Media Coverage SEPTEMBER 2009

Page 8 of the October 2009 VFW Magazine titled "VA Investigates Fake Vets"

Marine charged with faking war wounds for gain

Sep 21, 5:34 AM (ET)

By DAVID DISHNEAU

SABILLASVILLE, Md. (AP) - On a sultry day in July 2008, Marine Sgt. David W. Budwah strode in his battle fatigues to the front of a picnic pavilion to tell three dozen young boys what he did during the war.

With his clear gaze, rigid posture and muscled, tattooed arms, Budwah looked every inch the hero he claimed to be. He said he was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when a homemade grenade exploded, wounding his face and arm when he dove to shield a buddy from the blast.

He urged the boys, ages 9-12, to take pride in themselves, their country and its warriors.

"We're here to make sure of the freedom you have every day," Budwah told his audience at Camp West Mar, a wooded American Legion compound about 60 miles northwest of Washington.

Spencer Shoemaker, then 10, was so impressed he had his picture taken with Budwah and kept a treasured newspaper clipping about the visit.

"What he said made me feel like I wanted to join the Marines," Spencer said.

But the Marines say Budwah is a liar, a fraud and a thief. They are court-martialing the 34-year-old Springhill, La., native, alleging he was never in Afghanistan, wasn't wounded and didn't earn the combat medals he wore - or the many privileges he enjoyed.

Budwah joined the Marines in October 1999 and spent nearly all of the next six years with a radio communications unit in Okinawa, Japan, according to the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., where Budwah has been stationed since February 2006.

Phony heroes aren't unusual. Thousands of complaints pour in annually to the FBI and civilian groups about impostors flaunting store-bought medals.

Their very prevalence exposes something else - a nation so eager to embrace its war fighters, especially the wounded, that it sometimes fails to discern between the real heroes and the fakes.

"In every society in history, the warrior is glorified," said phony-hero debunker B.G. "Jug" Burkett of Plano, Texas. "The second you say you're a warrior who has performed heroically in combat, everybody perceives you differently."

Burkett, 65, a Vietnam veteran and author of the 1998 book, "Stolen Valor," said the urge to honor the wounded can cloud one's judgment.

"I tell reporters that when you've got a guy who's vocal - 'Let me tell you how I won my Silver Star' - your antenna should go up," Burkett said. "The real guys typically don't talk about it."

Budwah's case is remarkable because he is an active-duty Marine facing military justice, not a civilian charged with wearing unearned medals. Of nearly 3,100 courts-martial last year in the four major armed services, only 27 were trials for wearing illegal decorations. Just two involved Marines.

Prosecutors say Budwah wore unauthorized medals and accepted VIP invitations to rock concerts, major-league baseball games, banquets and other events meant to fete wounded warriors.

He faked post-traumatic stress disorder in hopes of leaving service early and was sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, where he bluffed his way into 33 events from late July through November 2008, according to charges obtained by The Associated Press through an appeal of its Freedom of Information Act request.

Bethesda hospital spokesman Chris Walz said the staff tries to involve as many patients as possible in such activities, which range from free NFL tickets to speaking engagements like Budwah's at Camp West Mar.

The charges include making false official statements, malingering, misconduct and larceny. Budwah faces up to 31 1/2 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted on all eight counts at a trial set for Oct. 20. at Quantico.

Budwah, who declined to enter a plea at his Aug. 5 arraignment, denied wrongdoing in a brief telephone interview in April. "The allegation is not even true," he said, declining to comment further.

Defense attorney Marine Capt. Kelly Repair and prosecutor Marine Capt. Thomas Liu also have declined to comment.

Recent prosecutions of active-duty service members include Dontae L. Tazewell, a Navy hospital corpsman sentenced in January 2008 in Norfolk, Va., to two years in prison for wearing an unearned Purple Heart and other decorations. Tazewell falsely claimed he had rescued six Marines and recovered the bodies of four others in Iraq.

Prosecutors portrayed him as a failing sailor so desperate to remain in service that he fabricated the story.

