Colonel John Joseph Gaynor; WWII embellisher
Our buddy, Doug Sterner, sent along this information the other night about John Joseph Gaynor in the above picture from 2011. Here’s his auto-bio;
Born in Brooklyn, NYC and graduated from High School in June, 1042. Enlisted in the Army that August and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for Infantry basic. Upon completion of basic, I volunteered for airborne school. Took jump training at Ft. Benning, Ga. Upon graduating, I received orders assigning me to “F” company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and 82nd Airborne Div. at Ft. Bragg, NC. Was sent to North Africa in May 1943 where I trained for combat jump into Sicily. Upon completing our mission we made a jump into Italy. When that was over we sailed to England. Later I jumped into Ste Mere Eglise on June 6th, 1944 as a pathfinder. Then I made a drop into Holland on Sept. 17, 1944. During the fight in Belgium I was commissioned a 2nd Lt. Platoon leader. Later I was promoted to 1st Lt. Division returned to USA in January 1945. I went to Korea in 1950 as a Captain, Company Commander and when I returned to USA was promoted to major and assigned as Prof. of Military Science, Peekskill Academy in upper New York in 1957. I was promoted to Lt. Col. 1961 while in Melbourne, FL and in 1965 I returned to Ft. Bragg as exec to 2nd Bn. 505 PIR. Was promoted to Colonel as regimental commander of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the same outfit I started with as a buck private. I retired in September 1972. Since I had my Juris Doctor Degree, I entered law practice in Palm Beach, FL as a tax attorney. I moved to Palm Bay in November 2006. I have been a Charter Member of the 82nd Airborne Div. Assoc. since May 1944 having joined in England. Recently I was awarded the French Legion of Honor w/Degree of Chevalier to go along with a Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star (v), Purple Heart (2x), French Croix De Guerre avee Palm, 4 battle stars, various Korean and European medals and Presidential citation among others.
But Army records tell a very different story;
According to the FOIA, he joined the Army, not in 1942, but 1943. And it looks like he stayed in the Reserves and never deployed to Korea and left the service as a 1LT, no jump wings. According to his assignments, he wasn’t assigned to the 82d (325th Glider Infantry) until November 1945, six months after the war, three years before the glider infantry units were disbanded and reconstituted as parachute regiments.
So what’s he wearing in that picture?
The ribbon between the ArCom and the GCM looks like a POW Medal. The ribbon directly below the ArCom is the American Service Medal issued for service September 8, 1939 and December 7, 1941 – he didn’t enlist until 1943. The ribbon directly below that one is the World War II Victory Medal for service between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946. Next to the American Service medal is the American Campaign Medal for service during WWII in the “American Theater of Operations” (currently known as CONUS plus Alaska). Next to that is the European-Africa Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. The last row are medals from the Korean War and, apparently, he didn’t serve in the Korean War.
The oval behind the jump wings is from the 507th PIR, he never served in that unit which was attached to the 82d through Normandy and then the 17th Airborne Division for their jump into Southern France. He’s wearing the 505th’s unit crest another unit with which he never served. Yeah, I know, no one wears two French Fourragère or on the right shoulder.
He has been asked to produce proof that he earned the Distinguished Service Medal Cross, he has produced only excuses thus far. There’s also no proof for the Bronze Star Medal for Valor or the Purple Heart.
Here’s the picture from which I cropped the medals;
Category: Phony soldiers
“Born in Brooklyn, NYC and graduated from High School in June, 1042.”
Wow he’s really, really, old! 😉
this guy takes the cake.` Mr. Gaynor you are a sad, sad man. Quit living the lie and come clean.
What the hell? He had an honorable career. Why did he have to ruin it with the bull crap
“Oh, there you go again.” — Ronald Reagan
I know this will be a shocker, but he was never the commander of the 505th PIR….. That confirmed by a comparison of the completer list of 505th Regimental Commanders on the 505th PIR Association page.
http://www.505thpantherassoc.com/past-commanders-505th-pir-82nd-airborne-division/
WOW this guy is way cool! surprised he isn’t Delta and beyond
Well I heard his Purple Heart was legit. See his commander told him to tell folks he got the Purple Heart in normal WW2 ops. But he really earned it doing covert ops breaking up pasta smuggling operation in the Alps. He is waiting for his real records which should be at Ft Banning or a hospital on Bologna.
Another turd burglar. They just keep crawking out from under every trash can, just like cockroaches!!
what was a perfectly acceptable term of military service shit on by someone that felt what he actually did wasn’t enough. hell, he earned a CIB in Africa. that alone seems to be far rarer than CIBs for the Pacific or Europe.
I miss read the FOIA ad thought his award was for Africa but the award covered all of Africa and Europe and the Mid East. Mea Culpa
4 people,,count them 4 mustard stains on them jump wings! Most posers just stick with one or 2,, but this cat! 4!!
