Bruce Cotta |
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Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:06:32 EDT From: BCotta3204@aol.com This e-mail is being sent not to justify my actions, for they are not justifiable, but to let you know the story before it is released in the press. I’ve tried not to run from anything, not in Nam, not in life, but face challenges as they come, and I will face this one head on no matter the consequences. Three years ago I made a mistake that has bothered me since I sealed the envelope. After the third turndown for the Medal of Honor and after listening to the disappointing phone calls from the men who wrote me up for the medal, I was involved with the unauthorized medal package. I can’t go into the particulars but it was very wrong of me to do so. For the past two months and since the initial publicity about the unauthorized medal, I have been in contact with the authorities. I immediately told them the truth. It was difficult handling my situation considering my war record. The authorities even apologized for the bad press saying it wasn’t their doing. I could not tell anyone including Janet, my wife, while they decided how best to handle the situation. To those of you who asked me constantly if I were all right, if you could help, I’m sorry I had to avert the truth. It’s not like me to do that. I’m thankful to God they decided not to pursue the situation, after reading my war record and never, ever being in any trouble. Wearing unauthorized decorations is technically a misdemeanor, punishable by a healthy fine and a suspended sentence. The Authorities will allow me to donate monies to a veteran’s cause of my choice and do additional community service. For this I am eternally grateful. You all have been my friends for quite a while and know it’s not
like me to do anything like this. It is an aberration, something I’ve
never done before in my life. I only ask you to forgive me, let me
continue to be your friend, and keep our relationship. Everyone
screws-up, I just picked a screw-up that will live with me until I die.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&ncid=533&e=8&u=/ap/20030723/ap_on_re_us/suspicious_medal 07/23/2003 U.S. National - AP War Vet Admits Illegally Obtaining Honor 2 hours, 29 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By ELIZABETH ZUCKERMAN, Associated Press Writer PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A decorated Vietnam veteran admitted Wednesday that he illegally obtained his highest honor by buying a Distinguished Service Cross on the Internet Bruce Cotta, 56, agreed to perform 100 hours of community service and contribute $5,000 to the Army Emergency Relief Fund to avoid prosecution, U.S. Attorney Margaret Curran said. In a statement, Cotta said: "While I admit that my actions were inexcusable, I hope that they will not cast a shadow on the heroic actions of other Vietnam veterans whose young lives were forever changed by this gruesome and controversial war." As for why Cotta did it, his lawyer, Francis Flanagan, said, "He doesn't have an answer to that, even for himself." Cotta told the FBI (news - web sites) he bought the medal after the Army twice rejected his application for a Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. He said he then forged papers that would go along with a Distinguished Service Cross and sent them to Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-R.I. Kennedy presented the bogus Distinguished Service Cross — the Army'ss second-highest honor — to Cotta in a ceremony in 2000. The inquiry began when a researcher compiling information for a Web site was unable to find a record of Cotta receiving a Distinguished Service Cross. The Army said it had no record, either, and referred the case to the FBI. Cotta could have gotten six months in jail. In addition to a Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and the Soldier's Medal, Cotta holds a Bronze Star with a "V" for valor for his actions when his unit came under attack in 1968. His platoon leader said Cotta, a medic, threw back an enemy grenade and ignored wounds of his own to treat other soldiers. Kennedy expressed disappointment with Cotta. "His actions are out of character for a veteran with such a remarkable service record," the congressman said. Kennedy will meet with the leadership of the congressional committee responsible for naming the Middletown post office after Cotta to discuss the situation, a spokesman said.
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| http://www.turnto10.com/news/2218907/detail.html
Kennedy Responds To Questions About Veteran's Medal Congressman
Presented Service Cross To Newport Man UPDATED: 12:17 p.m. EDT May 21, 2003 Bruce Cotta, of Newport, is considered Rhode Island's most decorated
living Vietnam veteran. And while the Army says Bologna: The Army says you never received the Distinguished Service Cross. Cotta: Hmm. Bologna: Are they wrong? Cotta: Well, I got it. Cotta (pictured, left) said he received the medal from Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. The Distinguished Service Cross has earned Cotta a lot of recognition. One Web site features a picture of the congressman pinning the medal on Cotta in August 2000. Author B.G. Burkett co-wrote "Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam
Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History" and has worked
with the FBI on several cases involving fraud related to medals. "Be mindful, we don't know who did this yet. We just know there is fraud involved and Cotta didn't win the Distinguished Service Cross," Burkett said. "You know, Kennedy can pin a medal on a donkey, but that doesn't make it legitimate." "As you can see, in this case, once it's accepted and kind of gets confirmation, in this case from somebody like Congressman Kennedy, nobody disputes it," Burkett said. What made Kennedy think Cotta earned the Distinguished Service Cross? The congressman's aides told us they got a letter in the mail and paperwork. Kennedy: There is nothing about this process that raised any red flags. Bologna: Nothing at all? Kennedy: Nothing at all. My office followed congressional as well as
military protocol in applying for these decorations. Kennedy said the
certificate (pictured, right) and letter his office got in the mail
appeared to indicate that Cotta earned News Channel 10 faxed the documents to the Department of the Army. Its response: "The letter forwarded to you by Congressman Patrick Kennedy's office is false. The certificate forwarded to you by Congressman Patrick Kennedy's office is false." The Army also said the format of the certificate is different than that of an authentic Distinguished Service Cross certificate. And it said, the certificate would not carry the signature that it does. Bologna: The Army told me that those documents are false. Are you
aware of that now? ..... [clipped] Copyright 2003 by turnto10.com. All rights reserved. A heroic Vietnam vet's last medal raises questions By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 5/29/2003 WASHINGTON -- Bruce F. Cotta cuts a dashing figure in the close confines of Rhode Island. Newspapers call him the most decorated living Vietnam veteran in the state, and he has been invited to talk about his experiences at both the US Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and the US Naval War College in Newport, R.I. The Post Office in Middletown, R.I., is named in his honor, and Cotta is known throughout the area as the owner of Prudential Prime Property Management. There is no doubt that much of Cotta's fame stems from actions he took on May 19, 1968, while the Lowell, Mass., native was a US Army medic in an area of South Vietnam known as the Hobo Woods. Despite being wounded in an ambush that pitted a platoon of 16 against hundreds of North Vietnamese soldiers, Cotta threw away a hand grenade that landed in the ranks, and he had another one bounce off his head before it exploded and sprayed him with shrapnel. Still, his fellow soldiers recall, Cotta treated injured members of his platoon and then went for reinforcements. There is doubt, though, about a medal Cotta received nearly three years ago in belated recognition of his heroism, the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest battlefield honor the Army awards. His receipt of the medal has triggered accusations of fraud and forgery that are being investigated by officials at the Pentagon and the FBI. Cotta denies any wrongdoing. But the controversy speaks to the lingering search for recognition by some who served in Vietnam and to the quest for stature that some veterans carry on long after they have left the armed forces. The controversy has also ensnared US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, who pinned the medal on Cotta's chest in August 2000 after receiving falsified documents. Officials say that the medal itself may have been bought on the Internet for as little as $55 and that the supporting papers could have been forged with common word processing and graphics software. ''Whoever it was, if this was truly doctored, as it appears, they certainly did a pretty good job,'' Kennedy said. ''They knew the flow of the correspondence.'' Kennedy said he was unsure what to do about the Middletown Post Office, which was renamed for Cotta by legislation that Kennedy filed after the former medic received the medal that the Pentagon has since deemed to be a fake. ... [clipped]
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