Stolen Valor: Top Officials at Montford Point Marines Charity Caught Faking Records
SgtMaj Charles Cook, president of Montford Point’s Western Region
Our friend and colleague Dan Noyes at ABC7 News is on top of it again when it comes to ferreting out Stolen Valor.
This time, you get to see a few direct confrontations as Dan asks some pointed questions of three top officials of the Montford Point Marines Association.
Some responses I have not heard before – i.e. Cook ordered his medals online but claims he simply forgot to verify them when they arrived and just pinned them on his chest. Honest mistake.
Stolen Valor: Top officials in Montford Point Marines charity caught faking their records, awards
By Dan Noyes | Saturday, July 8, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — There’s been a major shakeup at the national nonprofit founded to honor the Montford Point Marines. Three top officials were caught exaggerating their own military records and awards.
I’ve reported on this issue before. Stolen valor is when a person pretends to be someone they’re not, exaggerating military service, or wearing medals and ribbons they never earned. Sometimes it’s people seeking respect or bragging rights. Other times, it’s for money.
But the I-Team has learned that, for years, key figures in the Montford Point Marine Association have been lying about their records and awards.
“I have served in some very harsh places, was there at the very end of Vietnam,” said Montford Point’s Western Region Vice President L.E. Michael Johnson.
He told stories of serving in Vietnam during appearances for the nonprofit.
“I was 19 years old around that particular time and frame of place,” he said. “I saved a lot of people, I evacuated a lot of people aboard that ship. When I came home in Norfolk, Virginia, I was called a baby killer.”
But I confronted Johnson with his official military records I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, and he admitted he never served in Vietnam.
Johnson: “I misspoke. I was wrong for saying that, sir.”
Noyes: “You understand that people who served and the families of those who actually served in Vietnam and died, this is a great insult to them? You get that, right?”
Johnson: “Yes, I do, sir.”
But there’s more.
One of the major travesties here is that it took so long to get the Montford Point Marines recognized in the first place. This is the wrong kind of awareness that you want to have with your organization.
Then, there is Zinnerman – who resurfaces in yet another story. He must be trying to be the poster child for Stolen Valor.
See the original, full exposure James Brown at: https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
Category: Marine Corps Poser, None, Stolen Valor
The rest of the story.
Brian Reeves
https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
Here is a graphic I made to demonstrate a question I’m still waiting on an answer to. We’ve made calls and emails to both.
Neither are denying the letters authenticity.
Thank you, James. This is excellent work on your part.
Steve and James,
I just put a link comment
on yesterday’s VG article on Phony Billy,
leading them to this Triple Phonies article.
Max kudos (x3 !!) to both of you.
🙂
Thanks Brother. There are some folks regurgitating my work into their own articles, which is to be expected. But they may not catch all of the updates I’ve been including. If you share, this is the original article when I busted these guys and the place I’ll post the updates.
Thank you brother. It was a lot of work, but was the right thing to do. The article I wrote last month on this is at https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
I’ve been keeping it updated as we obtain new info. I have several FOIA’s and PRAs still pending and expect a few more updates.
Check your email.
AW1
Added your link in the article above. Putting this case aside, please understand that it gets tricky to associate – you don’t want to get on a lawsuit for work we do and vice versa. Lawyers are funny that way – present company of commenters excluded of course. 😉
We’ve had an excellent track record of having ZERO of our barracks and sea lawyers disbarred.
Yes, it IS excellent work, James, and we do Thank You. I found, snagged, and posted your linky to the comment I made on the f^cking r^tarded POS Billy Zinnerman yesterday afternoon. Anything good that these, ahem, “gentlemen” did will be forever overshadowed by their embellishing sh^tbaggery. They have brought shame and a black mark upon themselves, the USMC, and the proud upstanding members of the Montfort Point Marines. PHUQUE THEEEM!
Thank you brother. The inMaricopa folks have a similar article where they copied some of my work, but they missed a good 80%. they also quoted me as if they interviewed me throughout their article, and they never interviewed me at all. the only conversation we had was when I called them to let them know they had been scammed and should issue a retraction.
The proper link is this: https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
Just in case the other one is what you saw.
Thanks again!!
Uh oh. This is not good.
I’ll bet that the PAO office at Headquarters Marine Corps is in absolute chaos right about now.