Navy corpsman Robert White, got 45 days in the brig after pleading guilty in December at Great Lakes Naval Station, Ill., to wearing a Purple Heart he bought. A former girlfriend testified White obtained the medal after he was shunned by his peers for assaulting her, the Navy Times reported.

People fabricate military injuries for many reasons, including laziness, greed, sympathy and psychosis, said Loren Pankratz of Oregon Health & Science University, who wrote about PTSD impostors in his book, "Patients Who Deceive."

"A more common theme would be somebody who would represent sort of the antihero - the guy who's given his all and yet been abused and misunderstood," Pankratz said.

Burkett said others are simply con men.

Walter E. Boomer, who served as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from 1992 to 1994, vaguely remembers meeting Budwah in November when they were guests at a Grand National Waterfowl Association benefit on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They shot at ducks, drank and dined with other VIPs and shotgun manufacturing executives.

"I accepted his story at face value," Boomer said. "Nothing that I recall would have set off alarm bells."

Budwah again managed his way to the center of attention at a September 2008 boxing event in Glen Burnie, Md. Organizer Scott Wagner said the highlight of the night was when he brought Budwah and dozens of other military hospital patients into the ring for a standing ovation.

"Were they injured or not? I don't know and I really don't care. If half of them were injured, I still feel good about it," he said.

A year after Budwah's speech to the youngsters at the American Legion camp, Spencer Shoemaker sat stunned in the family's kitchen as he read the charges against his Marine idol for the first time.

"Well, it's better that I know," the boy said after a long silence. "It did tear me down, but I'll still join the Marines."

His father Michael, a construction worker, seethed at the news about Budwah.

"He scammed America," Shoemaker said. "He scammed a kid."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090921/D9ARKHCO0.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,552880,00.html?test=latestnews

 

Marine faces more than 30 years for allegedly faking injuries to ...
By Bureau News
Burkett, 65, a Vietnam veteran and author of the 1998 book, “Stolen Valor,” said the urge to honor the wounded can cloud one's judgment. “I tell reporters that when you've got a guy who's vocal — 'Let me tell you how I won my Silver ...

Marine charged with faking war wounds for gain
The Associated Press
Phony heroes aren't unusual. Thousands of complaints pour in annually to the FBI and civilian groups about impostors flaunting store-bought medals. ...

Marine charged with faking war wounds for gain FederalNewsRadio.com - USA People fabricate military injuries for many reasons, including laziness, greed, ... who wrote about PTSD impostors in his book, "Patients Who Deceive. ...

Quantico based Marine charged with faking war wounds Culpeper Star Exponent - Culpeper,VA,USA ... by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, Budwah, ... 65, a Vietnam veteran and author of the 1998 book, “Stolen Valor,“ said the ...

Marine Charged With Faking War Wounds for Gain MyFox Illinois - Springfield,Illinois,USA ... facing military justice, not a civilian charged with wearing unearned medals. ... the Navy Times reported. who wrote about PTSD impostors in his book, ...

Marine fakes war wounds for publicity, is charged Times of India - New Delhi,India ... civilian groups about impostors flaunting store-bought medals. Budwah's case is remarkable because he is an active-duty Marine facing military justice, ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uF6_gJQgx4     EASIER TO LIE

By Michael Broihier

Mike Cope wants to be your next state senator; Cope hopes to replace Ed Worley, who has represented Lincoln, Madison and Rockcastle counties since 1999, as the 2010 Democratic candidate. His slogan is “‘Real People’ can make a difference!” The question is who is the real Mike Cope?

Cope, 36, spoke to the Stanford Rotary back in August and before he talked to the lunchtime group, there was time for some questions. Cope’s bio says that he served in the Air Force during Desert Storm, and when asked what he did in the Air Force, he replied, “I was a PJ.”

Pararescue Jumpers (PJs) are Air Force special operations troops who are tasked, primarily, in personnel recovery operations in hostile or denied areas. Their training can take up to 22 months, and they are a pretty tough bunch; of the 22 enlisted Air Force Cross (one below the Medal of Honor) recipients, 12 have been awarded to Pararescuemen.

