Michael Lewis; phony Gulf War vet

| August 16, 2013

Someone sent us a New York Daily News article about Michael Lewis who claims to be a Gulf War veteran who was exposed to deadly chemicals during that deployment which should support his pot habit.

A Gulf War veteran and his wife claim San Diego County senselessly cracked down on his use of medical marijuana by taking their two young children for one year.

“As a result, they (the children) were deprived of regular, open, and free contact and companionship of family and friends, including their parents,” the couple states in a complaint against the county.

Michael Lewis says he was exposed to chemical weapons during the war that left him with incapacitating migraines, so he sought a medical marijuana prescription to alleviate the pain — never thinking it would cost him his kids.

Lewis and his wife Lauren Taylor are suing San Diego County, seven of its officers, the City of Coronado and two of its officers for civil rights violations, battery, false imprisonment and negligence, the Courthouse News Service reports.

But the actual Gulf War ended six months before he joined the Navy;

Michael lewis FOIA

No deployment awards, a shortened term in the Navy. Case closed.

Sorry to break up SEAL Week, but it’s still Navy Week, right?

Category: Phony soldiers

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FormerMM2

I was in RM02 – I was an MM3 then on the ship. I’m a chick, so that really limits the field to maybe about three people. I hope no one remembers me – I was young and crazy…drank too damn much

NHSparky

I think we all did things to excess from time to time…(smile)

On my first boat, between my first and second Westpacs I stayed up in the hill barracks, quaintly known as “Animal House.” This was back in the late 80’s when Aloha Fridays were still allowed, and the Mini-Mart was on the way between the piers and the BEQ’s.

We didn’t measure how much we drank in beers, it was more like cases or bottles. Then again, we had to make up for lost time when we were at sea for almost 300 days my first year on the boat.

FormerMM2

We were 100% bad. There were some insane parties. I’m told that I got in a tequila drinking contest at one…I don’t remember this at all. Glad I don’t! Hope there aren’t any photos of that era floating out there. Dear god.

FormerMM2

Don’t remember how this happened either………I vaguely remember waking up in some random person’s yard, missing my shoes. Okay, I’ll stop. It was kinda cold walking down Hampton Blvd. without shoes. Somewhere in between all this crazy stuff, I did nuclear stuff at some point.

B Woodman

The article said, “never thinking”. He/they got at least THAT part correct.

teddy996

@51- I was in RE-22, and stood 2 plant CGW for the ’00 deployment ORSE team. I’ve a good idea who you are.

As far as the rest, don’t sweat it. I’ll flat out admit that I was a terrible sailor, and a generally bad person back then. In fact, I was the one who stenciled that gigantic 8’x5′ FTN across the top of #3 CTG that you guys probably got hammered for (Sorry for that, BTW), I was the one who stole the brand new, stencil-not-dry-yet pressure washer (because RE needed it more, you see), and I even sat there at the UL sample sink on watch while your work center was chewed out for it going missing. And in a particularly strong stroke of douchebaggery, I once poured a beer over a girl’s head during a drunken port call in the gulf.

FormerMM2

Yeah, dude, that was me! Shit happens, I wasn’t upset. I was drunk as hell myself. Am I tripping or was that Med cruise nightmarish? We had really bad upper leadership, especially in RM2, at the time.

NHSparky

Awwwwww…see? TAH, bringing people together.

Brings a tear to my eye, it does.

Hondo

Sh!t, at least you squids got beer in the Gulf (I’m assuming you’re talking Persian Gulf when you say “gulf” above) at port calls.

Only one place beer was authorized for us Army types deployed to SWA – in Qatar at Camp Ali Al Salem (R&R or while TDY to that installation). And there was a 3-per-night limit.

Something called “CENTCOM GO #1”. But I understand it was waived for Super Bowl Sunday in Iraq – the year after I left . . . .

teddy996

@57- Nailed it. I still think of that incident now and then, and I always have wished I could go back in time and punch my younger self in the face right before I did it. No matter how drunk I was, it was such a douche move on my part.