Where do these “effing” people come from?
No matter his age he should be publicly shamed for the numerous thefts of valor committed over the last 60 plus years.
Up until a few months ago, I thought this was just an oddity. Never had heard of a WWII or Korean War vet tryng to grab glory, until now.
One of these days, I will run into one of these blowhards and tell them “Shut up, will you? You’re embarrassing your grandchildren.”
Seriously, I’m getting suspicious of anyone who claims any kind of service, including me. Wait until Hallowe’en comes. Just you wait. You’ll see.
Looks like it’s time to get my unit patch sewn on my AG shirt. Reference AR 670-1 🙂
I think WWII embellishers were all caught ahead of their lies or nobody just didnt care enough in previous times. With the Worldwide web and so on, most of these embellishers who are you still pushing out their fake resumes of wartime service are caught going to some parade or convention bragging about accomplishments that are just too unrealistic.
When they come out to brag, they are gonna get dragged.
@13 There have been a number of cases of SV among WWII Vets. There is one living in France who has built a life around his fantasy of having jumped into Normandy with the 82d…. thing is, he came ashore a day after with another Unit altogether but he has not let that stop his story telling.
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-23637.html
Well if his WWII CIB is legit he is entitled to a BSM per AR 600-8-22 para 3-14 d. (2)
That doesn’t justify any of the rest of his nonsense, and he wouldn’t be entitled to a device for valor, but it is one area where his records are deficient.
And it really is sad as hell that a WWII infantry vet feels the need to embellish.
@17, he may be entitled a BSM based on the regs, but that is not a BSM w/V that he is claiming and wearing.
rb325th-I did say that in my second paragraph. I’m not making excuses for him, but the change to the reg wasn’t made until 1947 and a lot of WWII vets don’t know that they are entitled to that award since they were discharged before then (my own grandfather didn’t know for instance).
Sorta makes me glad I only policed cig buttts, washed cars, mowed and trimmed HQ lawn besides my other duties of sweep, mop and wax the barracks floor. Did I say I saluted officers too? This guy really screwed the pooch…..damn!
Missed that. My bad. Guy just ticks me off, he did so much why pretend to be something else? I will never understand it.
The guy is a wrinkled up nutsack, dingleberry covered (1) each. Freaking sad that even the “greatest generation” has such ass hats in it. But, people are people, Im betting that if you hit up a Tavern in NY in 1799 all the guys claiming to be in the same boat as Washington when he crossed the Delaware would have swamped a Frigate.
#20 – the important difference – you served with honor and didn’t embellish, nor did you steal the valor of your comrades in arms.
I’d choose you over tinker bell in the picture above to back me up……anytime!
What a dickbutt!
Greatest generation my ass.
Irritates the crap out of me. My Granddad had three kids, but volunteered for WWII as a Navy SeaBee. I asked him what he did in the war and he told me he drove a garbage truck on Okinowa. Then, i find out that’s what he did AFTER the battle, where he carried a frickin’ BAR ashore. I found out from my great-uncle.
Then, this douchebag shows up.
1LT to COL.
Nice.
Just skipped CPT, MAJ and LTC.
Just Nice.
“Since I had my Juris Doctor Degree, I entered law practice in Palm Beach, FL as a tax attorney.”
Even better.
I just don’t understand why someone who had a perfectly honorable period of service has to embellish it with lies. And to me, the embellishers are far worse than the turds who have never served a day. This guy served, and in very interesting times, so should have a far greater understanding of the value and cost of the honor he is stealing.
The father of a friend of mine passed away last year at the age of 80 something. He either joined or was drafted into WW2 (my friend didn’t know) and worked his way up to E7 and fought across France and Germany. CIB, purple heart, silver star, couple rows of ribbons. The thing is he came home after the war, put his uniform in the attic and that was the end of it. My friend was rummaging around in the attic at one point when he was a kid and came downstairs with the Silver Star, curious as to what it meant. His dad told him to put it back and forget about it. And that is the difference between the real soldiers and the posers.
If you were awarded a CIB in WW2 it can be converted to a Bronze Star.
@30 In this guys case he didn’t earn a CIB, so whatever he did can be converted into a kick in the nuts
DmFuck him and the plane he rode in on…not jumped out of. Fucking leg poser wannabe.
@ Old Dog, he did earn the CIB. It is in his records.
My great grandfather’s brother fought at Shiloh. He sent home this long letter after the first day, describing everything in great detail. I found a copy of that letter published in a local newspaper thirty years later, in a box with a lot of other stuff. Then I found his description of what happened there. It was three rather short paragraphs, the shortest of descriptions.
My mother also said he drank a lot and never talked about any of it to her.
Please tell me if I am wrong here, but since when do you sew on and press a unit patch on your Class C shirt?
Maybe he has dementia.
Why … just why. If I (or most of the people I know) met him, and learned his REAL story, I’d have had all the respect in the world for him and his service.
So apparently he was awarded the French Legion of Honor. My question is, Whas that awarded because of his stories? And if so does it constitute a violation of the new Stolen Valor Act in congress as a kind of material gain?
I think I found the root of the problem with this fellow.The following is from his personal recollection, published in The Bronx Board in 2004 or 2005: “Soon after, my mother and I moved back to Brooklyn for two months to be near my grandmother, but then we returned to 225 Mosholu Parkway on the first floor. My mother was not too happy there because of memories, so she found a place on Marion Avenue. I was not aware of it until I came home from school one day and found our apartment empty. I ran to the policeman on the corner next to the school. He called a patrol car. They put me in it and we drove around to places my mother and I had looked at. Fortunately, we found her. I guess she had told me about the move, but I was only seven and had probably forgotten.” As for his WW II service, he says this, in the same piece: “I graduated from DeWitt Clinton in 1942. The war was on and many of us knew we would have to go. I enlisted in the Army on August 10, 1942. I was sent to Fort Dix reception center and then shipped to Camp Blanding, Florida for Infantry training. I volunteered for parachute school because they gave you an additional $25.00 for hazardous duty pay. I was sent to Fort Benning jump school and upon graduation assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. I went overseas with them and participated in airborne operations against the Germans all through WWII. Curiously, our doctor, who lived in our building, wound up with the 101st Airborne Division. In December of 1945 I returned from the war to my beloved Bronx. My childhood sweetheart and I were married on April 13, 1947 at St. Simon Stock Church. Being a reserve officer and being in the National Guard, we had our reception at the Kingsbridge Armory on Kingsbridge Road on Jerome Avenue. Across the street from the armory was Regan’s bar. A watering hole for us for… Read more »
Ex-PH2:
When I was a boy, I visited the Shiloh Battlefield.
It’s a very impressive place to see.
68W58: he rates the BSM based on his World War II CIB. However, that’s not automatic. He has to apply to have the CIB converted to get the BSM entered into his records.
Based on the unauthorized stuff he’s wearing (including a DSC, POW medal, BSM w/V, and PH), I’m guessing he thinks he’s above such petty formalities as wearing only authorized decorations.
My father was a career soldier who served in Europe during the Second World War, followed by service in Korea during that war.
But, he never talked about what he saw or did, and to this day, with him now deceased, I still don’t know.
He taught me that real heroes DON’T brag or tell war stories, because most of them just want to forget what happened.
He told me that, for him, the Army was only a paycheck, just a means for providing for his family.
When he was buried, at his request, there were NO military rites.
He never told me why he didn’t want military rites.
However, the family did put a flag on his casket, so that it could be sent to me, and it, along with his medals, is now in a display case mounted on the wall of my room.
Here are URLs for photographs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/writesong/8360675260/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/writesong/687111684/sizes/o/in/set-72157600591050552/
My nephew was with 2 Panther. My “buddy” who passed away in 2000, jumped into Sicily, missed the Salerno jump, made Normandy jump and finally was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. This shit drives me nuts. May these phonies ALL burn in hell. It seems to get personal with me; knowing guys who really did serve in these units and did the deeds.
Ah, MAJ Douchebag– he’s certainly earned that honorary rank now.
Beretverde: I know what you mean. One of my uncles was with the 504th – in North Africa, Italy, and France. He’s been in Arlington for 20+ years.
This guy has been watching Band of Brothers too much.
Come on now, you know that his purported records are just a cover for his REAL secret squirrel career as one of the originally-assigned “Inglorious Basterds”, and that he went from 1LT to COL and secretly got the DSC for personally killing Adolph Hitler AND Josef Goebbels in that daring raid we all saw in that Tarantino documentary…
It’s personal for all of us, but particularly personal for those of us who had close relatives who served in some of the places these clowns claim to have been but were not.
My own father was career Army and served in both WWII and Korea. Never claimed infantry or doing any hero stuff. But he did what he was trained to do and was proud of his service. Quietly.
He did share some harrowing details with me after I returned from Desert Storm. Seems he did have the occasion to shoot down an enemy aircraft in Korea and took some anti-aircraft fire in Europe while flying somewhere in an L-5 and again when hitching a ride on a B-25. Not like living in the trenches, but taking enemy fire in any form is something which most Americans will (with gratitude) never know.
This kind of embellishment? No reason for it and it is utterly disgusting. There must a PhD thesis in there somewhere.
In Re # 42:
Although my father requested there be no military rites at his burial, there was one final honor that nobody expected.
A C-130, on final approach to Pope Air Force Base, seeing the flag-draped casket below, wagged it’s wings in salute.
@11: CSM Plumley had 5 mustard stains on his jump wings. All legit.