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We’ve heard about a few cases – some prominent – of anti-war protesters who claimed to be in the armed services. Today we learn one impostor, Rick Strandlof, may not be charged federally under the Stolen Valor Act.

NH’s Ray Buckley; Astroturfing phony soldier October 26th, 2008 Last night I got an email from Debbie Lee, the mother of Marc Alan Lee, the first SEAL killed in the war against terror, forwarded by Bev Perlson of the Band of Mothers. Now, I met Debbie Lee last year at the ANSWER/IVAW protest in DC and a sweeter woman doesn’t exist. But anyway, she was camapigning in New Hampshire the other day and she confronted one of the candidates who had neglected to return the call of a Gold Star mother who was calling the Congressional office seeking assistance. While...

This morning, as I began reading the Washington Times, my eyes were assaulted by this image; This is an Obama supporter going into an Obama rally in Fayetteville, NC over this caption; PHOTOGRAPHS BY J.M. EDDINS JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES Charlie W. Williams of Raeford, N.C., a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars and supporter of Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, lines up early to get into a rally at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville on Oct. 19. “He’s going to get a lot of white votes,” he said of his candidate I get real suspicious of veterans who wear...

The lead dog on the Troopergate smear campaign has a little explaining to do himself. On his official State of Alaska website he claims to have been in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1977-78 as a private. There is also a reference to (PLC). As a former Marine, this smells fishy. In another story French claims he spent six weeks at Quantico, VA. As every Marine knows, Quantico is where Marine officer training occurs. For French to have been a Marine private he would have had to complete basic training at either Parris Island or San Diego, which takes about...

Biden revises claim he was ‘shot at’ in Iraq By Susan Crabtree Posted: 08/08/07 06:57 PM [ET] Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) — whose garrulous ways have led to a number of verbal gaffes over the years — has revised a dramatic comment that he was “shot at” in the Green Zone during a trip to Iraq. Biden made the brief comment during the CNN/YouTube Democratic debate two weeks ago, as he was emphasizing how difficult it would be to redeploy U.S. citizens and troops out of Iraq if the U.S. decided to withdraw in six months. “Let’s start telling the...

LOS ANGELES - Local water director Xavier Alvarez was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $5,000 in federal court Monday morning for falsely claiming he was awarded the Medal of Honor. MP3 Audio: Alvarez Medal of Honor claimBefore he was sentenced, Alvarez told Judge R. Gary Klausner that he was "very remorseful" for his false claims of military valor. "I'd like to apologize to everyone in this whole nation," said Alvarez, who represents south Pomona Xavier Alvarez. (Staff photo) on the Three Valleys Municipal Water District board. As part of Alvarez's terms of probation, the court recommended he perform...

Deploy? Is he going to report for duty? Barack Obama campaign manager Steve Hildebrand sent out this quote in a mass e-mail to supporters Monday: “Today, I am proud to announce that our presidential campaign will be the first in a generation to deploy and maintain staff in every single state.”

Water official claims right to lie Court case touches on Medal of Honor Will Bigham, Staff Writer Article Launched: 01/03/2008 09:00:00 PM PST The water board member charged with falsely claiming he won the Medal of Honor has filed a motion to dismiss the federal case against him, saying the statute is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment. Xavier Alvarez, south Pomona's elected representative to the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, is the first person to be charged with violating the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The act criminalizes false claims of military decorations or medals, including the Medal...

AMARILLO, Texas — A man who wildly exaggerated his record to include a presidential nomination for the military's highest honor and more Silver Stars than World War II hero Audie Murphy has been sentenced to 34 months in prison. Richard David McClanahan, who had inflated his history using medals purchased on eBay, was sentenced Thursday for lying about his record and for making false statements to get financing for a car. He was also given five years' probation on each count. "It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong when I did it," he told U.S. District Judge Mary...

FIRST THREAD by BLUE TURTLE : Rush Limbaugh to auction off Harry Reid's letter to CLEAR CHANNEL on EBAY Earlier on Drudge: FLASH: Rush Limbaugh to auction off Harry Reid's letter to CLEAR CHANNEL on EBAY; Money goes to Marine Charity.... Developing... And.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910874/posts Rush Limbaugh Auctions Off Harry Reid Letter On E Bay By SKIMASK....Hey FReepers Rush is auctioning off the letter Dingy Harry sent to Clear Channel denouncing Rush's "Phony Soldier" remark

How mayor of A.C. was exposed as impostor Increased national scrutiny led Bob Levy to admit he was no Green Beret. By Edward ColimoreInquirer Staff WriterJames Simmons was suspicious.The Vietnam veteran had read a newspaper article referring to Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy as a former Green Beret and wanted to recruit him for a veterans' group.But when Simmons sent the mayor a letter more than a year ago seeking proof of his service in the Army's Special Forces during the Vietnam War, he received no reply and began checking for himself.He used Internet military databases such as homeofheroes.com, enlisted...

