Philly Magazine conned by phony Marine (Updated with article)
TSO sends a link he was sent about Philadelphia Magazine who did an article “The War Within” about a Marine struggling with life after the Corps. I didn’t read the original article before they pulled it down out of embarrassment but I did find a cached copy of the first page. I think I would have called BS as soon as I saw that the dude thinks he killed 2200 people – that would have been one person every day for over six years straight, or six people a day for a year. The math isn’t in his favor.
But Philly Mag published two apologies for being taken in by a friendly fellow. One from Tom McGrath and another by the author, Anthony Gargano about how they were taken in by a guy with a ton of stories. McGrath says that after they started getting some comments on the article, they confronted “Tree Pruner”;
Then, in a series of phone calls, email exchanges, and text messages, Gargano and I confronted the subject of the article, John P. Boudreau, who was also its main source. (He was identified in the story as “the Tree Pruner.”) In a series of conversations on Wednesday and Thursday, Boudreau, who claims a residence in Chester County, acknowledged that much of what he had told Gargano over the preceding several months—information he had also confirmed to Philadelphia magazine’s fact-checker—was either embellished or flat-out fabricated.
As soon as I saw his name and read that he was claiming to be a Marine, I fired it off to some of our Marine friends who told us that there’s no record of him. It took me two minutes to get a response. You can read some of the comments in the cached copy to see what some of the claims were – he used a .40 caliber sniper rifle and TOW missiles to take out his targets, he recovered the bodies of two dead SEALs in a war that didn’t have any SEALs killed (Desert Storm).
They believed him because he was a nice guy and not a pest – I had this discussion last night. Most sociopaths are just like that. No one ever doubts their tales because they’re so convincing. And they think that you’ll believe them which makes them adamant about their stories and they may even believe that it’s true no matter how fantastic the story may sound. Even after they tell you that they lied initially, if they ever do, they’ll think you still believe them. After Boudreau admitted to the two writers that he lied, he sent them a text message;
“I have been recalled to Korea next month. They need. Me to do what I do the best. If I don’t come back? I love ya Cuz. Goodbye….”
So, he’ll probably turn up somewhere else with his tales because he almost got away with it this time – well, until real veterans read the fairy tales. McGrath and Gargano go on and on about how they thought he was the real deal, and passed the story around to their other non-veteran family members and friends – well, without running it by any veterans.
I tell people that real veterans don’t mind showing their discharge certificates (DD214s), all you have to do is ask.
UPDATED: Someone sends us a .pdf of the article; Sniper Article-1
Category: Phony soldiers
You overly critical guys keep missing the important point here. He used TOW’s. Of course he could have 2,200 kills. DUH!
I busted that turd Andrew Diabo up there outside of Philly and the reporter interviewed him twice for her feel good pieces. trust but verify right?
S/F
Taco
What’s i’ve experienced in Stafford Twp NJ with Stolen Valor Mayor John Spodofora is 99.7% of the pure civilian population can be easily duped and quite easily as this charlatan has done it for years, many many years. You have .1% here that older vets that are easily duped and just get off bragging to thier friends that the Mayor buys them beers at American Legion Post 511 where he wafts his lofty stories of combat in Vietnam and his clandestine missions and classified personnel records. Then you have the most disgusting 1%. Those that are vets, know the truth but sold thier soul for politics. Take Vietnam USMC Veteran Robert Kusznikow who sits right next to the slob at town hall meetings. This guy defends him like a punchdrunk pitbull. Why? Taxpayer paid health benefits. Sad that a man who was proud to wear a red stripe down his leg now has a yellow streak down his back. The last 1% are the people like us who are exposing the truth.
I should mention what Spodophony was re-elected and you know why? He put on a dog and pony show in town hall, using a 70 yr old korean war vet and NJ Senator Chris Connors. The Senator hailed him a Hero, the 70 yr old Korean war vet read a prepared statement and is a washed up sterno bum from the American Legion Post where they all hang out. Total Bullshit fellas..
#1, what a turd. real vets WILL call your punk ass out especially with the rediculous claims these guys always make… Ok #2 is you said there weren’t any SEALs killed in iraq. That is false. In fact SEAL Michael Monsoor was killed in Ramadi and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
I said there weren’t any SEALS killed in Desert Storm. FFS. I said that earlier in the comments.
