Mike Shane Baker; Green Beret not so much
JD at Professional Soldiers sent us the documentation he got on one Michael Shane Baker, who claimed to be a retired Sergeant First Class who had been wounded four times during his four tours in the Global War On Terror with (who else) Special Forces, that got him a free motorcycle from some well-meaning Vietnam veterans;
It’s all true, well, if ten years means eight six years, wounded four times is the same as never being wounded, if four tours in the war means one tour, and if by Special Forces he means Military Police. And if a sergeant first class is pay grade E-4;
According to the newspaper article, which isn’t on line, Baker was the only member of his team to “come out” alive. I guess, given the rest of the story, that means they all made it out alive, which is good news. Another perfectly good career ruined by manufacturing lies. By the way, he’s in Breckenridge County, KY and the whole county pitched in to build his motorcycle. I think he owes them an apology and he needs to give up the bike so they can give it to real wounded veteran instead.
Category: Phony soldiers
8 years and he was an E-4 MP? Something tells me he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer.
Why are none of these posers 88Ms?
swing-and-a-miss! complete tool!
I’m only seeing 6 years 7 days active service.
What a fraud.
@4: Me, also. Still, I think there is something there as to why he was an E-4 after 6 years. Maybe not, but it just seems rather odd, especially since he served in both Afghanistan and Germany.
“IF” — the longest two-letter word in The AMERICAN Language .
Attention !! — My advice to myself (I wrote No. 7) .
DR_BRETT
Also not the lack of a GCM.
Sporkmaster, ya beat me to it! Six years and no Good Conduct Medal? Wounded four times and no Purple Heart? Only one to “come out” alive and no “V” on anything? Hmmm…
Vietnam veterans, still being screwed after all these years.
Something tells me that he and that bike might end up “missing” soon.
Sad…taking advantage of VietNam vets….way to treat his older brothers …. this lamer really is a special piece.
Sitting at my cardiologists office….now when they call me in my blood pressure is gonna be sky high….what a douche…
What pisses me off when I was going to school full time and my wife was working full time our son was an infant and we were just squeaking by and somehow asshats like this are getting free motorcycles? For real?
NHSparky: dunno. Someone might decide to embed a portion of the bike permanently in his corpus instead. I’ll leave it to the imagination as to what part of the bike and where it might be embedded. (smile)
@Hondo – I vote up the urethra! For extra pain.
I really hope that they pass the new Stolen Valor bill that will prosocute people that get monotary gain from thier claimes.
@15 – He has a free motorcycle, you have honor, integrity and your good name. When your circumstances improve you can always buy a motorcycle.
Maybe someone should let those bikers know they have been duped.
I would not want to be looking over my shoulder.
Nikki: I was personally thinking a different location. But that one works, too. (smile)
#15 right there brother. I wonder how many got free houses from the house charity that the name escapes me at the moment.
#19 that is probably the healthiest response but dang its so hard not to want to pistol whip this guy.
Well, other than the time in service, number of deployments, MOS and unit assigned, rank, and not being wounded, it’s all true. You would think they would learn after the Poe fiasco. How about a new reality show, America’s Got Posers?
He served for six years active duty with a combat tour and of that, he spent six whole months as a Specialist. If that doesn’t scream “I’m awesome, trust everything I say” I don’t know what does!
Guys, The Federal stolen valor act may have been shot down, but last I check something akin to theft by deception and/or fraud are still alive and well. You should send the relevent information you have collected to:
Hon. David M. Williams
Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 46th Judicial Circuit – (Breckinridge, Grayson, Meade)
125 East White Oak Street
Leitchfield, KY 42754
Ph: (270) 287-0034
Fax: (270) 287-0228
Also, you may want to send that same information to the VFW post in the area since I see those letters in the above clip.
No. 11:
Thanks for mentioning us old Vietnam War Veterans .
No. 23: — “How about a new reality show, America’s Got Posers?” —
There are, already, plenty of STUPID, DUMB CRIMINAL Shows —
You have a TERRIFIC IDEA !!
@ 17 Nikki, don’t even say that in jest! While getting my EMT-P, I had to do clinicals in a few ERs. One night they brought in a guy that had been gut shot with a .38. When we inserted the catheter, the guy lifted his head and moaned! He was laying with a bullet in his gang banger ass and the catheter hurt more?!
Do we have a link to the newspaper article by chance?, I checked at PS but did not see one there either.
Jeezus, and another one.
Claims taken at face value, innocent and well meaning people duped.
Sound familiar?
This nightmare will never end…
Sent the link to this post to some friends in Kentucky. Yeah, they may own motocycles. Yeah, they may be Viet Nam vets.
I don’t have a clue where this county is, but they will. 😉
@31 Right on!
A quote from the Professional Soldiers thread:
“Someone already “attempted” to contact the local VFW and they would not listen.”
Now why the h-e-double-l would the VFW put their collective heads in the sand like that?