GREENBELT, Md. -- A man who impersonated a U.S. Navy officer to gain access to patient records at Bethesda Naval Medical Center has pleaded guilty to federal charges. The U.S. attorney's office says Thomas A. Minto, 39, of Germantown, admitted in U.S. District Court on Thursday to impersonating a federal officer or employee of the U.S. Navy. He was sentenced to one year of probation. Court documents state that Minto went into the Bethesda Naval Medical Center wearing a naval uniform in October and November 2006 and falsely claimed to be a chief or senior chief of the U.S. Navy....

Okay. He pissed me off. My Father served honorably through almost 23 years of service in the United States Navy. Started fixing Corsairs on a straight deck carrier off the coast of Korea. Ended up as a Leading Chief Petty Officer when he retired. Did Viet Nam. My wife did 10 years of honorable service and got out as a Major in the United States Army. Neither one of them ever felt the need to claim honors that didn't belong to them. This is one of Tom's First posts at the DUmp in 2005:

Fraud busters on rise against fake veterans Web, federal law help to expose military charlatans By Russell Working, Tribune staff reporter Freelancer Matt Baron contributed to this report October 8, 2007 When Douglas E. Robinson showed up in Yorkville saying he was a homeless Vietnam veteran who had lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, the American Legion post took pity on a former comrade in arms, giving him nearly $400 and paying for a few nights' lodging. But Robinson and his wife's aggressive demands for money and slip-ups in his story led Kendall County sheriff's deputies to investigate. It turned out...

Talker Rush Limbaugh is under fire for being falsely accused of saying that any U.S. soldier who comes out against the war is a “phony soldier.” He did not, of course, say such a thing. Rush was actually talking about a man named Jesse Macbeth who was touted by anti-war activists as a soldier who came out against the war, but it turned out later that Macbeth never served in the military at all. Still, despite that Rush is utterly innocent of these scurrilous charges, members of the Democrat Party and assorted extreme leftists like Media Matters, a far left...

Under federal investigation for embellishing his Army service in Vietnam, a groggy-sounding Mayor Robert Levy called in sick at City Hall, climbed into his city-issued Dodge Durango and seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth. A spokesman issued a 36-word statement saying the mayor was going on indefinite medical leave. That was a week and a half ago. Aides say he is in a hospital, but they won't say where, why or for how long. The mystery and the gathering scandal over Levy's military record have worried civic leaders in this seaside casino resort, which has a long history...

The way he told it, David McClanahan, of Fort Worth, Texas, had been wounded in combat three times in Iraq, awarded three Silver Stars and even nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Today, McClanahan, a nursing student at West Texas A&M, appeared in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, on charges he made up his hero's tale. McClanahan did not enter a plea and was released on bond after being advised of the charges against him. The arraignment is now scheduled for June 13. His lawyer, Brooks Barfield, says McClanahan will enter a plea of not guilty. A federal...

It's an avalanche of Democrats and their supporters who are turning out to be liars about their military service, lately. This time it's the late M. Larry Lawrence, a long time Bill Clinton donor who was such a heavy contributor that Clinton paid him off with the ambassadorship to Switzerland (1993 to 1996). Even The New York Times can't hide this one because now that his false service has been confirmed, his body has been removed from Arlington Cemetery, an honor that Clinton had strings pulled to bestow upon him after his passing from cancer in 1996 -- an Arlington...

December 12, 1997 At 10:30 on Thursday morning at Arlington National Cemetery, a team of gravediggers quietly dug up the remains of Larry Lawrence and carted away his granite tombstone, which was engraved with lies. Chiseled in stone were claims that Lawrence, the late millionaire businessman who became an ambassador, had served in the U.S. merchant marine and had earned the designation of “S1C,” the Navy abbreviation for seaman, first class, which would not have been given to a merchant mariner anyway. Neither claim was true. During his 69-year lifetime, Lawrence fabricated his World War II heroics, his education, how...

(CNSNews.com) -The federal government is currently conducting more than 60 "stolen valor" investigations of individuals suspected of making false claims about their military records, according to the Department of Veteran's Affairs, and about 30 people nationwide have been arrested in the past year for crimes related to falsifying a military record. Stolen valor typically occurs when someone falsifies documents or produces medals and awards from the military they didn't earn in order to qualify for veterans benefits. Jeffrey Sullivan, the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Washington, prosecuted Jesse Macbeth of Tacoma, Wash., in the past year as well...