Marine Imposter Caught....

[PalmerGA]

This is from the Marine Corps' daily media report today. Thought it was kind of interesting, kind of funny, and kind of cool. I've inserted a couple of comments for explanation purposes:

Marine Corps Times
June 27, 2006
The war on fakers

By John Hoellwarth

There was something odd about the way 1st Sgt. [Enlisted rank, E-8] David Blake ditty-bopped through the pedestrian traffic of New York City’s Times Square in his dress blues. Reserve Gunnery Sgt. [Enlisted rank, E-7] Alex Kitsakos, a New York City cop drilling at the Corps’ public affairs office in Manhattan over Memorial Day weekend, said he “noticed someone, not a Marine, but someone in a Marine uniform walking with no character, no bearing.” Kitsakos called out to the first sergeant, who he saw only from the back through the pedestrian traffic. Blake stopped and turned to face the gunny, who said he knew right then that Blake was a poser.

He was sporting six hash marks [each hash mark represents four years of honorable service, so this guy had supposedly been in the Corps for atleast 24 years] on each sleeve and three or four days’ growth on his face, Kitsakos said. On his uniform, he wore gold jump wings, the Navy Cross, Silver Star, three Purple Hearts and a single Combat Action Ribbon atop his 27-award stack. [This should be one totally squared away Marine]. Things already weren’t adding up. But when Blake addressed the gunny as “sir,” the faker sealed his fate. [A senior enlisted Marine would NEVER address a peer as "Sir". That is a term for Officers only - enlisted personnel work for a living]

Kitsakos said Blake initially tried to say he was assigned to one of the Navy ships in town for Fleet Week. When asked what ship, Blake hesitated. "I looked him in the eye and said, ‘You’re not a Marine,’” Kitsakos said. “I was livid.” Kitsakos pulled Blake off the street into an Internet café and gave him a tongue lashing that ended when Blake surrendered his cover, dress blue coat and driver’s license. When Blake tried to explain that he runs a youth organization whose members wear the uniforms, Kitsakos told him he could pick up his ID at the Marine Corps’ office after Fleet Week if he brought all the youths — and their uniforms — with him. The irate gunny sent Blake back out onto the street wearing dress blue pants and a T-shirt.

“You know how many people have died for this uniform?” Kitsakos asked. “If I find anyone else in this uniform as an impostor, they can expect to be walking around New York in their underwear.”

When contacted by Marine Corps Times, Blake said he didn’t want to talk about the incident. Kitsakos called the FBI. Then he hung Blake’s coat — the trophy of his fresh kill — in the Marine public affairs office.

[buckyjacobson]

Good story. (Is that legal, though?)

[Arod for President]

Yes it is a great story, and no im not a Marine. BUT if some police officer pulls the shirt off your back IN PUBLIC (whether it is an official uniform or not) i personally find a problem with this.

The man clearly made the wrong decision by wearing a uniform he didnt belong in.

But what right does this ex marine have, whether hes an officer of not to pull the shirt off some guys back and take it as a "trophy piece"

This imposter could have bought the uniform at a salvation army for 20 bucks and it could be HIS Property.

note to Palmer GA: This post is in no way a discredit to what our US troops have done for us. I can certainly see how a REAL Marine would be offended by this. But there is no reason im my opinion that this "imposter" should have his personal property taken away from him, ... actually i wonder how he did get the coat!

[PalmerGA]

Yes it is a great story, and no im not a Marine. BUT if some police officer pulls the shirt off your back IN PUBLIC (whether it is an official uniform or not) i personally find a problem with this.

The man clearly made the wrong decision by wearing a uniform he didnt belong in.

But what right does this ex marine have, whether hes an officer of not to pull the shirt off some guys back and take it as a "trophy piece"

This imposter could have bought the uniform at a salvation army for 20 bucks and it could be HIS Property.

note to Palmer GA: This post is in no way a discredit to what our US troops have done for us. I can certainly see how a REAL Marine would be offended by this. But there is no reason im my opinion that this "imposter" should have his personal property taken away from him, ... actually i wonder how he did get the coat!

