Officer Singleton
Posted on 07/03/2013 1:44:36 PM PDT by EXCH54FE
While watching the Martin-Zimmerman trial this week, combat veteran and Navy Cross recipient, Jeremiah Workman noticed a particularly disturbing decoration on Doris Singleton’s Sanford Police Department uniform when she took the stand. Singleton’s uniform had two ribbons — the World War II Army of Occupation Medal and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal – which Workman knew could not belong to someone who had only served in the Army for three years.
“I worked at the Pentagon with Sgt. Maj. [Carlton] Kent and Gen. [James] Conway for two years and I was around every general in the Marine Corps. I know these high ribbons, I know just about all the ribbons anyways,” Workman told The Marine Corps Times.
Workman, a former Marine who fought in the second battle of Fallujah, posted a picture of the woman on Facebook with the caption, “Am I going blind or is this police officer in the Zimmerman-Martin trial wearing ribbons that she doesn’t rate? I see a WW II army occupation medal and a Defense Distinguished service medal. Wow! On the stand she was asked about her military career. She said army for 3 years. So she received in three years what a 4 star general receives after forty years of service. Wow. What a superb 3 year army career!”
Gina Harkins, who writes for The Military Times, saw the post and contacted Workman, who had already talked with the Sanford Police Department by telephone. He told Harkins that according to the conversation he had with a Sanford PD official, since the department doesn’t have their own awards system, they simply went to the Army-Navy store and picked out Defense Department military ribbons. The official also stated that they intentionally chose World War II ribbons because there are not many veterans still alive from that era and they did not think anyone would notice.
The response left Workman thinking, “So that makes it all better now because these guys are dead?” He told Harkins, “The fact that that was their response is still pretty shameful, I think.”
Shameful, indeed.
He questioned, “But what kind of professional police department would send Bob the patrolman around the corner to go pick out some ribbons for our officers to wear when they do something heroic or have good service over the years?”
Workman also said that the official told him that they were working to set up their own awards system.
The police chief, who is also an Air Force veteran, replied to Business Insider via email stating that they “apologize if any veterans were offended, and promise to rectify the situation.”
Also according the website, other veterans have emailed the police chief insisting that the use of the ribbons be immediately stopped.
USAF with a Combat Infantry Badge? How often does *that* happen?
There’s a special kind of stupid ...
I had the honor of meeting and talking with Jeremiah Workman this year at a Memorial Day ceremony at my son’s former school.
Well, I think I’ll run down to the Good Will store and pick me up a few battle ribbons.
Its just the Sanford police version of “flair”.
This is the b*tch who said GZ was following TM. Baloney. He never followed him. He ran in the direction TM was last seen AFTER he lost him, but he NEVER followed him! How can you follow someone you can’t see? And when he was running to get sight of TM again, 911 said “We don’t need you to do that” in which he immediately stopped. You can hear this quite clearly on the 911 tape. This all started when GZ WATCHED TM from his car looking into houses. He then drove past TM, parked his car and called 911, in which TM started walking towards him with his hand in his waist. But GZ NEVER FOLLOWED TM! This is another myth created by the media and this faux medal recipient.
I do not see this as an instance where a person is wearing a military uniform and trying to pass these military experience ribbons off as earned.
She is clearly wearing a police uniform. The police department supervisor was merely trying to come up with a rewards system for his officers. He didn’t believe anyone would try to make the case these patrolmen were trying to take credit for military service.
He thought they would take pride in what those ribbons meant to them based on their department service.
I don’t see this as an insult to members of the military. It wasn’t intended to be referenced in relationship with the military.
Do folks who serve in the military see this as an insult. Perhaps I’m off base here, but I don’t believe they should.
This was a local police dept. uniform, not a U.S. military uniform. Whatever she was wearing was local only and completely harmless.
I can't tell you how many times I have seen stars and bars on the shoulders of police chiefs that in no way reflect that they were generals or officers in the military.........
This is a ridiculous non-issue and needs to be ignorned..........
Officer Singleton
Its reasonable but (cost wise) that the pd use ribbons from milsurp. There is no attempt to claim they are Mil Awards as they are not an Mil uniform. It would I think have been better if they added a device that made then obviously not military awards
She looks like Joe Namath after a bad night....
And you would think CORRECT........Local PD's got to have ribbons of some kind as well as rank designations in the form of stars and bars so why not use the military's?
But then again, a thread ain't worthy of posting unless an issue can be made from it......LOL!
Wrong word: “Bling”.
Why don't these keystone cops come up with their own medals, instead of stealing the awards of our WWII veterans? Did your father or grandfather serve in WWII?
Not the point. As a civilian she shouldn’t be wearing military-issue ribbons (especially as a part of her official duties), which the chief readily admitted they are. They are not ribbons issued by or unique to law enforcement, which is the only kind she should be wearing.
“USAF with a Combat Infantry Badge? How often does *that* happen?”
He’s so amazing he has unit citations in with all of his individual medals for “bravery!”
I thought candidates for promomotion to E-7 were required to finish puberty before they are considered.
Yes. You are off base here. The ribbons were specifically designed and have particular meaning. Using them as decorations is inappropriate and belittling.
This ain’t the forties. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Air Force Senior NCO younger than twenty eight years old.
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