Exposed, the 'weekend warrior' who was no hero

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 09/04/2006 | Andrew Thomas

[managusta]

As long as you claim to be anti-war no one will check.

[hershey]

Exactly.

[Drango]

If the "Stolen Valour Act" passes from Congress into law

If? This is a good law. Pass it NOW.

[Redleg1963]

Here is a good read on this subject:

http://www.stolenvalor.com/

[mortal19440]

Does she have to give the money back to the school or to some charity?

[lawgirl]

I bet she about crapped herself when the FBI came calling. I am glad she got found out.

[Sofa King]

Oh come on, 6 posts and no mention of Kerry yet?

[Bon mots]

More military frauds:

• Andrew Isbell: During his August 2004 trial for drug possession in Rockport, Texas, Sergeant Andrew Isbell wore his Army uniform with two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. After testifying that he was home on medical leave after being wounded on patrol in Baghdad, Isbell was acquitted. Tipped by an observer who questioned the way his medals were arranged, investigators discovered Isbell was a private who served as a cook. He never saw combat and had been discharged after going AWOL. (Isbell was charged with aggravated perjury.)

• Justin McCauley: From Rosemont, California, McCauley told the Sacramento Bee he was a Navy SEAL wounded in Afghanistan in 2002. The Bee later retracted the story. McCauley was actually an aviation ordnance man who served on an aircraft carrier.

• Lisa Jane Phillips: Officials at Meredith College in North Carolina waived $42,178 in tuition for Captain Phillips after she returned from serving as an Air Force pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. In January 2005, Phillips wore her uniform--adorned with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart--to class and told elaborate stories of her heroism. The campus police chief, a Vietnam veteran, got suspicious because one of the medals on Phillips' uniform was from WWII. He called in federal investigators, who charged Phillips with impersonating an officer and a dozen other federal crimes. She had never served in the military.

• Sarah Kenney: A woman in Grand Junction, Colorado, called a radio station in August 2004 using the name Amber Kenney, saying she was a National Guard soldier leaving for basic training and that her husband Jonathan was already fighting in Iraq. Kenney called in frequently with many details about their lives. In February 2005, Kenney contacted the media to say that her husband had been killed leaping in front of a bullet to save an Iraqi child. After an organization called Hometown Heroes sent a fax confirming the death, news outlets ran the story. But an investigation by a local newspaper revealed that Kenney's name was Sarah, not Amber. She'd never served in the National Guard, nor had her husband Michael, who was alive and managing a fast-food restaurant. Confronted, Kenney said, "I feel like an ass." She pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation and received probation.

• James D. Johnson: For years, North Carolina resident Johnson, now 49, told of his exploits as a Navy SEAL. After 9/11, Johnson told one woman who'd known him for 26 years that he'd been called to active duty in Iraq and asked her to marry him when he returned from combat. According to The Charlotte Observer, Johnson paid her a surprise visit in 2003 wearing camouflage and dusty combat boots, saying he was on leave from Iraq. Then the girlfriend discovered Johnson was romancing other women with his tales of derring-do. The newspaper found that Johnson was an insurance adjuster who had served in the Navy during the '70s as a petty officer; he'd never been a SEAL.

• John F. Kerry...

Some wannabes use their status as veterans to garner sympathy, to get ahead in their careers or to manipulate their loved ones. Other phonies go to extremes such as forging documents to lay claim to combat decorations and veterans' benefits they haven't earned.

The Observer found that Phil Haberman's military claims are just one facet of a life lived in fantasy and deception.

[org.whodat]

I hate to tell you but this is really and old, old story. There were several post about it.

[Dan(9698)]

...nor is the temptation to fake it.

I know a guy who's wife has been faking it ever since they got married.

[ErnBatavia]

Mitchell Paige, Medal of Honor recipient (USMC Guadalcanal) made a second career of exposing phonies who claimed to own that same award.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Walter K. Carlson

Dips*** didn't even bother to get a haircut and trim his stache.

[eyespysomething]

They should make these people enlist.

[AirForce-TechSgt]

I really hate fonies

[Chode]

burn the witch...!!!

[A.A. Cunningham]

Complain to the editors and reporters at the Telegraph and the manager at More4 News where this report will be broadcast tomoorow night.

Maybe Lisa will listen to you whine as well.

Lisa Jane Phillips

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

He jumped at the opportunity. "That was the final straw," said Agent Cottone. "In my experience people in combat don't want to talk about it. Most imposters want to talk about it. It's like an addiction, like heroin to a junkie."

"Shame on those who claim credit for acts of courage they did not commit," said Congressman John Salazar of Colorado, when introducing the bill. "Their lies are criminal. By letting the phonies continue their masquerade, we diminish the honour of our true heroes."

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

It was Frank Strickland, Meredith's on-campus police chief, who, after almost three years of watching her soak up the acclaim, began to smell a rat

i. e. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....it's probably a duck

..

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

They should make these people enlist.

Who would want to serve with them? Not I.