It's amazing what people can get away with an ignorant reporter. What happened here?
The Special Forces Association (SFA) was notified, and the Association has a number of top notch retired investigators at their disposal right there in North Carolina. These investigators pulled Samms' freely available military records, traveled to Henderson County, presented the irrefutable evidence to the Sheriff proving Samms was a phony. Samms had never served with Special Forces, and had never served in Vietnam. The Sheriff is a Vietnam Veteran who served as a Huey Crew Chief with an Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, and he was as angry about Samms' claims as was the Special Forces Association. The Sheriff thanked them and said he would take care of the problem.
The Sheriff had a private meeting with Samms. After which, Samms quietly resigned and left town.
If you ever suspect a person of falsely claiming to have been a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam, the Special Forces Association will gladly check it out for you and provide the necessary evidence to either prove or disprove the person's claim. Here's the SFA web address http://www.sfahq.org/