Speaking of bad leadership, do you remember that fat fuck standing to my right who was daring me to do that? Yeah… that was my division officer. What a fat twat that guy was.

Yes, you are right in saying that cruise sucked shit. The RE-2 plant LPO and our division LPO got into a fistfight in the RE office over a policy disagreement, and somehow my division LPO still earned a NAM for “keeping morale high during the cruise”. Things were THAT fucked in RE.

But that shit went to the top, for sure. Cain was a dipshit.

Nik

Hope there aren’t any photos of that era floating out there.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve thought that after a crazy ass party, I could bail out Detroit.

Then I grew up. I’m not quite that bad anymore.

Combat Historian

#59: While deployed at Camp Victory, Iraq, I remembered the Marines assigned there got two beers on the night of 10 November, which just happened to be a certain birthday. To weed out folks from other services trying to get a beer, the Marines had to show ID and get a ticket script for the beers while standing in line…

teddy996

@59- Hondo, it was “beer on the pier” for the gulf ports (once in Jebel-Ali, and once in Bahrain). Meaning that yes, we could leave the ship, but once we did we were fenced in and unable to leave the pier (we could travel anywhere on base at Bahrain, but the base wasn’t fully built yet. There were 4 buildings, all with no AC, all of them closed at 2100). Allowing us to buy beer from golf course-style beer carts was a self-preservation mechanism from the folks on land. 5,000 sober sailors tossed in a cage is more than enough to cause an international incident.

FormerMM2

Our division officer was so bad it was laughable. I won’t go into massive detail, but the “cherry on top” of his reign of terror was when he put a male colleague on dink hours during the exact time he was banging the guy’s female (MM3) roommate at their residence. It was “secret”…until now. Don’t know if you knew about that story. I really was disheartened by the awfulness of the leadership during my time in the Navy because the Navy deserves better. That was one of my reasons for not making it a career. There was a lot more that happened, but I’ll take the high road on that.

I guess we got the last laugh. I stumbled upon the old DIVO on Facebook (he was friends with a buddy of mine)…it looks like he must have eaten the chick he was banging.

George
68W58

Hondo-As Saliyah in Qatar, Ali Al Salem is the air base in Kuwait.

Anonymous

Dude, one more time, you can’t have flashbacks to wars you weren’t in…

Jerkwad Who Posted Earlier as "Not Smitty"
Hondo

68W58 – correct; my error. Been about 5 years since I was at either.

I didn’t find all that much to write home about at either. Thankfully I was only at both briefly a few times (TDY or awaiting transport).

Valkyrie

Hondo- Is it any wonder that an article you wrote brought me here causing me to move in? You’ve got tact! The ability to tell someone to eat shit and they’ll thank you and ask for seconds. Are you also southern like me or just sassy?

(I know sassy isn’t a “manly” word, but I couldn’t think of a different one. That had the same meaning I wanted)

Hondo

Valkyrie: thanks. I think the accepted term for males is “sardonic smartass”. (smile)

To answer your question: yes. Born and raised in the Deep South. Tried to keep the good and leave behind the idiocy that was still present while I was growing up.

Never could acquire a taste for sour mash bourbon, though.

teddy996

@64- wow, you win. We had a senior chief that was *awfully* close to a female EM3 in RE, and an EM1 who was using his authority as RT staff to hit on incoming females (whom I caught back in the aft diesel space a few times, “showing” a female student “around” the back of the switchboard), but I remember nothing in my division as severe as the bullshit you saw in yours. I can’t fit your DIVO’s name to his face at this moment, but I’m sure it will come to me eventually.

Anyway, welcome to TAH. There was another from our era here a while back, went by “squid thoughts”, but I haven’t seen her around in a while. She was in RM01 and later RT, I believe. On the drill team as well.

Smitty

wow, my fan club is up early.