Reenlistment Code of RE-4 (Ineligible for reenlistment). You don’t see that too often on a Sergeant Major’s DD-214. He should hook up with “Sergeant Major” Ronald Mailahn, who can introduce him to the high paying career field of driving paint around South Jersey.
https://www.militaryspot.com/marines/u-s-marine-corps-re-codes
I thought he (Mailahn) was working at All-Points Logistics?
I could have sworn “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) poached him away.
This funny thing is Ron mailahn used to work with me years ago. He was fired because he was bat shit CRAZY. My coworkers & I all knew about this site years ago & would all laugh behind his back. He’d go on about all his stories from his time “in the service” & we would crack up. Anyway, he hinted that he was going to shoot up the place after he was fired. Ron would periodically would send me creepy messages on FB. He sent me a nude photo & I blocked him. I’m also about 20 years younger than him.
Just found out today he changed his name to Ron Bruno & works at Advance Auto Parts in Gibbstown, NJ as a general manager!
I have pic proof as well just couldn’t post it here.
Then Captain Gaskin was the Company Commander for Fox Company, 2nd BN, Recruit Training Regiment, MCRD Parris Island back in 1979, when I was but a lowly scumbag recruit.
As for that letter in the middle….
So it’s EITHER….
OR….
Ooooh….. This will turn out ugly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Gaskin
Safe money is on a fabricated letter by the fabricated sergeant major.
5JC,
NC DMVA open again Monday morning.
Someone in there is going to be yelling
“WTF is this?”
🙂
That is an excellent article even if the circumstances surrounding it are sad and pathetic.
thank you!
So when do the Federal indictments start stacking up for each of these mendacious, fraudulent shitheads?
I have forwarded this to an FBI contact. They have assigned 2 agents to the case.
I’ll be posting updates on
My original article as things progress.
https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
Roger all; thanks!
I will post updates on that part when I’m able.
You can call me Ray, you can call me Jay, you can call me sonny, you can call me Rayjay ahh ya doesn’t has to call me
Johnson
“I’m always frank and earnest with women. Uh, in New York I’m Frank, and Chicago I’m Ernest.”
— Samuel L. Jackson — The Long Kiss Goodnight
What you can call them is three new hires at All-Points Logistics.
Phildo cannot let this type of talent go to waste.
There is ANOTHER one….🫣
“Regrettably, what began as an investigation into one individual has expanded to include two additional confirmed cases of stolen valor within the same organization. The first is Mr. Zinnerman, who falsely claimed the rank of SgtMaj, the second is Mr. Johnson, who falsely wore medals as an SSgt. Now, we have identified SgtMaj Charlie Cook Jr., the current President for the Western Region encompassing 12 U.S. states, as another case of stolen valor. During our conversations with Mr. Johnson, he mentioned SgtMaj Charlie Cook Jr.’s position, prompting us to search for his contact information. Our search led us to discover several photos of SgtMaj Cook serving as the keynote speaker at the City of Long Beach inaugural Memorial Day Commemoration this year, on May 28th.”
“Upon examining the photos, the first discrepancy noticed was SgtMaj Cook wearing the French Fourragere as a retired Marine. As a veteran of 3/5, I am aware that once one leaves the unit, they are no longer authorized to wear the Fourragere. To verify my understanding of the Uniform Code in relation to this, I referenced MCO 1020.34H v2, specifically page 1-130, which explicitly states that the Fourragere is authorized for active-duty Marines serving in approved units.”
“While examining SgtMaj Cook’s photos, we discovered additional discrepancies that raised concerns. Firstly, we observed that he appeared to have three Presidential Unit Citations (PUC) in one photo, where he is depicted as a SgtMaj with seven hashmarks. However, in another photo with the same rank and number of hashmarks, there were no PUCs present. This raised suspicions as it would be highly improbable for an individual to serve consecutively in three units, each earning a PUC, within such a short period of time that a hashmark would not be added to the uniform.”
*Continue*
*Continue*
“In the same photo, we noticed that SgtMaj Cook was wearing the Vietnam Gallantry Medal in ribbon form on his dress blues, along with his medals. It is important to note that on dress blues, medals are worn on the left side, while ribbons are worn on the right side, and only ribbons without corresponding medals are worn. The presence of the Gallantry Medal in ribbon form, along with the absence of the Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) that would typically accompany valor awards, raised further concerns.”
