Posted on 05/24/2006 12:55:11 PM PDT by Graybeard58
No military service records can be found for him
DUNLAP - With only five other men in U.S. history being awarded the Purple Heart eight times over, Theodore C. Bantis of Dunlap would be the only Marine known to have earned such distinction.
He would be one of only 362 Marines to receive the rare and coveted Navy Cross during what he lists as three full combat tours in Vietnam before retiring after 30 years as a colonel.
Impressive and honorable as it may appear, the medals and the rank Bantis claims all appear to be lies. He never spent a day as a Marine in his life.
"It really denigrates the whole idea for the awards," said Tom Maher, a local Marine who served in Vietnam around the same time Bantis claims.
Maher said he first approached Bantis about three years ago during a Memorial Day event in Peoria.
"I told him, 'You do realize you're wearing your awards incorrectly?' He just turned and walked away," Maher said Monday. "I never could find out if he was telling the truth or not."
Others also now wonder.
The U.S. Marine Corps Records Branch in Quantico, Va., which has a database of more than 2.8 million men and women, lists no Theodore Bantis as ever serving in the Marine Corps, according to 1st Lt. Rob Dolan, a Marine spokesman.
Through it all, Bantis maintains his awards are genuine.
"I'm a very private man, and I'd prefer to keep it that way," Bantis said Monday from his rural home. "That was more than 30 years ago. I don't like to talk about it."
However, Doug Sterner, who is considered the foremost authority on military awards today and runs homeofheroes.com, a Web site that honors heroes, said Bantis never earned the awards he's pinned on himself.
"He's a fake. I can verify for you that Mr. Bantis is not a recipient of the Navy Cross," said Sterner, who was commissioned by the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and works closely with Marine Corps History Division, to generate what is the only existing database of Navy Cross recipients.
Sterner further notes Bantis wears the Navy Cross incorrectly. Photos of Bantis at various events show he has added a silver "V" pin on the ribbon, denoting "valor," but the Navy Cross is only awarded for valor and is never worn with the pin.
But Bantis, 59, has led his family, friends, veterans and others in the community to believe otherwise. For how long or why is unclear.
Over at least the last few years, he's made visits to local Marine Corps functions, military funerals, fund-raisers and Memorial Day events under the guise of being a retired colonel. Bantis helped the Kiwanis Club gather soccer balls to send to Iraqi children and is on the Peoria-based Marine reserve unit's e-mail list. He also spoke about 9-11 victims to an audience at Illinois Central College in Peoria on Sept. 11, 2004, in full military regalia.
"He might do great things for kids, but if he did what is being alleged - wearing the uniform and medals - that's a totally different ball game," said 1st Sgt. Casey Samborski, a member of Company C, 6th Engineering Battalion, who along with other Marines are disturbed and angered at the idea of Bantis posing as a hero.
Still, there's nothing that shows Bantis ever used his fictional rank for profit, and he's never filed for any veteran's benefits.
Regardless, there are federal laws against impersonating military officers and wearing medals that were never earned. In Illinois, a new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2007, making the act a petty offense.
While Maher and other Marines shared their suspicions among themselves, it wasn't until Bantis attended an annual Marine Corps birthday ball six months ago that the apparent lie started to catch up with him. There, a picture caught Bantis donning the medals.
A biography he provided for the event included a long list of military honors and claims that he held command in special operations and intelligence groups. It also said he graduated from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles with a master's degree in education. However, an official with the school's alumni association said Tuesday she has no record of Bantis attending the school.
The biography and picture were sent to Sterner, who has referred the case to FBI Special Agent Thomas Cottone Jr., who has investigated more than 100 cases of military fraud. He says incidents of military impersonation are on the rise.
A Pennsylvania man was charged this month by federal authorities for impersonating a lieutenant colonel who had been awarded the Navy Cross, and the Silver and Bronze stars. The man actually had served only three years in the Air Force as a plumbing specialist. In 1995, an Illinois judge, who later resigned his post, lied for years about receiving two Medals of Honor, the nation's highest military award. He could not be prosecuted, though, because he was never seen wearing the medals.
As far as Bantis' personal life, little is known. He moved to Peoria from Spokane, Wash., about six years ago and was married, according to Journal Star archives that listed a filed marriage certificate. He also claims to be the chief operating officer of a business called the Adeptus Corp., although no information could be found about the company.
Bantis claims his military records are sealed because of his work with naval intelligence.
But Cottone rebuts Bantis' statement saying his name would still appear in the Marine Corps' records.
Sterner adds that even the most classified who have earned honors such as the Navy Cross will receive recognition that is publicly available.
"They are desecrating everybody who ever served in the military, who ever was wounded or lost a limb in battle and certainly those who gave their lives," Cottone said. "They are stealing the respect and admiration that belongs to those who have actually served."
'Since we're being sticklers, it's bad form to call medal recipients "winners."'
Amen. This is the same point that the Dims miss when they say that we folks with backbones crave war - nobody likes a war, wars suck. We, however, have the gonads and guts to answer the need! No one "wins" a Purple Heart, a MOH or any award.
If we're going to give out kudo's, let's remember one General Singlaub, boss of the Special Ops Group in VN in the mid to late 60's. He was, at that time, the most decorated ever Military officer.
As I recall, it was an exceedingly minor anomaly in what was otherwise an exemplary service record, and it was not really clear whether or not he had really committed an infraction. Like it was someone in his chain of command who told him it was OK, but some other authority disagreed, or something like that.
Worlds apart from the frauds who never served a day, or spent their careers as file clerks in the Tulsa NG armory, then subsequently claim to be SEALs or fighter pilots or MOH recipients.
-ccm
"C'mon...hasn't everyone been an USAF Major, and fighter pilot, at a bar before..."
LOL. You might want to pick another line. Yes, I'm a USAF Major... yes a fighter pilot. No, women are not impressed.
I dunno why. Some say its my personality (or looks or generally poor communication skills) but of course our egos are so large I could never admit that it could be that! LOL! Seriously, my buds who are lawyers or docs (especially the flight docs) seem to be more impressive to the opposite sex. Your comment struck me as too funny though.
Let's not forget that former Nebraska Senator, Bob Kerry, displayed, wore, and took credit on his resume for a completely fraudulent Bronze Star.
So did L.B.J.
In my lifetime I have met so many "ex-Navy Seals" and "fmr. military Intelligence officers" I'd swear thats all our armed forces consisted of!
They must hang out with all of the ex-CIA agents I meet online....
Sadly it does make me less likely to believe the real guys. I'm always a lil skeptical anymore. In my limited youthful experience, the real Vietnam guys I have met never brag about it. Real badasses have little need to impress the youngins.
CNO Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, shot himself in the chest for a number of reasons including the fact that he was wearing Combat V devices on two medals that he was not entitled to and got caught.
Incidentally, the Board for Correction of Naval Records officially concluded that Boorda was not entitled to wear the Combat V on either award.
Not by most sailors in the fleet, particularly those in NAVAIR. Boorda was a piss poor CNO.
|
|
Nah. Katie Couric will probably give him a lap dance on the Today Show. |
The fact that this guy is only 59 now should have been their first clue he was a fraud; no way could he have made colonel before he was 30 during the VN era.
Same man.
The newspaper article I originally referred to listed him as James S. Livingston.
I am going to be in that town on Memorial Day, maybe I can get some pictures of my own, or if I am fortunate, even get to meet him.
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.