@59, for superbowl sunday in 05, we got 2 bud ice each in theater. only beer we got the whole time, except for the e-6 and above that got 3 day R&R

Hondo

smitty: I don’t remember them doing that in early 2008. That said, I’m not a huge NFL football fan and didn’t bother get up at midnight to go to the DFAC and watch it. I guess it’s possible they did it that year too and I missed it.

I understand they did authorize beer (2 per, if I recall correctly) for the Superbowl the following year, though. By then I’d redeployed.

Smitty

i cant say what happened in other years, just now last week end in jan 05 we got them, even the under age guys (that included me). our company’s mortar platoon sgt had to stay in the chow hall and run the sign in roster to get them, and sign that the empty bottles were returned

Ex-PH2

Beer in the barracks at Great Lakes. It cost $1.00 per can.

Hondo

Wasn’t doubting ya, Smitty; policies change from year to year. I don’t remember that happening where I was in early 2008, but I could very easily be wrong. Different place, different leadership, different year.

Smitty

how did we get on the topic of beer on deployment? where did my fan club go? he was funny

Hondo

I think maybe he’s out wandering around some French Quarter back alleys looking for some “strange” – strange bunny love, that is.

Hopefully he can tell the difference between a rabbit and a rat. It’s a bit more than 3 letters. (smile)

Smitty

hahahahahahahaha thats awesome

LebbenB

@74. Your welcome. That directive cam from LTG Vines. I was talking about there being nothing wrong with a beer or two during the Super Bowl with my immediate boss, the 18 ABC G3. He agreed and said he’d take it up with the Old Man.

Smitty

if you want to take credit for it, i wont argue. it made for a decent day. 2 months later i was back in the states, and still havent had a beer as good as those two

Andy

@79, Smitty, this is how ever mil conversation goes. It starts on one thing and wanders around. As far as beer in theater in 05, I did OIF II (Feb04-March05) with the Big Raw One. We didn’t get any real beer when the Super Bowl rolled around. But the guys in my unit that took part in Phantom Fury had GenOrd #1 suspended by the Marine General in charge and they all got a cold one after the fight was over.

Ex-PH2

Why would we stick to the topic, when there’s so much more to discuss?

Smitty

Andy, thats about the exact dates i was there, i guess yall got screwed. My company was attached to 4/31 10 mtn that was attached to 1st cav. where were ya at? i was informed everyone got the 2 beers a man thing. our sister company was on camp victory and got it, but they also got steak and lobster mondays and im sure plenty of other perks.

thebesig

When I was in Iraq, we were entitled to two beers during the Superbowl. We got called to do what turned out to be a 2 to 3 day mission, so we missed out on the beer ration. But, we made up for it when we were preparing to come home. It was the Army’s birthday. 😀

As for Smitty’s fan club… they guy is butthurt that he got his dick stomped in the dirt while out of his element, on a topic that gave Smitty and his deployment experience a mega advantage. Happens all the time when some knucklehead anti war type tries to argue about the war with someone that deployed to the area that’s being argued.

Also, Porsche Lynn parked her ass on my face one time. Using Michael Lewis’ line of reasoning, would that make me a porn star legend?

Andy

Smitty, I was with TF 2-2 INF on FOB Normandy. We were “farthest from the flagpole”, and we liked it that way. After the second month or so all the important people stopped coming out to our FOB unless someone died. Our FOB looked like ass the entire tour which pissed off our Div CSM that our FOB didn’t look purtty like FOB Danger.Our Bn CSM Steven W Faulkenburg(RIP) told him to get fucked to his face in the chow hall infront of everyone. Our chow hall which had been a morgue, I kid you not, didn’t even have windows or tables until about our 4th month there, we ate off the giant concrete slabs they would put the bodies on. We had plenty of the near beer in the chow hall and I was told there were some people in the unit that could get drunk off it, I couldn’t stand any of it though. Seeing as how we were at the tail end of the supply chain I guess it’s possible everyone further up the supply chain took all the beer and they said fuck those grunts on Normandy. Wouldn’t surprise me.

