Fake Navy Seals pins, patches, medals and sweatshirts are sold in stores.
Posted on 05/06/2005 6:32:31 AM PDT by Cagey
From the minute FBI Special Agent Thomas A. Cottone Jr. saw Walter K. Carlson, he suspected that something wasn't quite right about the decorated war hero. The two men met at a Washington Township, N.J., funeral service for Marine Second Lt. John Thomas Wroblewski, 25 years old, killed in Iraq in last spring.
"Thousands of people were there, but when that captain walked past me wearing the Navy Cross and a chest full of medals and ribbons," Mr. Cottone says, "I whispered to my friend, something is wrong with that guy."
Mr. Cottone, whose duties at the Federal Bureau of Investigation include investigating military imposters, subsequently followed his hunch, determining, he says, that Mr. Carlson, 59 years old and a local bus dispatcher, didn't earn the medals he was wearing; in fact, Mr. Cottone says, Mr. Carlson never even served in the military. Mr. Carlson declined to comment.
It is illegal under federal law to wear an unauthorized military uniform or unearned decorations. Mr. Carlson was arrested, released on $10,000 bond and ordered to surrender all military materials. A trial was averted when he agreed to a pretrial probation program, says Mr. Cottone.
With patriotism at a high plateau of late, the U.S. military currently receives a level of respect not seen since World War II. Unlike the Vietnam War era, today even those who oppose the war in Iraq profess to be staunch supporters of the men and women who serve there. The heightened admiration has given way to a growing number of military impostors, and in turn sparked an impassioned group of crusaders determined to expose the mock heros who festoon themselves with unearned medals.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Fake Navy Seals pins, patches, medals and sweatshirts are sold in stores.
i wonder how many Americans have successfully completed BUD/S training since the inception of the program?
Ping.
I can't help but wonder how many of the fake Navy Seals pins, patches, medals and sweatshirts end up proudly displayed at anti war marches.
Every time I see a person with a bumper sticker that says something like "Veterans against Bush" I'm tempted to ask them what unit they served with. I'm willing to wager far more than half have never spend a day in uniform.
You're freaking me out, CC. That's twice in two days now.
I think that means Veteran Liberal against Bush..Or a Veteran at protesting...something silly like that...
Bikers are notorious for this. You see them get in arguments over it all the time. Some of these guys would have been 12 while in Nam.
I think you are misreading that sticker. It believe it says "Vegetarians against Bush".
I'm not a veteran myself, so I'd hate to confront a guy and find out that he actually was a legit vet, but I suspect taht even the half or less who are actual vets are guys who didn't serve in a forward area.
Would the sites you mentioned help me in this investigation?
You're right. Some of the dummy wannabes don't realize that the minimum age for a Vietnam vet today is about 47-48 years old.
I hate the painting but I love the painter!
I hate the meal but I love the cook!
The sites I show in post #3 are from the article and I suspect one or more may help you if you investigate. Good luck if you do.
He would have had to through Dive School.
He would have had to through Dive School.
In fact, the youngest volunteer who could possibly have served in Vietnam would have turned 47 last week.
Saigon fell to the almost exactly Communists 30 years ago - April 30/May 1 1975.
An imaginary volunteer who theoretically signed up on his 17th birthday on April 30th and was magically deployed to South Vietnam the same day would have been 47 last week.
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