SITTING JUDGE IN ILLINOIS; THE MAYOR
of a New Jersey city; a U.S. representative; an Army Reserve major; an
award-winning actor; a New York City fi refi ghter; and the founder of
a powerful religion. All of these people have claimed U.S. military ser-
vice or honors, and they all have something else in common: They’re
fakes who have been exposed. The federal government is coming after
others like them in operations such as the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce of the
Western District of Washington’s recent “Operation Stolen Valor.”
This yearlong crackdown in Wash-
— either aloud or in writing — to a73 Sen. Joseph McCarthy, whose tales
ington state netted eight phony war
have earned military medals or of being wounded as a tail-gunner
heroes, many of whom submitted
decorations of any kind. in World War II were belied by the
claims to the VA for compensation
truth: a drunken fall at a party and a
and medical benefi ts.
Profiles in cowardice military career behind a desk;
New federal laws put teeth into In 1998, B.G. Burkett, a military a73 Rep. Wes Cooley (R-Ore.), who
the prosecution of people who, for researcher, Vietnam veteran, and told stories of secret Special Forces
example, falsely claim to be Medal medal recipient, and coauthor Glen- missions in Korea, but whose Army
of Honor recipients. Until 2007, na Whitley published a ground- records showed no service in Korea,
federal law specifi cally prohibited breaking book, Stolen Valor: How and whose training wasn’t even com-
the wearing, manufacture, or sale the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed pleted before the war’s end; and
of military medals. Wannabes who of Its Heroes and Its History (Ver- a73 former KKK Grand Wizard and
made only verbal claims or dis- ity Press Publishing). Burkett spent Louisiana state Rep. David Duke, who
played medals on walls — but not 10 years in the National Archives claimed dangerous covert operations
on their persons — slipped through scouring records and uncovering out of Laos — but his only military
this loophole. Illinois District Judge what he calls “a massive distortion uniforms were those of college ROTC.
Michael O’Brian, for example, had of history” by military frauds who The lies continue. In Septem-
two unearned Medals of Honor cost taxpayers billions of dollars. ber 2007, Atlantic City, N.J., Mayor
on his courtroom wall before he Though he focused on Vietnam- Robert Levy walked away from his
was unmasked. veteran fraud, his book exposes the offi ce and disappeared for three
But the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, great and small. Among them: weeks. Later, this much-decorated
which became law in December
2006, goes further, allowing pros-
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
ecution (and imprisonment and/or
a73 Want to read more details on these phony veterans? Click on the
sketches on page 69 to get the scoop on these convicted fakers.
fi nes) of anyone who falsely claims
70 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2010
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