Smitty

i know exactly where ya were, we got assigned to assist some of yall in that area for a brief bit. the majority of my time we were on fob justice in kazamiya district of baghadad. i must admit, i liked playing with the marines a hell of a lot better than the 4/31 10th mtn guys (bunch of legs with no idea what the hell they were doing)

reminds me of a funny story. i knew this guy named Lohr who went up for the e-5 board while we were attached to 4/31. one of the questions he gets asked by a 4/31 1sg was “what are the proper comands for and extended rectangular formation for PT”. Lohr has a total mind fart followed by verbal diarrhea. he responds “we dont do that gay ass shit in an airborne unit 1SG”

next question from their CSM who was a former black hat at airborne school “what about 1st aid, do you do that gay ass shit in an airborne unit?”

Lohr says back with out missing a beat “depends how bad the wound is SGM”

they maxed his board points for those answers!

Smitty

thebesig, i dont know about a porn star legend, but i will tell your tales all the same for that one.

im pretty sure my fan club is Dalton Coldiron, the guy who got a ranger tattoo, dumped by my little sister when he washed out of reception of Ft leonard wood, and essentially claims to be me in his army stories. i could be wrong, but his comment “you stole my valor” in one of his posts points pretty strong in his direction.

Tool Previously Posting as "Not Smitty"

Edited

Hondo

Fixed that one for ya too, “Not Smitty”.

But I did delete what appeared by name to be a gay website you listed as your own.

Was that by any chance your personal web site? Were you one of the featured performers?

Dalton Coldiron

Edited

Daulton Coldiron

Edited

Hondo

Looks like you were correct, Smitty.

Hey, Bunny-boy: I fixed a couple of other comments you left. The errors were obvious.

Now, why don’t you go find a nice rabbit somewhere and have a good time – somewhere else.

Nik

Tool Previously Posting as “Not Smitty”

Epic name choice. Well done, Hondo.

Hondo

Or maybe one of the back-alley rats off Bourbon Street are more your speed,, Daulton. After all, “rat” begins with “ra” and ends in “t”, just like “rabbit” – right?

Hondo

Nik: thanks. That one seemed to have a bit better flow than “Dulltoon Rusty-rod”. And I shouldn’t have to explain that one to him 5 or 6 times before he “gets it”, either.

Smitty

hahahaha campaigning for a high seed in the tourney early. hey dumb ass, instead of hiding from me, pick any place and any time. i still want to collect the 100$ your dad offered me to remove that tat from your arm. honestly, i would do it for free and enjoy it very much. after your folks told me what you did to your sister, im not sure i would stop at cutting off the tat. feel free to keep dropping in here, i find your antics amusing, provides some decent entertainment to my day.

Valkyrie

So done! Those “edited”comments were the funniest thing I’ve read today! And that’s saying something when you know how much time I spend online, plus I have myself to talk to.

Hondo – I don’t know our age difference, but I fully understand about some of the “unpleasant” things about the south. Besides the bigotry as soon as people hear a southern accent they assume you’re stupid.

Smitty

i must wonder, if i am such a loser because as your said, dumb ass, “i only did one tour”, why do you try so hard to be me? i realize it must suck being 5 foot nothing and 95 lbs soaking wet, having no athletic talents what so ever (although im still waiting on your to take up that foot ball scholarship to west point, dumb ass), the IQ of a molded potato, and be addicted to telling stories of other people’s that you could never do yourself.

Smitty

Dumb ass, you dont need to post here, you have your own thread on this site.

http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=37002

no bull shit, its all about you! you dont even have to make anything up about it, it is dedicated to you and your illustrious military career and bunny molestation

Hondo

Valkyrie: the assumption on hearing the accent can come in handy, actually. When people assume you’re stupid and you’re not, they often make mistakes. Serious ones.

That can be useful. (smile)