Posted on 12/14/2017 10:25:37 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Brooklyn Army vet Papotia Reginald Wright’s resume was impressive by any standard.
He boasted of a Purple Heart, Bronze Star — and a slew of other medals as an elite Green Beret that got him into swanky galas and even field access to the Giants.
But Wright is nothing but an accomplished fraud, it was revealed Thursday.
He never served with Special Forces, never served in any combat role — and never rose above the rank of “specialist,” according to military documents obtained through FOIA by Guardians of the Green Beret.
Wright even lied about how long he was in the Army, claiming he served 25 years when he was really only enlisted from 1982 to 1990, the documents show.
He spent most of his time as a driver, with stints far from any battlefield in Alaska, Egypt, Georgia and Texas, according to his papers.
While living his lie, Wright became a prominent figure in the local military community. He even started an organization to help vets in Brooklyn last year, calling it the 8th Special Forces Regiment New York Honor Guard.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Most imposters were women pretending to be gorgeous with pics etc
Or men possibly pretending to be recon rangers or spies
I was in the Marine Corpse fow a while...
1) He threw it all away by claiming to be a whole bunch of things he's not. So now, he's just a POS.
2) He pissed on the honorable service of a whole lot of other veterans; he apparently thinks their service just wasn't "good enough".
Spent the summer of 79 as the XO of an Admin/Log detachment at Todendorf. We were the only Americans for 200 miles.
We were novelties, my troops didn't have to do any chasing. The large concentration of newly divorced women on vacation were drawn to them.
One of my friends was in “Special Forces” in the Marines. I just don’t even bother....
One of my college roommates was Recon. He was an oddball. He left the apartment door open at night but kept a machete under his mattress.
Same people who claimed they were at Woodstock ?
My favorite youtube Stolen Valor video is where a fake Master Sargeant is confronted in a parking lot by two guys who know their stuff. The makes a break to get in his car and leave. Last line from the two guys was, "If you were a real Master Sargeant, you'd stand here and kick our ass."
Love it.
He was a wog (without guts), trying to steal from those with it.
“Beirut in the 1983 barracks bombing....”
Sorry, I should have mentioned I believed what you were saying.
That bombing incident happened the year I joined the Army. A couple months after being recruited and a couple weeks before I reported.
It made me nervous. Many back then expected Reagan to go full on GeorgeW / StorminNorman at that time. I actually thought he should have back then, later in life I came to respect Reagan’s decision not to do so.
The closest I ever came to combat was when I was a Congressional intern in DC the year prior and a plane bounced on top of the bridge over Potomac I often used (via bus) to get there each day - then into the drink. Not quite as well known today, but the DC subway experienced a brutal / fatal dual-car crash nearly at the same time. I don’t recall the specific causes but it snowed a few inches that day which seemed to a MN boy (now WI) like me that the relatively small amount of snow was a big deal there. Needless to say, it took a while to get home to VA from DC that day.
That all happened some months after The Gipper was shot.
I did not doubt what you were saying. It’s just that the BS story you mentioned happened to remind me of a semi-similar story I knew to actually be true.
I gave the minimally accepted amoint for a 6 yr enlistment.
I don’t like to brag or be a “one upper”, but I gave minimally accepted amount for 20 years (Navy). I did 16 years as a recruiter, 12 of which was for the reserves in my hometown. Most people I know think I was a Green Beret Delta Force SEAL undercover special forces operator.
I was a kernel in the Mureen Corpse.
As you know, Mureen was a brand of eye drops.
This is an odd phenomenon. I’ve nailed a few idiots in my time. I served 24 years in the army. Sometimes people heap so much praise on you it cab be embarrassing. I guess people get addicted to that “hero worship”. I did some hairy stuff, flew plenty of combat missions as a UH-60 pilot, but it was nothing compared to other people, especially my buddies who are Rangers, SF, and SEALs.
My own grandfather was a war hero. Flew a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific theater. He was shot down twice, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts to save most of his crew. He survives all that, comes home from the war and dies from a heart attack while shoveling snow. He was only 41. My mother was 13, the oldest of 6 kids. I think about what he went through and it keeps me humble.
Ah, copy that.
In the “Who Claim to Have ‘Been There” department, it’s written in the issue:
• 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures).
• During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in country was: 9,492,958. (Those who actually served in country amounted to 2.7 million)
• As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between ’95 and ’00. That’s 390 a day.
• During this census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE Vietnam vets are not.
“Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam; less that 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran’s age approximated to be 54 years old.
“So if you’re alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the last one-third of all the U.S. Vets who served in Vietnam? Don’t know about you, but kinda gives me the chills, considering this is the kind of information we are used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets.
“So the last 14 years we are dying too fast, only a few will survive by 2015 … if any.
“If true, 39 VN vets die a day, on average. So in 2,190 days from today, you’re lucky to be a Vietnam veteran alive … in only 6 years.”
In my book, by the numbers, those are sobering statistics. And I salute the ones that served.
This was an eMail to me a couple years ago, from a Texas shipmate, Master Chief Deal, who died last year.
USS Taluga AO-62 (63,64,65)Most dangerous service, Olongapo.
I remember running into a guy at a bar who claimed that he used to carry a minigun as a Marine.
Including my dad, there were 9 males last generation, 7 served. One was burned real bad before going in and couldnt go. That left one who never tried nor seemed to have any interest.
As the years went by they sarted dying and with each passing the one who never served would become an ever greater warrior "remembering", actually just retelling, the few stories the others had once shared.
By his end, when he wasnt catching squirrels on fire with beams from his eyes, he would tell of wars most people never heard of, and they wouldnt have because he had won them single handedly.
I’m amazed these frauds get so far when all anyone has to do is ask to see a DD-214.
I agree. If folks know what a DD-214 is to ask for it.
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