I hear what you're saying A for P, but it is indeed a crime to wear a military uniform when you are not authorized to do so. Here is some more of the same article that gets into that aspect of it. It is lengthy and I do not have a website link for it. I can, however, forward you the entire email if you'd like.

‘Out of the woodwork’
Between the public’s increased wartime reverence for valor and the ease of ordering proof of combat heroism over the Internet, FBI Special Agent Tom Cottone, who has been busting phonies since 1995, said fakers now are “coming out of the woodwork.”
The FBI has 20 cases pending against military fakers. This year alone, the bureau has launched a dozen investigations, which, if the pace keeps up, would double last year’s caseload.
And a lot of them seem to be Marines. Since January, at least eight cases of Marines embellishing their rank and awards or civilians impersonating Marines have been busted by newspapers, Marines or other freelance fraud-finders. Those who observe the practice suggest there are likely hundreds more fakers out there who haven’t yet surfaced, but that incidents are definitely on the rise.
And it’s getting much easier. Fakers can buy all the trappings of valor over the Internet, from official uniforms and awards to the official-looking military documents that back them up.
Today’s faker favors the Navy Cross and lesser awards, Cottone said. It’s not so easy to fraudulently claim the Medal of Honor anymore, because each of those is manufactured with a serial number and there are only 111 living recipients, all of whom are listed on a roll of honor mandated by Congress in 1917 and accessible over the Internet.
Although there is no national database of Navy Cross recipients, there is Doug Sterner and his Web site www.homeofheroes.com. Sterner has spent the past five years compiling a list of more than 24,000 military members who have been awarded the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Cross or Brevet Medal. He has collected the citations for 16,577 of them and says his Marine Corps records are 100 percent complete.
“When they eulogize me, I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who busted phonies. I want to be the guy who remembered the legitimate heroes,” he said. “But when you start to tell the story of heroes, the flotsam rises to the surface.”
Sterner said he routinely receives photographs of fakers wearing fraudulent awards that he can forward to the FBI and the press. That was the case when he heard about Theodore C. Bantis of Dunlap, Ill., who pleaded guilty June 20 to charges of impersonating a colonel and wearing two Navy Crosses and — get this — six Bronze stars. Oh, and eight Purple Hearts.
Sterner said that for every case he turns over to the FBI, there are “10 to 15” he can’t for lack of photographic evidence.
Under existing law, it’s not illegal to lie about military service. Fakers aren’t committing a crime until they wear a rank, uniform or award they don’t rate. But that might soon change.
Stolen valor
Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives last summer calls for stiffer penalties against those who pretend to rate military decorations they didn’t earn, regardless of whether they wear them. The bill is gaining steam in the Senate, where its co-sponsors include Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His endorsement virtually guarantees the bill will make it out of that committee and onto the floor.
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who introduced “The Stolen Valor Act of 2005” in the House in July 2005, said he expects the bill to leave committee in the Senate during the last week of June, which he expects will accelerate its movement in the House. All floor activity is expected to be concluded by the time Congress ends its current session in October, Salazar said.
The bill states that anyone who fraudulently claims, “verbally or in writing, to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress,” will face fines, up to six months imprisonment, or both. Fines would be doubled and maximum prison terms capped at one year for those claiming to rate combat valor awards such as the Navy Cross or Silver Star.
“Federal law enforcement agents are willing to go after these frauds,” Salazar said. “Congress needs to provide the tools necessary to get the job done.”
Kitsakos said he’s all in favor of stiffer penalties for impostors, but he intends to continue confronting phonies, whether the new law passes or not, “because nobody disrespects the uniform.”

[Arod for President]

"Under existing law, it’s not illegal to lie about military service. Fakers aren’t committing a crime until they wear a rank, uniform or award they don’t rate. But that might soon change."

Thank you Very Imformative!

[5OClockLighting]

On his uniform, he wore gold jump wings, the Navy Cross, Silver Star, three Purple Hearts and a single Combat Action Ribbon atop his 27-award stack.

What no Medal of Honor?

Well at least this poser didn't go on to smear the names of our good troops like this POS.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005245.htm