“We provided these photos along with our explanations to Mr. Dan Noyes from ABC, who had scheduled an interview with SgtMaj Cook to discuss the ongoing situation. According to Mr. Noyes, SgtMaj Cook admitted to the act of stolen valor and expressed embarrassment. However, he attempted to shift the blame to the vendor, claiming that he did not notice the inaccuracies and relied on them to provide him with the medals he supposedly deserved.”
“It is disheartening to learn that SgtMaj Cook admitted to Mr. Noyes that he never saw combat and does not rate the awards he claimed. However, it is important to acknowledge SgtMaj Cook’s service, retirement, and attainment of the rank of SgtMaj. These alone are significant accomplishments that less than 1% of Marines achieve.”
“Upon reviewing SgtMaj Cook’s Together We Served Profile, it is evident that he included the Combat Action Ribbon and the Vietnam Gallantry Medal, which are not justified based on his admission. This discrepancy raises concerns regarding the integrity and accuracy of his profile.”
“It is noteworthy to mention that a concerning pattern seems to emerge within the Montford Point Marines Association, particularly in the leadership of the Western Region encompassing 12 states. SgtMaj Cook holds the position of Western Region President, Mr. Johnson serves as the Western Region Vice President, and Mr. Zinnerman serves as the Western Region Public Affairs Officer and Scholarship Committee Chair.”
“You may review SgtMaj Cook profile for further examination and consideration.
https://marines.togetherweserved.com/usmc/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=LegacySBV&type=Person&ID=83171
Zinnerman was the Public Affairs Officer — Irony defined.
Damn shame that he could not score a position as Director of Media Relations for a proud but humble woman owned business that sells software to the Federal Government, but Hack Stone is not about to turn over the reins when he has been doing an outstanding job for ten years, and was guaranteed lifetime employment by Elaine Ricci before her untimely disappearance.
Make a perpetual liar and fraudster your PR spokeshole–brilliant!
Even worse: Make a perpetual liar and fraudster the president of your country… 🙄
Heh heh, good one Poe!
I wonder if these losers knew each other were fakes?
Yes. They are the president, vice president and public affairs officer for the western 12 states.
You can read more here:
https://www.winecountrymarines.org/post/semperfraud
Looks like we may have found another hive of POSers.
The folks in Elko are trembling in fear
Sorry to go off the trail. A fan of acclaimed actor, Jim Caviezel. His latest film ‘The Sound of Freedom has been getting generally excellent reviews, and has topped the box office. I don’t want to stir up shit on a decent fellow, but I have noticed on his Fox News appearances last few days that he has been wearing the Navy SEAL trident. Doesn’t look like Jim ever served in the teams or the military in general.
Sound of Freedom: Jim Caviezel movie highlights fight to end human trafficking – YouTube
Devtun,
A quick deployment of the Fu of Google
brings up this wiki.
[In 2017, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS’s SEAL Team series.[31] However, Caviezel left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced by David Boreanaz.]
He NEVER appeared in the TV series SEAL Team.
So, for him to go on TV sporting the trident,
he’s not only a Phony Navy SEAL,
he’s a Phony TV Navy SEAL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Caviezel
Life imitates art.
And now the credibility of the Montfort Point Marines Association is tarnished, and will rightfully suffer for it because they failed due diligence in verifying those claims.
Donations to sustain the organization will be the end result, and rightfully so.
They’re old enough to know better.
I’ve missed the SV content!
There seems to be a shortage of phonies lately. I wonder if that’s because more people are wise to the phony hustle?
Or…perhaps they aren’t receiving the ill gotten kudos like they used to during the prime GWOT days?
In a nutshell – they are stingy with FOIA results. They may have gotten spoiled by being able to cut back during COVID. Hasn’t stopped us from submitting FOIA requests on a regular basis over the past three years, we just get very few responses. We still have a fantasy about an avalanche of them coming back when they address the backlog.
I hope so….
I miss the classic phonies who gave 110% MSgt Soupsandwich, Gen Ballduster McSoulpatch, Bernasty.
They are all dead, Jim!
Could be the latter. The luster of being a veteran seems to somewhat worn off.
Nearly identical 6:22 news video from the same TV ABC7,
now up on the Tube of You.
Oof.
Dudes got raked over the coals, then the rocks, and thru a minefield.
Fk’em!
Welp, with a pResident who perpetuates false stories about his background and accomplishments, one can see how many of our citizens will conclude that telling lies is perfectly acceptable.
Roh-Dog,
21,537 views on the abc7 YouTube above.
