how many fake vietnam veterans are there

• 8 September 2023

Like many people who had never served in the military -- a growing number in this country, given that the draft ended on June 30, 1973 -- Whitley had only a vague and disconnected notion of a war in Southeast Asia that was tearing the nation apart when she was growing up. Robert Bateman, who teaches military history at West Point. 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem. One of the reasons, Burkett and others say, is that the "homeless vet" you see begging on the street may well be a fake, and he's spreading the widely publicized lie. Thailand, Guam and in the deep water Navy, and some statistics on those An archive compiled by a national prisoner-of-war. a note about sources. An informal survey by United Press International of about a dozen VA facilities, veteran employment services and vet groups found that all had seen fake combat vets in the past year, most in rising numbers. statement. Probably wouldn't sell more than 2,000.". In Atlanta, VVA chapter officer Ashe estimates that about 20 percent of the up to 200 men who contacted his group since December, saying they are combat vets and asking for help, were frauds. Without The VA shows on their site https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf That only 3,403,000 served incountry in Vietnam, and that a total of 8,744,000 served in that era world wide. Small wonder. It is headed by Bob Castagna of Talent, Ore., whose been accused of being a bogus combat vet himself. REALITY: He was a Marine football player in Okinawa. The Vietnam War was the nation's longest and costliest conflict of the Cold War. Most imposters have no real military knowledge, so they make silly mistakes like wearing an Army patch on the left pocket and a Navy edge on the left sleeve. Over 8.7 million Americans served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era from 1964 to 1973 (1). 'You can normally tell who is a phony. As it turned out, my guy wasnt on the list. I have found a legitimate source for the large number of imposters which was based on an actual survey so the only error is suggesting the number came from a census, though I have still not found good figures for the 1995 interim census. A judge sentenced Cooley to two years probation, a $5,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Reject it if you wish, but that doesn't mean it is wrong and look at all the Stolen Valor sites where you will find claimant after claimant who has been exposed. was not saying it was for service in Vietnam. They have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups. There is no question that there are a large number of them including women who talk about their combat roles and even how they had been POWs. William Weld, that Yandle was fit to be released. So now I had a purpose and a system and I decided I was going to create a book, so I started researching the gaps.". 'My pretense took on a life of its own and almost became real. Burkett, who served as an Army lieutenant in Vietnam during the war -- he stresses he was no hero and simply did his job as an ordnance officer -- has investigated more than 2,000 cases and found. Any number of personality flaws might drive someone to fabricate a military background, no matter what their station in life. The story was essentially done at that point, but I said, Sure. magazine so that I have nothing on their sources. It starts off simple enough. actually in Vietnam and that about 8.5 million served during the Vietnam era. Are there people involved in the Roswell case who lied? Very rare and usually done by people looking for high profile jobs. The 2000 census site at www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/censusatlas/pdf/12_military-service.pdf shows the claims rose to 8.4 million Vietnam era Vets. Whitley, 43, is of a generation that, as she said, learned about the war largely through their TV sets. By fits and starts, Burkett learned how to investigate. Disclosure of the facts contributed to his demise. A Commentary on UFOs, Paranormal events, and related topics. with the Bronze Star Medal for actions during my tour in Iraq and I have the According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. If that was closer to the true figure, then the 200,000 fakers evaporate.Having found maybe a few thousand fakers is a VERY, VERY LONG way (by a factor of at least one thousand) from the 10+ million claimed in the "Stolen Valor" book, allegedly based on Census data, and endlessly repeated in multiple vet publications, including the websites you linked to. Overall, about 3.5 million Americans served in Southeast Asia during the war. In this country, fakers did proliferate following the Vietnam War, according to Burkett. Vietnam veteran - Wikipedia U.S. Military impostor - Wikipedia Of those who said they were in-country most appear to be fake. I dont understand your holding onto your point of view with such tenacity. I cant find good numbers on Vietnam Veterans Against the War: Commentary: Fake Vets Chasing Fame - VVAW In 1999, Donald R. Nicholson, the police chief of Amelia, Missouri, in the 1980s, admitted that he had lied about being a Vietnam veteran and a prisoner of war to obtain better veterans benefits. You can read about this here:http://www.war-stories.com/research-hanson-historical-reflections-2000.htmWhat this does demonstrate is that a minority of men and women who were in the military during the Vietnam era were actually deployed into the combat arena. Now, extrapolate that across the nation, and imagine the millions of dollars that this runs into.. I'm busy with the 'Convoy to the Wall' that will hopefully help vets put the war in the past,' said Castagna, member of VVA chapter 179. I explained that given the way some of this was explained on the various sites was somewhat misleading and I was mislead, but you have nothing to prove that it is wrong other than your own beliefs. Case in point, and perhaps the one for which Burkett is best known: In the early 1990s, Joseph Yandle, a man serving life without parole in Massachusetts for his part in a murder-robbery, began a campaign, soon picked up by the Boston Globe, to have his sentence commuted. "I said no such thing. And he describes the hostile reaction directed at veterans coming back from Vietnam, intimating that he was among them. Before it was revealed, in 2001, that he spent the war teaching history at West Point, for example, Joseph Ellis was known to lecture his students at Mount Holyoke about his experiences in the vicinity of My Lai at the time of the massacre.

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