Tim Webster

OMAHA WORLD HERALD
June 19, 2001

Cold Water Thrown on Nebraskan's SEAL Claims

BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Timothy R. Webster put a target on his chest by wearing the Trident symbol of the elite Navy SEALs when he posed with Sen. Ben Nelson during a Purple Heart ceremony in Columbus, Neb.

Now all of the military claims by Webster, 26, have been called into question.

To Nelson, the freshman Democratic senator, and Webster's employers at Behlen Manufacturing, everything seemed to be in order. Webster had a letter from the secretary of the Navy awarding him a Purple Heart for being wounded in the Persian Gulf.

The cake, punch and newspaper clipping might have been pleasant memories if Webster had not made the claim of being a Navy SEAL. Nelson has called for an investigation into the matter and has been told that the Navy has no record of Webster being awarded the Purple Heart, which is given to those injured in combat.

"He did not complete training and he is not a Navy SEAL," said Patricia O'Connor, the deputy public-affairs officer for the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego.

That is not what Webster told a reporter for the Columbus Telegram, and that is not the information in the letter he presented to Nelson to document his claim to the Purple Heart.

Webster could not be reached Monday for comment.

In the letter on Navy letterhead dated July 29, 1999, Webster was said to have received the award as a member of SEAL Team 3 participating in the Restore Hope and Southern Watch operations enforcing the no-fly zone and sanctions against Iraq. The wound was reported to have occurred on March 10, 1994.

But as the content of the letter and his account came under question, Webster went to his employer late last week and Monday to insist that he has a dispute with the Pentagon, said Phil Raimondo, Behlen's president.

On its face, the letter looked legitimate, said David DiMartino, Nelson's director of communications. Nelson and other members of Congress often participate in ceremonial presentations of medals to veterans, DiMartino said.

Normal procedures were followed, and the paperwork appeared to be in order. Nelson participated in the ceremony before Webster's co-workers on April 18.

Former and current SEALs, however, maintain a careful watch for those who falsely claim to have made it through the difficult training to wear the Trident insignia of the Navy's special-forces unit. Former Sen. Bob Kerrey is the state's best known former SEAL.

O'Connor said she does not know whether Webster ever entered the basic underwater demolition training or other training required before one is accepted into a SEAL team. But there is no doubt that he never completed SEAL training, she said.

"It unfortunately seems a lot of folks out there lay claim to being a SEAL," O'Connor said.

Just as SEALs are known for finding and eliminating the enemy, former SEALs search out those making false claims.

Nelson's office was alerted to the Webster situation by former Capt. Larry Bailey, an active member Cyber SEALs, an Internet site - www. authentiseals.org - dedicated to "upholding the honor and integrity of the US Navy SEALs."

The group maintains a list of "phony SEALs." An inquiry on Webster brought a response by Doc Relf of Phonybuster Team that the Nebraskan had "blipped on our screen several times in recent weeks."

On the Web site, the group describes itself as existing "to expose all the SEAL phonies for what they are, to let the world know who they are, where they live and how you may contact them to let them know what you think of the mockery they make of this great country and the men and women who have vowed to lay down their lives to protect it."

The group even has a poem dedicated to those who make false claims to being a SEAL. One of the tamer verses reads:

"Ranger tabs and all that stuff/Talk real big, and think they're tough/Scum who brag so all can see/Ain't no man, just a Wannabee."

Columbus, Nebraska
June 18, 2001

Navy: City man not entitled to SEAL badge, Purple Heart

By DAVID HUDSON, Telegram Staff Writer

COLUMBUS - What was perhaps strangest about the ceremony April 17 was the pride on Timothy Webster's face when U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson pinned the Purple Heart Award beneath the Trident badge already hanging on the Columbus resident's suit jacket.

The pride was strange because, according to the U.S. Navy Awards Board and the Naval Special Warfare Command, Webster, 26, is entitled to neither award - the Trident, a symbol of the Navy's elite SEAL force, nor the Purple Heart, signifying a wound received in battle.

The Telegram - notified by Behlen Mfg. Co. that Nelson would be presenting the award during a visit to Behlen headquarters - learned afterward that Webster's claims were fraudulent.

According to David DiMartino, Nelson's director of communications, Webster had possessed a convincing memo from the Navy regarding the Purple Heart - which he told the Telegram he earned during operations Southern Watch and Restore Hope - but never claimed to be a SEAL. DiMartino said Nelson's office was later contacted by those raising questions with the award.

"We've asked the Navy to investigate," he said. He said he didn't know when an answer would be received.

"Although the senator is aware of the question, a comment wouldn't be appropriate right now," he said.

DiMartino said Nelson's office has been told Webster was honorably discharged and served in the Desert Storm area as a radio operator.

When reached by telephone this morning, Webster had no comment about his status as a Navy SEAL or as a Purple Heart awardee.

According to Patricia O'Connor, deputy public affairs officer of special warfare's SEAL command in San Diego, Webster's name does not appear in the SEAL database. O'Connor said the SEAL Trident worn by Webster in the April 18 Telegram photograph was probably simply purchased from a uniform shop.

"Anybody in the U.S. Navy can buy one," O'Connor said of the award with an eagle clutching the three-pointed weapon. "They're sold in military exchanges as part of a uniform."

When pressed to say whether all SEALS would be listed in the database, O'Connor said it was possible "a real small number" were not listed.

That "real small number," according to retired Navy SEAL Capt. Larry Bailey, is two. The only two errors in the database occurred when former SEALS changed their names after graduation, he said.

"In fact, I could have told you (he wasn't a SEAL) just by looking at the photo accompanying your well-written article," Bailey said via e-mail Wednesday, later adding that a real SEAL probably wouldn't wear the full-size "Budweiser," or Trident badge worn by Webster in the Telegram photo, and instead would employ a smaller version.

Although the SEAL command couldn't provide information about Webster's status as a Purple Heart-winner, Betty Barnes, a supervisor at the Navy Awards Board, said since the late 1960s or early 1970s, all Purple Heart decorations have come through her office. She said she had no record of a Timothy Webster receiving a Purple Heart.

While O'Connor said posing as a SEAL is not an actionable offense by the military, the SEAL organization actively pursues exposing counterfeit SEALS.

Bailey, a member of the ad hoc "PhonyBusters" team, said one of the problems in prosecution is that there are so many swindles. Webster is one of 7,000 phony SEALs uncovered in the last six years. Bailey estimated there are 10-12 similar frauds perpetrated every day.

Bailey said that, in addition to contacting Sen. Nelson's office, he spoke to Webster, who offered several versions of the story, admitting at one point that he wasn't a SEAL but had trained with them during Desert Storm.

That didn't convince Bailey, who had served 27 years with the SEALS.

"A SEAL squad would NEVER take an unqualified person with them on a combat patrol," he said in an e-mail to the Telegram.

As for the Purple Heart misrepresentation, Bailey said the Federal Bureau of Investigations sometimes prosecutes such misrepresentation. He added he didn't know how Webster obtained a Purple Heart.

Contacted Friday, Behlen Mfg. Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Phil Raimondo said Behlen was unaware of Webster's pose, adding that the company newsletter, Vibrations, planned to appear in two weeks, currently has Webster on its cover.

Distributed through the P.O.W. NETWORK in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.