It’s like you can e-mail and warn every veterans organizations and veteran support groups out there about properly vetting people, and they still get duped.
What is it, they don’t care, or is it ‘human nature’ to automatically trust veteran claims, as it is “bad manners” to question veterans?
no shit, I need a new bike…I’ll go down the local VFW (which I’m a life member thanks to a good friend) and tell them I was injured with a dull spoon whilst repairing mess kits in Bosnia and Iraq.
This sucks.
@ 36 SFC, THIS doesn’t suck, HE sucks. Non-veteran posers are just plain ignorant and it shows in their “uniforms”. Veterans who ’embellish’ their honorable service are way worse. They disgrace their branch and the uniform. This asshat is the worst. A six year “non-rate”, non-NCO, says volumes of what type of POS he is. This is all on him however I do hope Jonn or one of the other Administrators will contact the Commonwealth’s Attorney so they can ream this SOB.
A former MP claiming SF? Fuck him.
Sent an email to Sheriff Pates. He’s the County Sheriff for Breckenridge Co Ky. At the very least what Mr. Baker did constitutes fraud if not felony theft of service. Also contacted the organizers of the biker rally and forwarded them this information as well. I have a feeling Mr. Baker’s life is about to take a turn for the worse.
Now why the h-e-double-l would the VFW put their collective heads in the sand like that?
Part of it is also the embarassment of having to admit you got played like that. Then again, when I joined the VFW they went over my DD-214 with a fine tooth comb, and I gave them permission to pull an FOIA (don’t know if they did) but there are posts out there who simply don’t give a shit.
Sending this to the MP Association…piece of f’ng garbage.
One thing I’ve learned after hanging around here a while, and perhaps the greatest of many which keep me coming back here, is that I am not the only one who reacts much less favorably to an actual vet who claims more than he or she earned than to a civilian making similar claims. At least with a simple wannabe, there is a small element of flattery for aspiring to be what we (or some of us) are/were. Those who dishonor their own honorable service by claiming that which they have not earned bring a whole lot of questions with those claims.
Anyone who has made it through even part of basic training in any of the services knows better than to make false claims. I always wonder at what point did this individual decide to dishonor the uniform by making flase claims? Did his/her bravado endanger any missions while serving? Cause any deaths or injuries?
And a myriad of other questions.
Chick Ridge Bike Rally was in Hardinsburg, KY.
Web page for it has a contact for:
“Tommy” 270-617-0508
Local newspaper is the Breckenridge County Herald News: 270-756-2109.
The day someone claims to be have been a 92G cook in Afghanistan, whipping up 1500 meals at a time while mortars and bullets whizzed all around him, and not one piece of steak was burnt, is the day I buy everyone here a round of beers.
sent to a couple of Veteran MC’s in KY. This guy will be hunted down.
I am one of the Viet Nam Vets that built this Trike for Mike Baker…I need verification about Baker’s past..as you all know a dd214 is issued after each enlistment..I spent 20 years in the ARMY, and have at least 6..right now I’m truely sadened that this could go so far…I guess the screwing us Viet Nam vets received upon returning to the country we were defending will continue till we are all gone….any help will be appreciated.
Gabby, there’s a FOIA at Professional Soldiers which includes his total active duty service.
@29 Brewins, There is a newspaper article posted on the first post at professionalsoldiers.com, read it closely and you’ll see it says that Mike Baker served four tours of duty as a “weapons specialist” with the 10th Special Forces Group, was wounded 4x, served in both OIF and OEF”. It goes onto say “Baker was the only one on his team to make it home alive”. What his records are missing are 4x Purple Hearts, Special Forces Tab, Special Forces Assignments, 3x additional tours, an OIF assignment, and Sergeant First Class.
@ #46 Gabby: In addition to the federal prosecutor’s contact information posted by Susan above, in case you do not already know all the county folks there in Breckinridge County, they are here: http://www.breckinridgecountyky.com/index.php?page=government
You might want to check in with the Sheriff for guidance on how to proceed? As far as most of us are concerned, y’all were defrauded and this clown should be behind bars.
Then again, not sure I would appreciate outsiders coming in to my community telling us what we should do with a local criminal. You guys DO need to know that Baker has ticked off a BUNCH of vets across the country, and we are all standing with you guys there in Breckinridge County.
I was curious as to what led to him being busted out??? Hopefully it was a face to face confrontation. And please tell me that he gave that bike back or that someone forcibally took it back
Son of a BITCH!!! What a grade A MFr. The article on ps.org http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38784 is hard to read, but you all need to read it. The list of people and organizations that contributed is staggering, the vo tech kids for God’s sake. FTA: “the work the kids at the vocational school did pulled it all together.” They even made a book containing step by pictures of the process. Fucking Rage. This’ll be next:
“Mister, could you contribute to the wounded warrior program?” “No. I don’t wanna get fucked over again.”
“No