Jose Rolon; phony SEAL

Last week, the Citrus County Chronicle wrote about Jose Rolon, who told them that he was a Navy SEAL until 1994 when he left the Navy with two Purple Hearts and ended up homeless.

Jose Rolon doesn’t consider himself a victim and doesn’t want pity.

A disabled, blind Navy Seal veteran with two Purple Hearts, he has a passion to see that veterans get better treatment, from the VA to local help agencies in communities across the nation.

He credits organizations like Nature Coast Ministries for stepping in when other places had turned him away.

Recently, the Citrus County-based Nature Coast Ministries filled Rolon’s new apartment in Hernando County with furniture after learning he was sleeping on the floor.

Well, this week after a conversation with Don Shipley, the Chronicle had to walk their story back, because Jose isn’t a SEAL;

Shipley, who lives in Cambridge, Maryland, called the Chronicle early Tuesday morning, Aug. 29, when he read a story on Page A3 of the Chronicle about Jose Rolon, who said he is a former Navy SEAL.

Citrus County-based Nature Coast Ministries had learned about [Rolon], that he was blind and living in an apartment in Brooksville without furniture, so the nonprofit ministry gave Rolon furniture.

As Shipley explained, whenever a story is published containing keywords such as “former Navy SEAL,” “ex-Navy SEAL,” “retired Navy SEAL,” he and others get a Google alert.

“It’s not an epidemic, it’s a pandemic,” Shipley said. “I verify dozens of these guys a day. All I need is a name and a close enough age and run it through the SEAL database. Out of 100, 99 are fakes.”

We’re waiting for his FOIA, but odds are that he lied about the Purple Heart, too. Yeah, I’m sick of the phony SEALs, too.

The Nature Coast Ministries say that the would have helped Rolon no matter what his service status is, so it makes me wonder what his motivation to lie was.

Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures