Mike Roy/The Monitor
The shadow of J.C. Ortiz is cast on a wall at American Legion Post 101 in Pharr on May 29 as he speaks to a fellow veteran following Memorial Day ceremonies.
Posted on 07/16/2006 7:13:06 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Authentic war heroes are rare, but their ranks are swollen by impostors. | Earlier this week, J.C. Ortiz of Mission admitted he had fooled hundreds in the Rio Grande Valley into believing he had earned the hero’s image he had so carefully crafted and borrowed from real Vietnam veterans. | Like so many other veteran impostors, he appeared at funerals, spoke at Memorial Day ceremonies and was a regular at local veteran establishments and military hangouts.
But in reality, Ortiz, born Gerrald Jerome Bowman, never served in Vietnam or reached the rank of sergeant major. His medals were bought. His stories were stolen. He even changed his name.
And while Ortiz’s story of deceit has shocked many Valley veterans and residents, he isn’t the first to concoct elaborate stories about military conflict and honor. Law enforcement officers, psychologists and researchers say hundreds of people have used the smoke-and-mirrors of unearned decorations to swindle money, create honor and/or mask their own histories.
Nearly 20 years ago from a jail cell in Massachusetts, Joe Yandle faked a career as a war veteran. He managed to fool an entire state, including the governor, into commuting a life sentence after he was convicted as a getaway driver in the robbery and murder of a convenience store clerk. He had never served and was sent back to jail after he was exposed.
In 2003, Lawrence Hammer tricked a Vietnam veteran’s widow in Florida into believing he was a Navy Seal and had fought in Vietnam. He talked her into co-signing for a pickup truck and loaning him credit cards before he was busted, $45,000 later. He reportedly pulled similar swindles at least twice before, with women in Georgia and South Carolina.
“These guys are professional con men,” said Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran who runs homeofheroes.com, a Web site dedicated to telling the stories of courageous military veterans. “If we don’t protect these awards, then it doesn’t matter, and the stories of the real heroes are a moot point.”
Creating a Superhero Status
In the last 10 years, the FBI has investigated more than 150 cases of men claiming to have been decorated with the Medal of Honor, the highest award that any member of the armed forces can earn. Falsely claiming to have earned a Medal of Honor is illegal, but it is not unlawful for a person to falsely claim they have won the hundreds of other honors available for military service. Wearing unearned medals, however, is illegal and punishable by six months in jail and a fine.
Sterner said he hears about new cases of impostor veterans surfacing every day across the country.
Most military impostors surfaced after the Vietnam War, said Loren Pankratz, a clinical psychology professor from Oregon State Health and Sciences University who has worked at Portland’s veterans hospital and studied the epidemic of people who impersonate veterans.
“Some have tried to get benefits, some try to be heroes and some try to erase other mistakes in their lives,” Pankratz said.
Cases of impersonators affect nearly all communities, and impostors are hard to identify because there is no textbook example, Pankratz said. Some impersonators are successful men, while others are poor and destitute.
But telltale signs do exist. Often stories and honors are incredible, like the seven Purple Hearts and four tours of Vietnam claimed by Ortiz.
“The flaw of the impostor is exaggeration and overacting,” Pankratz said. “And anytime you get these stories about seven Purple Hearts, that’s pretty improbable. He wasn’t just a hero, he was a superhero. People should have questioned it then.”
Motivations for this type of behavior are numerous. But in Ortiz’s case, Pankratz said, he probably exaggerated his military career to make up for shortcomings in his own life, like his “undesirable” discharge from the Marines in 1962 for going “over the hill.”
And like Ortiz did for nearly 15 years, most who wrongfully claim veteran status never get caught, Pankratz said.
“It’s extremely hard to challenge that (veteran status) because it seems so hard-hearted,” he said. “The stories seem so heart-wrenching.”
Posing for a Profit
Robert Mills, a quartermaster at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen and a former sergeant major in the Marines, said he had seen Ortiz hanging out at the school in the tailor’s room.
“The people down here are very military-oriented, so he did a good job of perpetrating himself as a Marine Corps sergeant major,” Mills said.
Ortiz said he never used his image for financial gain, only to spread patriotism and help veterans’ causes.
But many impostor veterans do use their position to get money, said B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam War veteran and author of Stolen Valor, a book about those who falsely claim to be war veterans and exaggerate their own military records. Burkett said claiming to be a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder can net an impostor about $2,400 a month from the Veterans Administration and $1,200 a month from Social Security — all tax-free.
Others like Hammer con sympathetic souls out of thousands of dollars, while some claim veteran status to make an excuse for the wrongs they have committed, said Sterner.
Sterner, Burkett and others are working with U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., to draft a law to increase penalties for deceptively wearing combat medals and to make it a crime to claim to have won awards that were never earned.
That bill has 102 co-sponsors, including U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, but is still awaiting a committee hearing, said an aid for Salazar.
“This is not a victimless crime,” Sterner said. ——— Monitor reporters Andres Martinez, Miriam Ramirez and photographer Mike Roy contributed to this report. ——— Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410. For this and more on local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.
And to the democRATS who are all fired up in support of this bill,I ask..will there be equal penalties for those who accuse a member,or former member,of the Armed Forces of having gone AWOl or having deserted without genuine evidence to back up such an accusation?
That,too,is not a victimless crime.
How come nobody ever impersonates a commie war protestor?
Poor souls.
"How come nobody ever impersonates a commie war protestor?"
No need to impersonate one if you are one!
It's right out in the open for all to see.
Why does the name John Kerry keep comming to mind?
Good one! lol I have my own doubts about Murtha. I've settled it in my mind that aliens snatched the real John Murtha and replaced him with a DUmmy. :)
Those stripes are EARNED,not sewn on.I have met the soldiers who wear them,and I wouldn't mess with them on a bet!Even a female sodier about five feet tall!Sure hope he dosn't get beat up!A good soldier will let him be.Shame on him.
You MUST READ "Stolen Valor" by Mr. Burkett. It will truly make your blood boil. He has devoted many years to exposing these fake vets to the world.
A judge in Missoula, MT recently sentenced a person of interest who was impersonating a marine to wear a sandwhich board in front of the courthouse stating how much of a scumbag he was.
One has to love it.
I saw one of those guys when I lived in Sacramento...He claimed to be a "homeless vietnam vet". (Mind you, he looked to be in his late 20's...in 1999).
I said "When were you in Nam? When you were 2 friggin years old?"
The audacity of some people...
You might enjoy reading
http://www.vietvet.org/warstory.htm
about spotting phonies from the real deal. Funny as well.
How can a sc*mbag like that face himself in the mirror in the morning?
Stolen Valor bump
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