A video showing two Marines confronting a man dressed as an Army sergeant major is making the rounds on Facebook. The video, posted on Sunday from Florida, shows two Marines on funeral detail questioning a man claiming to be a battalion sergeant major, military policeman and special operator. The two catch up with him in a parking lot and begin asking him questions about his uniform — including why he’s wearing medals and ribbons at the same time. [HTML1] The Marines ask the man who his commanding officer is, and he replies, “Lt. Col. Smith.” They also ask him for…
Browsing: Stolen Valor
Yesterday, most of us were introduced to Craig Pusley. He’s the Marine veteran who made national news after standing guard in front of Hughson Elementary School in Modesto, Calif., on Wednesday in a desert camouflage uniform to help children feel safe following the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The tale got ugly when questions were raised about the military service he was described to have in media coverage. Numerous stories said he left the Corps as a sergeant after pulling two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I…
By the end of this week, this picture had circulated widely, and all I could think of was Chuck Schantag, a retired Marine infantryman whose mission was to expose people like this. This “Marine-SEAL-EOD master gunnery sergeant,” a man of fantasy who has not yet been identified by name, has been called plenty of names by those who’ve sen the picture. Troops, supporters of troops and probably even some hippies are incensed. He’s wearing almost every ribbon in the inventory including World War II, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, plus a Navy Cross, a SEAL trident, the EOD “crab,” an aiguillette,…
With the Stolen Valor Act under scrutiny by the Supreme Court today, it seemed like a good time to bring a story out of the mothballs. In 2009, I covered a story for Marine Corps Times that falls squarely in the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction category. The short of it: A man who claimed to be a retired four-star Marine Corps general had previously been married to convicted murderer Susan Atkins, ex-wife of the notorious serial killer Charlie Manson. I know this because I went to great lengths to prove it. Donald Laisure claimed in the Marine Corps Association’s membership registry that year…