2200 soldiers, 2200 tree limbs. It’s hard to keep them straight. And I see that he was a 2531/Field Radio Breaker. I have nightmares of the 2200 radios that I repaired over my career. The horror, oh the horror. And you have to be impressed that he was smart enough to rehydrate his dehydrated pork patty.
As a former Marine, I hear so many stories from posers and I simply walk away from those freaks.. As John said.. Desert Storm.. No Seals killed.. I was there myself.. NO HERO MIND YOU but I’m sure John is correct. I also want to say.. These responses have made my morning.. Good stuff!
Semper Fi
This statement from the Tree Prunerman: “I have been recalled to Korea next month.”
It took me a while to put 2 and 2 together and get 5 or 9 or something, but THIS is the reason that we and South Korea are being threatened by Li’l Kim and the Norks.
They don’t want him, either!!!!!
If he goes there, it will set off a major war that will end civilization as we know it, while two opposing forces engage in a bout of pushing Jackwagon the Tree Prunerman back and forth at each other.
It just might end in a nuclear detonation. I must stock the bomb shelter.
Uh, that wasn’t a TOW he was talking about … that was a Tomahawk … which according to his discussions the Navy is getting a raw deal since those things are supposed to go thousands of miles … not “56 miles” of range! Seriously how did this guy OR the reporter not even go to wikipedia? His stories don’t even make a lot of sense if you think about it: “I was making super long distance shots with my .40 cal, my buddy was cut in half with a .50 cal, so I charged them with my M16A2” – so wait, you were shooting them at like 10 miles and then decided to run a marathon in a hail of accurate gunfire to stab a guy with a bayonet? Or how about how he did survival training in Oregon – but most of the SERE schools are located in the south. I personally like the part where he wanted to kill himself on veterans day – probably because it reminded him of what he wasn’t.
I have nothing to add to this, just enjoyed reading all the comments about this retard, but @56, apparently a lot of people think desert storm/desert shield are the same as OIF lol. Maybe in about 20 more comments you will again have to clarify your point once again lol
I loved the part in this article where the guy claimed his father got a Purple Heart when he was knocked overboard from an aircraft carrier while at sea in the Pacific (by a soldier who was “buzzed on beer”, no less) and had 1/4 of his heel cut off by a propeller.
I’m serious. The article actually says that (see p. 4 in the linked PDF, about 2/3 of the way down the right-hand column).
[…] “This Ain’t Hell” blog has a post up with some good discussion of the article by people who read it before it was pulled, pointing out various bits of […]
#62, Hondo someone in response to that ridiculous claim laughed and said “Does this guy realize how big the propeller is? And he only got a 1/4 of his feel cut off? WTF”
lol I was laughing all the way through this article even at the final piece of the apologies where one writer said “XXXX sent a text message saying he was recalled to korea”
He is probably going to full on hardcore with these lies, actually leaves town in a trailer and comes back from hiding in the woods.
C2/2000AF: that must have been in comments elsewhere, so no – I didn’t see that. But you’re right; the article was filled with absolutely ludicrous BS nearly from the start. The Purple Heart BS was simply my favorite bogus claim.
Hondo – That was the one that was highlight of the story along with peoples comments. People did not take kindly to that Gargano guy, some calling for him to be fired even in the apologies.
Shocking is some people are saying the article was nicely written. I dont understand how they can say that in the first place. The story had zero percent background checks or credibility.
It reminded me of the crazy old lady out in Cape Cod who writing articles about veterans day and other military related things, making up sources for her articles for nearly 2 decades until someone finally raised some red flags about her credibility.
C2/2000AF: I’d have to agree that the article was “nicely written” – were it work of fantasy or fiction. The article’s author has decent writing skills.
As a news article based on fact? Um, not so much. When you blow the facts, the resulting news article just pretty much blows.
Well, the article IS nicely written.
It is literate enough to be enjoyable.
But to anyone who frequents this blog, has actually been in the military, goes hunting, or even simply spends time hiking the trails, it’s full of red flags that make it and its subject completely laughable.
The examples I quoted included a clear violation of state laws on deer hunting in any season and in almost any state: no license, five deer in one weekend, and taking five adult deer while bowhunting are all illegale. And they are also completely ridiculous.