🙂
Hahahaha,,, all of that fakery,,, but the picture with ole horse face Maxine Waters is real!! Hahahah!!
Maxine “Confront Them” Waters
PooP floats sometimes
So now Cooks Goose is cooked
It’s a damn shame this will likely negatively affect the charity. Most of us are proud of our real service, and while some of us feel like we could have done more, we know better than to make false claims and to honor those we served alongside by not misrepresenting our service. Integrity is what sets honorable people apart from dishonorable and deceitful people. I wore the GWOT-E for years, but after learning that I’d missed the cutoff of 30 days in Kuwait prior to 19 March 2003 by a couple of days, I had it removed from my records. My orders show a 15 February 2003 deployment, but I got in-country after the 20th. The same goes for an Army Achievement Medal I was awarded by my Colonel in front of the command–I never received a certificate or approved DA638 (Recommendation), so I’ll never wear it. I did find an ARCOM added to my records while I was on retirement leave, so there’s that, but I don’t exactly see myself sporting a ribbon rack, unless the Coast Guard Auxiliary actually responds to me and I decide to volunteer. Then there are the two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards that the Joint Task Force – National Capital Region earned in 2020 and 2021. I served there, handled almost all of the orders for J/G3, but I was assigned to the Military District of Washington, so sucks for me, I wasn’t in a Joint billet… To paraphrase The Rock, “It doesn’t matter what trinkets I have…” I share the above because, yeah, we can get a little out of touch with how what awards we had, and what we rightfully earned. It takes a little work getting a ribbon rack right, especially decades after serving. However, there is zero excuse for those who wish to display “their” awards after retirement/separation and who get it wrong. If I order something online and get a BSM instead of MSM, or Airborne Wings instead of Air Assault, they’re going back, not just, “well, they’re equivalent awards, and wings are wings, let’s just pin it on… Read more »
IMO they done made a smelly shit pie and mashed it into their own faces, pity they shit all over the organization by doing so!
I wonder if there was some sort of financial gain for them(?). As far as they rode this train, and the amount of money that they dumped into uniforms and shadow boxes, it would seem that they alerted getting more than a spotlight shown on them. We know Maxine wasn’t attending an event for free!
We are looking into that. I have some evidence of this already, but that’s a piece still developing.
F*cknut
Three Phido-class turds DORKING the Stolen Valor SQUEAKHOLE. Looks like the only “combat” they may have seen was at Brucie’s Bath House (entrance in the rear).
I had a DI named Zinnerman (2nd Bn, PISC ’81) and I thought this fraud was him. The real Zinnerman was a squared away hellion, a tanker IIRC and his goal was to march across the parade deck on graduation day with him and just the recruit guidon bearer! He was only there for a month or so, maybe got orders. A Marine’s Marine…S/F!
Keep your eyes on this one.
New update by James on the 1st article about only Phony Billy,
as we know now up to 3 phonies,
and could soon rise to 4 or 5 phonies.
Worse,
now a possible case of enriching themselves.
If so,
this could get Federal Stolen Valor Act charges
heaped on top of any fraud or embezzlement charges.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=143990
Boy, did I pick the wrong day (tomorrow)
to schedule a colonoscopy at my local VA hospital.
1 MoviPrep down.
1 to go. Starting 15 minutes ago.
🙂
Fire in the hole!
Boy, isn’t your ass getting off easy.
I had my first colonoscopy ever in November and have had two light follow up polyp surgeries after and I have the entire gallon of GoLightly all three times starting about 36 hours out.
For all the screaming and crying and drama about how bad it (colon preps) was from people, I was unimpressed I’ve had worse flu & Taco Bell shits than those.
SFC D & ChipNASA,
Back to normal.
There will be no further comment
from my heavy duty commercial elongated toilet seat.
I hope everyone is keeping their eyes open
for developments on these guys.
I predict more on these 3 or 4 or 5 guys, and soon.
Thanks.
🙂
Woops.
I said 5 guys.
Then again,
NOT quite the same thing as Five Guys.
Just added the following to my original article after having a conf call with multiple federal investigators that are actively pursuing this.
MAJOR UPDATE: We are in direct contact with federal investigators and have provided our evidence to them. If you or anyone you know has been defrauded by these individuals they want to hear from you. You can contact us and we will connect you.
[…] wrote about Zinnerman here, and he has since been removed from his post at the Montford Point Marines […]