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

[OXENinFLA]

Did you happen to catch him(the author) on Cavuto last night?

One of the guys he outed was Brian Dennahy.(sp)

[Looking4Truth]

A bump for those who really fought for my freedom.

Another group of BS artists are these gov't employee types who are in or were once in some kind of 'sensitive' position. They like to play like they were/are 'James Bond' and the trouble is, you can't call them on their BS because it's all unverifiable by those without clearances. Kinda' like that jerkoff waiter on 'True Lies'.

[Darksheare]

Agreed.
I was National Guard artillery, did the advance party sweep prior to bringing the howitzers in, and once that was completed, did RTO for my gun section.
Nothing glorious or tough sounding.
(Unless one counts battling it out with bugs glorious.)

[Eaker]

(Unless one counts battling it out with bugs glorious.)

Did ya win or lose???? I have been to Indonesia and will confirm that their bugs are bigger than Texas bugs.

Don't tell anybody that I disparaged Texas bugs!!!

[Eaker]

I want this book for Christmas.

(STOLEN VALOR Author - Vietnam Vet "Jug" Burkett)

[Darksheare]

I lost.
My position was repeatedly aggressed by chiggers, mosquito squadron 34, ticks, and hundreds of crickets.

I'm glad that mosquito squadron 52 at Fort Sill (The big brown ones with the red eyes) weren't at Drum.
I think they'd have carried me off and left my dessicated self somewhere in the trees as a warning.

The centipedes in Indonesia are supposedly able to call their own cadence as you HEAR them walk around the ground.
I'm in no hurry to see if this is true. (Being able to hear the bugs walking on the leaves and such.)

*chuckle*

[bicycle thug]

I love the "Green Berets" I occasionally meet, many of course claim glorious combat actions. I gently start probing for their knowlege on 18 series MOS knowlege, training knowlege, how they defined their detachment's missions, SOPs and it doesn't take too long to find a poser.

One guy said he had been 82nd ABN division in Vietnam and I asked him which brigade he had been in. Third Brigade was the answer to that particular question that had been something I had had to learn for 'Soldier of the Month' boards I had gone to as a trooper in Division.

He answered, "oh no, I was in a battalion, not a brigade."

Usually their tails make SF to be big, macho and individual initiative orientated. My experiance is that some of the biggest, baddest Rangers fail the selection phase if they fail to grok teamwork, accomplish the mission, and other things SF prefers in canidates for the 'Q' Course.

One gent had much the lingo and facts down, but as I pointed out to him as someone who had gone through training prior to the selection phase, the 20 mile timed ruck march 'gate' used to be in phase two, not the selection phase, and many other changes made over the years. He tried to keep up the front, but I had scuttled him enough he started avoiding me.

I don't roll my eyes and humor these lops anymore. If they lie, I pop their little balloons.

[Proud Legions]

So true, on both counts.

I have not met any SF guys from any service who go around advertising it. Those who do often turn out not to be SF but rather have actually only done a little work for or around the SF folks and then use that to exagerate their actually experience. I am sure there are exceptions, but my experience seems to match yours in this case.

[SunkenCiv]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but there's a two page article about B.G. Burkett in the March 8 2004 issue of People (didn't buy it, found it laying around the office) pp 91-92. Alas, it isn't available online, or at least it doesn't seem to be to non-subscribers.

Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B. G. Burkett preface by Glenna Whitley

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[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the Heads-up

[CWOJackson]

"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 must have obtained a list of the veterans Kerry interviewed before testifying to Congress. This guy had better hope Kerry doesn't win.

[armymarinemom]

I have this book and it is great. It is a keeper for quick reference too. We sit around and look up eveyrone's name in there. This book is a work of love and deep research.

[Stultis]

He must have obtained a list of the veterans Kerry interviewed before testifying to Congress.

I haven't read the book yet, but as I understand he did indeed expose a number (most/all?) of the "Winter Soldier" witnesses (on whose accounts Kerry's slanderous testimony before the Senate was based) as fakes: They were either not in the military at all, not in the claimed branch or location, not in Vietnam, not in combat, and/or had provided the military no specific information concerning the alleged atrocities.

[CWOJackson]

Yes, I believe you're correct.

Fox News has done a pretty good job at discussing this very thing; many times today.

[Peach]

Wonderful news. I bought my brother that book for Christmas and it was an eye-opener.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Wow, People Magazine? That's great news.

I sent the Newsmax excerpt Will the Real Vietnam Vet Stand Up? to a few hundred troops, Veterans, supporters yesterday (stubborn facts about our honorable Veterans in a format handy for sharing).

Awesome to see BG Burkett's news in a mainstream source.

Thanks for the ping!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Ditto]

Ping back at ya. Burkett needs to take a look at some of Kerry's band of brothers.