The writing is acceptable — if you are writing fiction. If you aren’t, then doing due diligence and a little research on all subjects covered refutes everything that Boudreau said. I did it in about five minutes. McGrath and Gargano and could have easily done the same thing and saved themselves some embarrassment.
Not even sure why Mcgrath made an apology and quoted his own writer in it when Gargano is the one who really has some explaining to do. I think that made some people even angrier.
wow. just wow. what a fucktard.
“A friendly dad”.
Wow.
What a loser.
Now he kids have to pay the price for his BS.
Turd.
his
But they are NOT embarrassed, and still do not believe that writing this bit of fiction was a mistake! It was intentional. The truth of the claims was quite irrelevant to their purpose in getting the account published.
They may be angry that the lies were exposed and that they were forced to pretend to be contrite. Or not. They may just be angry that their usefulness has ended.
In any case, they advanced the agenda forward. Some percentage of the population believed them and did not hear anything about a retraction. Plus those who just do not care because this story fits their image of veterans.
Were I a wagering soul I would bet that the number of those accepting the crazy vet notion in spite of the inaccuracies outnumbers those who are turned off by this lying pile of baloney.
In other words – a win for the agenda of painting us all as nut cases.
You’re right, OWB. But just wait till things go sour again and they NEED people like us. It’ll happen.
Ok my entire company didnt bag that many in afghanistan in 7 months. Thats an entire COMPANY for 7 months in the most kinetic part of the Helmand province… Let alone just one person. And seriously dropped in oregon for training? I dont remember hearing of any survival training other than our Mountain Survival and that is in California… And theres NO hunting allowed in that area.
Whatever happened to this guy?
[…] John P. Boudreau, the 2200-kills sniper […]
A classic example of how fake veterans get away with it most of the time. There was a time when school kids could ID aircraft by their silhouettes on flash cards… in school.
Now, 90% of the country cannot tell the different between a chief petty officer and an Air Force PIO.
This is most telling when today’s reporters go right back to the “crazy, baby-killing veteran” false stereotype the left originated during Vietnam.
Like napalm, it stuck and will never go away.
That story is just too depressing. I am going to take my Glock 23 .40 cal. sniper rifle variant and hit some beer cans.
Dude saved my life on Klendathu when a bug was about to get me. It was a smart bug, too.
@80 LMAO. Another sip of coffee through the nose onto the keyboard!
I notice that the idiot newsies couldn’t even come up with an original title for their story.
Speaking of The War Within, I’m still waiting for that retraction and apology from CBS. Only 25 years and counting.
[…] 4) John “2,200 Kills” Boudreau […]
I don’t know if I am allowed to link a youtube video here, but this is from Action figure therapy and I think Boudreau watched this and now makes his claims based on this episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrK6ii6soFo
I didn’t read the story but did he happen to mention how much he charges to mow my yard and do the hedges.
[Removed by the guy who pays the bills]
Hey, everybody!!!! Looky here, looky here! It’s pickwickre peckerwood a/k/a Paul K Wickre the Wickre Mann in person, as I expected. I said there was one more day for him to erupt and spew all over TAH.
Damn! I’m good!!!!
Wicker, get a life, you dumb, stump-sucking, wart-ridden corpse plant. You’re using up air that real people need.
Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Wickre strikes again! Where’d be cut and paste that from? HEY PEE WEE PSUL, you DO know that Impersonating a Commissioned US Military Officer
is a Federal Offense, don’t you?
I just found the most accurate definition of Paul K. Wickre, (pronounced WEAK REE), anywhere:
A eunuch (/?ju?n?k/; Greek: ????????) is a man who (by the common definition of the term) may have been castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences. Less commonly, in translations of ancient texts, “eunuch” may refer to a man who is not castrated but who is impotent, celibate, or otherwise not inclined to marry and procreate. Most eunuchs who are castrated before puberty are asexual.
Sure fits that pathetic LOSER, proven LIAR, and drunken fool.
Wickre has screwed his own pooches this time, but good.
Another poser backer come lately.
Turd.
@86 – Up yours, Sockpuppet. Jerk-off. Douche-nozzle…
Bed-wetter