Army honors Dallas man who exposed fake records (STOLEN VALOR Author - Vietnam Vet "Jug" Burkett)

The Dallas Morning News ^ | 2 December 2003 | SELWYN CRAWFORD & DAVID FLICK

[Stultis]

Army honors Dallas man who exposed fake records

11:15 PM CST on Monday, December 1, 2003

By SELWYN CRAWFORD and DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

B.G. "Jug" Burkett of Dallas considers it an honor to expose the dishonorable. So does the U.S. Army.

The military branch awarded Mr. Burkett its Distinguished Civilian Service Award on Monday for his work in exposing more than 1,200 people who either lied about or exaggerated their claims of serving in the Vietnam War. He later wrote a critically acclaimed book about his findings.

Former President George H.W. Bush presented the award to Mr. Burkett during a brief ceremony at the Bush Library in College Station.

The honor, which is awarded by the secretary of the Army, cites Mr. Burkett's "unique and important contribution in properly honoring our veterans of the Vietnam War."

Mr. Burkett reacted modestly in an interview before the ceremony.

"I'm a little overwhelmed because none of what I've done exceeded just doing my duty," said Mr. Burkett, a financial adviser who served in Vietnam in the late 1960s. "There's nothing extraordinary about that."

Others disagree.

"I think he's been a great service to everybody – certainly to veterans who deserve recognition for their service and acts of heroism and whose achievements are devalued by people who are claiming them falsely," said Mark Bowden, a national correspondent with Atlantic Monthly magazine and author of Black Hawk Down.

John W. Nicholson, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, nominated Mr. Burkett for the award more than a year ago, noting that Mr. Burkett had to overcome huge obstacles to get his story out.

"He did all this despite death threats, lawsuits and a completely unhelpful book industry that at first refused to publish his findings," Mr. Nicholson said.

But the results have been significant, he said.

"He exposed a mass distortion of history that cost taxpayers billions of dollars" in undeserved veteran benefits, Mr. Nicholson said. "He returned to the Vietnam veterans their good name."

Mr. Burkett began his mission in 1986 when he began trying to raise funds for the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Fair Park. Many people refused to donate, he said, because they believed they would be helping drug-abusing psychopaths with no desire to work or contribute to society.

"Every place I would go to raise money, the attitude was, 'Why should we give money to those bums?' Well, I went to college with a lot of these guys who were in Vietnam, and we knew this wasn't true," Mr. Burkett said.

So he began doing his own research to find out who fought in Vietnam – and who didn't – and he tried to debunk some of the myths about Vietnam veterans.

Along the way, he exposed politicians, entertainers and regular citizens who had tried to capitalize on bogus or inflated war records.

Then he and Glenna Whitley wrote a nearly 700-page book about it, Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History. The book, published in 1998, in part challenged the belief that young and poor minority draftees fought and died in higher numbers in Vietnam. Mr. Burkett's research indicated that 75 percent of those killed were volunteers.

He also found that Vietnam veterans had higher per-capita income, education and home ownership rates than was commonly believed.

Mr. Burkett said that an undeserved image of dirty, begging Vietnam veterans has contributed to America's overall negative feelings about the war and those who fought in it.

He said he's happy to receive the Army's award because it will help bring the right type of attention to his comrades.

"I'm happy because it brings the focus back to the message," Mr. Burkett said. "And the message basically is that the people who served in Vietnam are the finest troops we ever produced."

E-mail scrawford@dallasnews.com

and dflick@dallasnews.com

[Peach]

Another great book to give for Christmas.

This has received darned little attention.

Without a willing press, the lies told about our Vietnam vets would never have become part of the myths associated with that war.

The left has lied to us once again, and about people who deserved better!

[Peach]

For your media bias bump list.

I can't think of a bigger lie told by the media than those exposed in this book.

[A Simple Soldier]

Please ping to your respective lists

[angkor]

I'm acquainted with a fellow who gets tremendous mileage from his service as "a Navy SEAL" during VN, says he received the Navy Cross in a well-known battle there, did service in Cambodia, etc.

He doesn't speak one word of Cambodian or Vietnamese. He doesn't appear in any list of Navy Cross recipients, and is in no documented listing of the famous battle for which he says he received the Cross. He doesn't know the geography of Vietnam or Cambodia, even near places where he claims he served.

I could go on, but why bother?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you, Stultis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The military branch awarded Mr. Burkett its Distinguished Civilian Service Award on Monday for his work in exposing more than 1,200 people who either lied about or exaggerated their claims of serving in the Vietnam War. He later wrote a critically acclaimed book about his findings.

Former President George H.W. Bush presented the award to Mr. Burkett during a brief ceremony at the Bush Library in College Station.

The honor, which is awarded by the secretary of the Army, cites Mr. Burkett's "unique and important contribution in properly honoring our veterans of the Vietnam War."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpts from Stolen Valor: How The Vietnam Generation Was Robbed Of its Heroes And its History ~ by B.G. Burkett & Glenna Whitley:

* Part I - Rambo and the Bogus War Heroes 
* Part II - Welcome Home, Babykiller 
* Part III - Will the Real Vietnam Vet Stand Up? 
* Part VI - The VVA - The Vietnam Victims of America

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Sounds a bit like Jessie Ventura.

[battlegearboat]

I cannot praise this book too much.

[ken in texas]

If you think this fellow might not really be a SEAL, there are several web sites around that can assist in verifying his status. Some I've heard of are http://www.veriseal.org and http://www.authentiseal.org.

Anyone I've ever met who was a SEAL didn't talk much about what they did, and they don't think much of someone making false claims.

[blackie]

Army honors Dallas man who exposed fake records ~ Bump!

[AppyPappy]

For a while, I kept meeting Navy veterans who were almost Navy SEAL's. They all passed the tests but were kept out on a technicality. One was only 5'6".

[Cannoneer No. 4]

A Simple Soldier sez ping

[ArrogantBustard]

Do you, by any chance, keep a list of all the "fake SEAL", "fake sniper", "fake MOH", etc. websites?

[archy]

Anyone I've ever met who was a SEAL didn't talk much about what they did... Except around their fellow SEALS, of course. If you're ever invited to one of their parties, watch out. It can get pretty salty.

-archy-/-

[SAMWolf]

Bump

[ken in texas]

If you're ever invited to one of their parties, watch out. It can get pretty salty.

So I've heard... second-hand, of course. They don't invite me. :)

[Ditto]

"I'm acquainted with a fellow who gets tremendous mileage from his service as "a Navy SEAL" during VN, says he received the Navy Cross in a well-known battle there, did service in Cambodia, etc."

There is a guy who Freeps around here named SneakyPete who can provided some ideas on how to deal with this bum.

[neverdem]

You made me eyes water. Thanks Pal

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


For...


WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE and YOUNG =


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Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer / Vet-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" U.S. 7th Cavalry's Opening Days of the Vietnam War 1965-66

---

Enter:


"ALOHA RONNIE" ..then
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GARRY OWEN, Sir



NEVER FORGET

[Peach]

Never forget bump.