Kayenta Veterans Organization replies back.
I got a response from the Kayenta Veterans Organizationafter I replied back to their earlier email in regards to Jasper Lake.
Email 1.
May I ask who you represent and wht you do?
pbronstonEmail 2.
My Veterans Orgaization Chairman just informed me that, he has talked with yoo on this. So I wil have no morte commmunication with you. Have a nice life. I have no proof who you are and no credentials why you need to be asking about this.
Oh and guess what is new on the their website.
Category: Phony soldiers
Now that is a shame. Assuming that the group itself is legitimate. (Which until we hear otherwise we perhaps should assume.)
Is it possible that the two gold star mothers who were left in charge of the group simply don’t/didn’t know enough to ask the correct questions of the “nominee?”
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Is this group part of the fraud, or are they a potential victim?
I can’t chalk this up as simply not knowing what you don’t know. The group clearly recognizes other veterans….nobody else brought up the incredulity of SPC Fatass needing ‘donations’ to pursue his MoH Nomination?
That’s the problem, CI–NOBODY wants to be the guy to call out a legit hero, especially when he’s from your town/group/school/whatever.
But at the same time, nobody wants to admit they’ve been played by a fraud, either.
There are plenty of questions to ask, of course. I sort of keyed in on this being a fairly new organization (from their website), left in the hands of a couple of gold star mothers who might or might not have a very sophisticated understanding of how the military or it’s award system really works. Not excusing anything, just playing hypothetical games of how a con man might manipulate the situation to defraud a well intentioned bunch of folks.
Or not. It remains to be seen. It wouldn’t be the first time that introductions are made without proper vetting and frauds are enthusiastically welcomed into a group. Or that an organization (or select members thereof) is in on the con.
But we have been down this road before.
Betsui and Lake said the issue is a misunderstanding. They insist they were misinformed by the Kirkpatrick aide, who told them Lake had been nominated for the Medal of Honor and suggested asking for donations.
What are they going to use as a excuse now.
I just went to that website and left this:
About Jasper Lake:
No person in the Military unit that he served has come forward to suggest that he has done any deed worthy of the Medal of Honor. Jasper Lake has never made public any date, any one event, any battle that would suggest he has earned the highest medal of this great nation. That he came home and told Y’all that he was a brave and courageous soldier does not make him MOH material.
You may want to know what organization I am representing. I am a United States veteran, and I represent the good name of the Medal of Honor awardees who’ve gone before us. I represent the veterans who gave so much without asking for so much as a meal, let alone a Medal that those in their unit say was unearned.
Never, ever before Jasper Lake came to light have I heard of a Veteran asking for money to get his award, nor have I heard of such as Jasper Lake has come up with.
As we see it, he served, he got discharged, that’s it. Those awards that were supposedly given by some politician, (Governors do NOT have the power to order awards for a Regular Army soldier), were not even engraved, I am told.
He stands among millions of veterans who served and came home, with most of them honoring those who did not come home alive.
At “This Ain’t Hell” we see this as comedy at best, and it is not showing the Navajo nation in its best light.
Respond however you care to, but if you really want to see what we think of this mess just go to: http://valorguardians.com/, and in the little white search box near the top right, type in JASPER LAKE, click on the word SEARCH, and select the various posts regarding him. We will get to the bottom of this.
Be careful they might try and list you in the “Too many rumors and envy” group.
I would love to hear what their reply is.
@6 – Well said.
@#8:
Thank you CI. I learned long ago that when addressing a potential adversary, or one hostile to your cause, that blowing up, using profanity, derogatory statements, etc. offer little mileage to the cause. A good record at high school level debate didn’t hurt.
It seems like there are more “Vet” organizations than there are vets. I’ve talked to a few folks over the years who tried to start a new vet thing…but when I talked to them, they didn’t even know what established orgs were already doing a good job at what the new group was trying.
In just a few cases, I found that the person trying to start the new org, was just trying to set up a job for themselves— getting donations etc to give themselves a slary.
If this group is for a specific purpose===that’s not already done by other well established groups…. then good for them.
I try to not pass judgement until I have all the info…
Is Jasper a “nominee” or just a solictor for the Medal of Honor?
@#11:
You nailed it UpNorth. He is soliciting for it.
I think this is a little beyond sad. Jasper is at best using the Navajo nation’s desire for a hero. All their code talkers are old, and probably in declining health. They could probably not get around and talk to people, and give them pride in their race/culture, like a young man could.
