US Army 'war hero' outed as fraud

[Mugu]

NEW YORK (AFP) - A New Yorker who for 40 years passed himself off as Vietnam war hero who had been decorated for extreme gallantry was sentenced to community service Wednesday after being outed as a fraud.
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According to prosecutors, Louis Lowell McGuinn claimed to have been a lieutenant colonel in the US special forces and had used his fake military history since 1968 to get work or to win kudos at social functions.

His military records showed that McGuinn had indeed been in the US Army and served in Vietnam, but was discharged as a private without being decorated.

In 2006, McGuinn, who is now in his 60s, attended a ball in New York's glitzy Pierre Hotel wearing the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, awarded for being wounded in action.


Complete article at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080402/od_afp/usmilitaryoffbeat_080402200614

[cliffordu]

1. This guy must be Hillary's military advisor....

[SidDithers]

6. Wrong forum...nt

Sid

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. This is from the article SId

McGuinn pleaded guilty last December under a recently passed law known as the Stolen Valor Act, and was on Wednesday sentenced in a New York court to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

See the stolen valor act...

[SidDithers]

10. It was the "Hilary's military advisor comment" that I was referencing...

GD has been so much more pleasant without the Obama-Hilary sniping. I was only suggesting that smarmy candidate comments are better placed in GD-P.

Cheers.

Sid

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I realize that, but unfortunately that

is why the commend didn't shock me one iota

I actually expected that smarmy comment

[cliffordu]

12. Nothing smarmy about it.

I just hate anyone claiming false medals, or telling war lies.

Sorry this is the wrong forum, I'll take it back to GD-P


:patriot:

[speedoo]

2. Is * the next to be outed, charged and sentenced? nt

[Bozita]

3. When I see "war hero" and "fraud" on the same line, my mind jumps to thoughts of Bush.

Somebody ought to send this guy a flightsuit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. How the fuck did he get jobs with this history?

I mean the DD had to be faked too

And from the article, sorry to make this political

McGuinn pleaded guilty last December under a recently passed law known as the Stolen Valor Act, and was on Wednesday sentenced in a New York court to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

This is why the sniper story reeked to real vets

[zonmoy]

5. only if anybody ever bothered to check his claims

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. My hubby has a DD 214

his rank AND decorations are in there

[Donnachaidh]

9. When I read this stuff I really think we need to bring back the STOCKS

And put them in a public place, like right in front of City Hall. It's obscene to think of all the disabled vets and all the men who died in Vietnam who didn't get the accolades THEY deserved, while this FRAUD was being lauded over a LIE. :grr: I don't care that he's in his 60's, stick his ass in the stocks for a few weeks, so real vets can throw rotten vegetables at him.

[hunter]

13. It could be a mental illness of some sort.

One can't tell from the story.

If the guy had claimed to be Superman or Napoleon Bonaparte nobody would be upset.

A lot of homeless guys of a certain age claim to be Vietnam vets when they are not, which does not diminish the plight of homeless guys who actually are Vietnam vets, or even the plight of mentally ill people whose grasp of their own personal history is tenuous at best.