be miserable and the result depended on one person and only one person--ME.
I knew at an early age that I am responsible for my life, myself, and my happiness.
This self-reliance--and the willingness to blame my misfortunes on myself and myself alone--have served me well.
It turned my life around, and it was the beginning of a life-long adventure of self-discovery--and self-improvement--and growth--and continuous revelation and enlightenment.
Since then the happiness of my life has soared!
Today I have everything.
I have been married to the same fabulous woman for 50 years! I love her more and more every day. We have fabulous children and grandchildren! We have everything! She is sitting next to me now.
And there is still continuous personal discovery--growth--revelation!
I could not be happier.
Occasionally I still go the the psychotherapist whom I have been consulting since the 1970s. He is an ex-marine, and he's one of my best friends. He and his wife have visited my wife and me in our home; we have gone out to dinner together; all of which breaks the usual rules of therapy--but knowning when and how to break the rules--and when to observe them--was an important part of my self-discovery.
There is nothing that I have withheld from him.
A few years ago I told this to a friend who is a psychiatrist. He was astonished. He said, "You really must be secure to do something like that--to see your psychotherapist socially."
I am.
It is a great source of reassurance to me to know that someone who knows everything about me--including my basest inclinations, my most secret thoughts, all my most personal feelings and experiences, and everything else there is to know about me--still admires me, respects me, and, in fact, loves me.
Older people seem to fall into two groups: (1) those who are happy and continuing to find adventure in life and (2) those who are disappointed, unhappy, regretful, and depressed.
People who have solved their problems--slain their demons--when they were young, tend to be in chategory #2.
I see people every day who have put bandaids on their problems, never to seek the root causes of them, and who have grown older in increasing misery and disappointment. There comes a time when it's too late to slay those demons.
If you do it when you're young, you're happy when you're old. If you don't, you're not.
“I'm supposed to be on that Wall. You have survivor's guilt. ... It eats me up. So it's like I'm trying to tell their stories, the brave men I wanted to be like. I'm trying to honor these people.
In the grand picture, it is in my mind that all who served, either in theater or outside of theater, are heroes. Perhaps 'just a cog' in the machinery, but parts of the whole where the lack of these would cause the machine to fail.
God bless them all.
You still can't stop lying Charles, can you?
Sounds like Sgt. Four Leaf Tayback from Tropic Thunder.
I even recall calling the paper in question to tell them they had a fake and fraud on their hands.
I remember a thread at the time.
Let me see if I can find it.
I got drunk in France on shore leave (it was ll those crazy Frenchmen’s fault, they kept buying me beer and Scotch). I’ll bet that John Kerry can get me a medal of some sort for that.
The guy WAS lying, and he deserves to be punished by the Stolen Valor Act, but he DID earn a CIB (something I never did). He deserves the thanks of a grateful nation....NOT a wing of a museum.
Cops: We've had complaints about con men pretending to be blind and crippled.
Billy Ray: I ain't seen nothing since I stepped on that landmine in Vietnam.
It was very painful.
Cops: You were in 'Nam? So were we. Where?
I was in...Sang Bang...
Dang Gong...
I was all over the place, a lot of places.
Cops: What unit?
I was with the Green Berets, Special Unit Battalions...
Commando Airborne Tactics... Specialist Tactics Unit Battalion.
Yeah, it was real hush hush.
I was Agent Orange, Special Agent Orange, that was me.
So, after spending a year in Vietnam, without getting wounded, he feels he should be honored as one of those who gave their lives there. What a piece of work.
Buffalo Soldier.
Wrong color for Kerry
Why do they always say they were in SF? Is there no pride in serving as a cook, truck driver or medic in a combat zone?
Where they might not be meticulous in verifying one Vets combat status they can be meticulous to a fault in verifying another vet's status.
Case in point, I have very personal knowledge of a veteran of combat in RVN, with copies of his Bronze Star and Air Medal submitted who was told while he was in Viet Nam, he was not in combat.
Lesson to be gained for current Vets returning home and being discharged: Keep meticulous copies of your 201 file to include all medical records. And don't wait 30 years to apply for legitimate benefits.
As far as this person ... Shame on him for the shame he brought on many others. I for one am very happy to see him outed and hope he suffers a bit more for stealing valor that wasn't his!
IIRC, the Bronze Star and Air Medal are not combat awards unless a separate order is published authorizing the `V’ device to be worn with it. The Bronze Star is often awarded for conspicuous achievement alone.
For example, the `V’ device on my Air Medal was awarded for two different actions where we were in the thick of it and losing people (I flew UH-1s). But it became part of the total in the numeral on the AM.
My first thoughts exactly upon reading the headline: Just like John Kerry.
I am glad you had the good sense to take care of yourself as a kid. I enjoyed reading your good advice.
“The VA is the prime example why government run health care will never work.”
So true...going to a VA Hospital gives the veteran a second opportunity to die for their country.
Thanks, Sara. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been wonderful, and right now I’m sitting on top of the world. I wish everybody had a life as wonderful as mine. ~S
What a pity. There’s no shame in a CIB, far from it. There’s a good deal of shame in what came afterward. IMHO.
Thank you, I couldn’t say it better myself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.