Whether it was an involuntary gesture or change in body language when he said he had been a PJ, it didn’t sound right. Later, in his speech to the Rotarians, Cope said “After leaving Berea College, I joined the United States Air Force and was a member of the Pararescue Special Forces unit.” That was actually closer to the truth.

PJs, like Navy SEALs and Green Berets, have a very tight community; everybody knows everybody and it didn’t take very long to discover that Cope was not a PJ. Chief Master Sergeant Paul Koester, the Air Forces Pararescue representative at Special Operations Command, said, “Never heard of him.” Other replies that filtered in from PJs across the country were more colorful but decorum prohibits reprinting them.

One particularly assiduous correspondent, Kevin Jones, a retired PJ who keeps “the list” of all card-carrying pararescuemen, made doubly sure no mistake was made and even searched for Cope under his foster parents’ last name, Chadwick, before putting out a query to his extensive network of Special Forces operators. He got a flood of replies, all in the negative, before he passed final judgment, “This guy is a slick half-liar.”

Why a half-liar?

Other than the direct quote back in August, Cope never comes straight out and says he was a PJ. In his speech to the Rotarians, Cope said, “I joined the Air Force and was a member of the Pararescue Special Forces unit.” Cope’s website bio is more revelatory. It states that he “was a member of the United States Air Force Special Forces Pararescue Training Unit and served during Desert Storm.”

The problem with this kind of talk is that it is misleading, and a careless reader might jump to wrong conclusions. For example, one of Cope’s supporters, standing by his man on a social networking site, wrote, “Cope was in Special Forces in Desert Storm.”

What is the truth?

Cope was in town Saturday to press the flesh at the Bluegrass and Folk Festival and had time to clear up the question.

Cope said, that after graduating from boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base, he was assigned to the Pararescue Indoctrination course where he injured his knee which led to him ultimately being discharged from the service. This is completely believable. The opportunity for injuring ones self during intense training is very high, and the attrition rate at any of the Special Forces schools is very high. Cope said, “I’m very proud of being even accepted and the training that I did there.”

The other question, about Desert Storm, is trickier. The “war” part of Desert Storm lasted a very short time; it began on Jan. 16 1991 and ended on April 6, a full four years before Cope signed up with the Air Force. Cope’s claim of having served during Desert Storm is based on him beingeligible for the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM). The NDSM was awarded to those members of the armed forces that served anytime, anywhere, between Aug. 2, 1991 and Nov. 30, 1995. Cope’s military record indicates that he started active duty on Nov. 29, so he is eligible to claim Desert Storm era service for exactly one day.

Cope said Saturday that he was sorry if there was any misunderstanding but he doesn’t intend to change his biography. “I was there, I don’t think it’s misrepresenting at all…I was never proud that I had to leave, but I did the best I could.”

Why does it matter?

The fact that it matters to the PJs themselves should be enough. Every PJ contacted during the research of this story was incensed that Cope would, through commission or omission, allow anyone to think he had earned the pararescuemen’s maroon beret.

These are not cocky, arrogant elitists; they looked at school plaques, searched old records and worked an extensive network of contacts to try to substantiate Cope’s story, and they all came back with the same answer, “Not one of us.”

The growing number of veterans, or in some cases non-veterans representing themselves to be other than what they are caused congress to pass the Stolen Valor Act in 2005 that expanded previous laws against wearing unearned medals to include making verbal claims to having earned medals, badges or devices, like the Air Force Pararescue Badge emblazened with their motto, “That others might live.”

A Belleville trustee serving his second term in office resigned last month after he admitted lying about being a Navy SEAL.

"I greatly exaggerated the resume which I posted on my website," former Trustee Kevin Porter wrote in his Aug. 24 resignation letter to the Belleville Village Board. "I was a member of the U.S. Navy, but I was never a SEAL."

"My wife and family had no idea of my lie," the letter goes on the say. "It was a stupid and arrogant thing to do. I am truly embarrassed and sorry for my behavior."

Porter could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Village President Terry Kringle called Porter a good board member who was well-prepared for meetings.

- Gena Kittner