Chief accused of forging documents, lying

[unhappycamper]

Chief accused of forging documents, lying
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 29, 2008 7:57:36 EDT

The Navy says Chief Hospital Corpsman Robert White never earned the Purple Heart he’s been wearing on his chest for nearly three years. He is accused of forging documents with a Marine general’s signature and then lying to Navy officials about how it all happened.

And for that, a prosecutor said, the 42-year-old Wisconsin native should surrender the medal, spend three years in the brig, and get a dishonorable discharge.

But White is not your typical faker, a wannabe who never served or hasn’t paid his dues. A 19-year sailor who was selected for promotion to senior chief in March, White deployed with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, to Hit, Iraq, in 2005, then one of the most dangerous towns in the world’s most dangerous country.

He says he took shrapnel in his hand during a mortar attack, and the Navy’s case against him is built not on any fraud on his part, but on sloppy paperwork in his chain of command. A gunnery sergeant from his unit in Iraq backs up White’s story, testifying in court that he put the paperwork for White’s Purple Heart through himself.

Prosecutors laid out their case against White at a daylong Article 32 hearing Sept. 11:


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/09/navy_corpsman_092908w/%2e