Further I think he is playing on their cultural feelings of constantly getting screwed over. I Know that the Navajos along with just about every tribe, got screwed in someway, this just plays into that. saying “see this hero, and how politics killed the recognition he so deserves”
Perhaps a little sadder, there is not one living MOH awardee from Iraq. All were Posthumous. I think there were more than enough hairy firefights, and more than enough courageous acts, that will probably see some upgrades in coming years, But Lake is not one of them.
(side note, I am sick to death of hearing the term “winning” the MOH. It’s not something you win.)
Here is a thought, what if they needed someone to keep the organization alive.
In 2010, Kayenta Veterans Organization had very low turnout to monthly meetings and activities and many members of the committee were so discouraged by the lack of funding from the local government in support of the committee’s mission and purpose that they abandoned the organization. The organization was left to be operated by two loyal Blue Star Mothers. Certain local veterans saw this and saw a need to support their fellow soldiers who are still enlisted in the US Military and those who are home. The Kayenta Veterans Organization was reorganized and a new Commander took charge, and within a few months the organization was certified by the Navajo Nation as a non-profit corporation. The old veterans committee now stands independently as an organization capable of pursuing a new domestic mission as expressed in the organizations Purpose Statement.
Well it seems that Jasper Lake comes on the scene in late 2010 with his MOH story. I would be willing to bet that funding for your organization would be a lot easier if you had a MOH recipient on their roaster. Oh and guess who is the new Commander is.
#14: on the Roaster? I think that would be called cannibalism, and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t help their fund raising.
Spork, where is it on their website, I couldn’t find it, but they have 47,000 tabs.
At the bottom of the screen were the photos are. It is on the fourth set I believe.
Hey, my degenerate drinking buddies (yeah, redundant, I know) said I should have won the Medal of Honor. Does that make me a Medal of Honor nominee too? Woo-hoo! Fire up the ceremony at the Lake Placid Legion Hall. I’m a friggin’ nominee!
<>
Anyone else want to be a nominee? I’ll nominate you. We can all become nominees. Call me “The Nominator.” “I’ll be back — with your nomination.” No problemo.
TSO: It’s the second paragraph on the front page if you click the link above.
Interesting: No tab or info I can find on leadership or finances. Admittedly, not a lot of groups put any real financial data out there, but nothing on leadership? That should be a huge red flag to one and all.
Has this Veterans group talked with any MoH recipients? Have they asked them if they solicited for their own MoH? Have they received a status update on Lake’s MoH nomination? It should be easy to find, because anyone nominated for the MoH would know what the status is. Plus, because it is a very big deal to be nominated, whomever did nominate them would probably make sure it was publicly known through the proper channels.
I think they should talk to the most recent recipients and ask them if they solicited to get theirs.
Bottom line: No MoH recipient is going to beg or solicit to recieve it. To a person, they will probably tell you they don’t deserve it.
Begging for the nations highest award cheapens the sacrifice and valor of those that earned it. It also says alot about your own honor.
Agree with all the comments. Might I add . . . the emails were painful to read in terms of grammar and spelling!! Just that alone would send a red flag up about the veracity of Lake’s “”credentials””
I just found this article, http://www.kayentatownship.net/ktoday/2_11.pdf look on page 3.
I feel for the Nation, they want a hero.
Yep that was the main thing that started me to look into his past. That PDF is listed on POW.net.
This is truly a sad tale and I am afraid they are headed for a very big disappointment. Especially since so many of their tribal nation have served honorably and courageously. I hope common sense prevails and someone from the KVO investigates Lake’s claims or they go to POW Network and read the truth about him. Otherwise, this will become a bigger embarrassment than it already has.
I think you’re right, Trent, this will become a bigger embarrassment for them. But, I think they’re so invested in this guy now, that they won’t read anything negative about him, or listen if someone showed up to tell them the truth.
That is what I think so considering the last few emails that I had with them.
There was a tribal service this year, 2011, where Jasper was given several medals he never earned. Purple Heart, Bronze Star w/V, Silver Star, and many more, I can’t remember them all. In each case, a different tribal leader came forward to pin on another never earned medal.
As for the MOH, they are actually taking donations in an effort to buy s Senator to give Jasper a MOH.
Everything about this stinks to high heaven.
I think that happened in December of 2010 and we wrote about that in February. If you could take a look at the photos and links to make sure that it is the case that you are talking about.
Also what is interesting is that when he was asked about the donations that he said that a unnamed Governor’s aide suggested asking for donations, not him.
And yet nobody in Governor Brewer’s office claims to know anything about the guy, let alone soliciting donations for getting him a MoH.
Since when would a state official put their crank in the light socket like that, anyway?
[…] 12th, 2012 More like a minor addition. The last time that we talked about Jasper Lake back in December. Also trying to figure out what the Kayenta Veterans Organization knows about it. But also more […]