Stolen Valor – Ukraine
I am sure most of our regular readers knew this was coming. Claims like “There I was knee deep in spent brass and grenade pins fending off those pesky RooSkees” from Valor Vultures on the Global front were inevitable.
A U.S. veteran who drew significant media attention for saying he had volunteered alongside international forces in Ukraine has been accused of misrepresenting himself.
James Vasquez, a former U.S. soldier who routinely uploaded wartime footage to his hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, shared videos appearing to show him facing off against Russian forces in Ukraine. Newsweek was among media that had published articles citing Vasquez’s tweets.
On Wednesday, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, an American journalist who enlisted to fight in Ukraine’s armed forces, disputed Vasquez’s accounts of combat in the war-torn country. Newsweek has reached out to Vasquez for comment via LinkedIn message.
Writing on Twitter, she said Vasquez “is not and has not been” in Ukraine’s armed forces. She provided a link to Vasquez’s Twitter account—where he had previously posted war-related content—which has been deleted as of Thursday morning.
In a series of posts, Ashton-Cirillo said she had “stayed out of it while other soldiers, real soldiers, called him out” to avoid “controversy.” She said she had met Vasquez three times, during each of which he was a “civilian.”
“It was shocking to see him say he was going on a mission to Soledar after we already left,” she wrote. Soledar, a town in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, was the site of heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces earlier this year before Kyiv’s fighters pulled back to preserve the lives of its personnel, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said at the time.
In a separate post, also uploaded on Wednesday, Ashton-Cirillo said she had privately communicated with Vasquez, and that he “confirmed to me in writing that he does not and has not had a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
The Interwebnet Thingy is covered up with claims of fraud and abuse of funds etc concerning Vasquez. The guy really was in Ukraine and really did visit the front lines from time to time. Seems like he did raise some money for the cause.
But, to me he is just like the fake Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, Marine, Air Force PJ etc. that have embellished their career beyond recognition. In the end it helps nobody. I get told by people defending frauds that are VFW/AL Post Commanders, “You have no idea how much good he has done for veterans.” Like that is some kind of valid excuse.
James Vasquez will end up doing more harm with is embellishments and fraudulent actions than he ever could have done good. Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger seems to have been one of his biggest Fan-Boys so we can expect the usual political vultures to weaponize it their advantage… as if there is one.
I hereby nominate James Vasquez as the first Official Valor Vulture of Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini
Category: Ukraine, Valor Vultures
Ah, they should have let him run with it. The Russians are all over social media and bad Intel for them is good Intel for the other side. Unless they had him pegged as a fraud already.
But…. Can James Vasquez cook chili?
Nevada desert oasis highway town
POW*MIA chapter
seeks volunteers.
Includes:
Free VFW post membership, pre-approved.
Free American Legion Riders large back patch for vest.
BYOH-D.
He probably cooks chili at All-Points Logistics.
Maybe The False Commander “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) will loan him out.
Green Thumb,
Both of them can take a vacay to sunny Arizony,
and participate in the upcoming dedication ceremony
of the
LTC Maggie DeSanti Vietnam War Combat Nurse
table display
at American Legion Post 138 in Tempe.
I am sure they will be flying in on the All-Points Logistics private jet.
Phildo would not miss this for the world.
Green Thumb,
He/they could find the exact spot,
and recreate the (in)famous push-ups.
ABC YouTube – Still up.
172k views. 419 comments.
Isn’t this her, too?
There I was… I got this here thingy below with a silver oak leaf cluster. Remember the Maine!
That’s actually a badass medal.
We know where and how you can get one.
I prefer a Star Fleet Good Cookie. Red shirts should get one for every episode they survive.
You couldn’t catch them actually doing it though.
I’ve been waiting for the valor vultures from this conflict. Seems like it would be easy to watch some videos, get some info, and make a fake persona. Given little to no accountability because of the war and nobody can refute it. Except real veterans.
Or splice yourself in between videos from Twitter/TikTok that show the real action.
Actually surprised it took this long for the vultures to circle Ukraine.
Slackers.
I know, all one needs is a Maynard G. Krebs sweatshirt
and a Bronson watch cap.
RIP Bob Denver, Michael Parks and Dwane Hickman
Frank Faylen….Dobbies dad had a long acting career
as all sorts of characters. Point is, these guys could
pretend to be anybody they wanted and make a living at it.
An honest living.
But the valor vultures want to make good on the backs of others. Literally stepping on the backs of others.
Then Came Bronson, Dreams in the Wind!
The grift is strong here in CT. Local orgs are doing ‘charity’ events ‘to’ collect ‘support’ ‘for’ the ‘people’ of Ukraine. It’s strange that most of the requested donations are in the form of cash… truly odd.
I wonder if they’ve heard the dotgov has been picking up the expenses in that AO?
As much as I’d like not to admit, the gov clownshow probably has less overhead costs and may actually get the currency units in the vicinity of the former-SSR.
I’m waiting for Vasquez to expose his real-self and hope he takes others with.
Now that the IRS is auditing cash apps they have had to go back to the old stand by.
Does he claim to be a Russian Shovel Ninja as well? Just wondering if he’s trying to go full Giduck!
[…] recently wrote about James Vasquez, but the New York Times just featured a story about Vasquez and others – painting a picture […]