Missouri man charged with stolen valor

William Clark, self-professed hero

Mike B helped direct our attention to this fella William Clark. He stands accused of violating the Missouri Stolen Valor Act. Sounds like the VFW there takes vetting vets seriously, and alerted the authorities when Captain Mr. Clark’s documents looked fishy. They found his stolen valor to be the cherry on top of the shit sundae.

From KFVS 12;

A man accused of violating Missouri’s Stolen Valor Act was arrested in southeast Missouri.

William J. Clark, 52, was charged with forgery and violation of the act.

According to the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Office, officials at VFW Post 7183 in Lilbourn contacted them on Saturday afternoon, March 1.

The officials gave the deputies paperwork submitted by a prospective member, and told deputies they were concerned about the validity of the documents.

The prospective member was later identified as Clark.

According to investigators, his military discharge paperwork showed he had been awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and numerous other awards.

They say they determined Clark had never served in the military in any way.

Investigators say they learned Clark has a “lengthy” criminal history and has been federally prosecuted for impersonating a federal officer.

They found Clark living in a hotel in Malden.

While serving a search warrant at his hotel room on March 11, investigators found evidence including counterfeit military certificates, medals and clothing.

They say they also found forged documents where Clark purported to be an officer with an American Legion Post in Texas; the flyers asked for donations for a local JROTC program that does not exist.

A warrant was issued for Clark’s arrest. He was taken into custody and transported to the Stoddard County Jail for holding until his court date.

“There is no group of people in our society that we owe a greater debt than our military veterans, particularly our disabled veterans,” New Madrid County Sheriff Joey Higgerson said in a news release. “Crimes like those committed by Mr. Clark only serve to erode the public trust and make it harder for our veterans to get the services they need. We hope this prosecution serves as a warning to those who would attempt to take advantage of services only afforded to veterans of the United States military.”

The sheriff said they have reason to believe Clark may have been involved in other incidents of fraud in the area.

If you’ve had contact with Clark and feel you or an organization may be a victim of fraud, you are asked to contact your local law enforcement agency.

Follow the link to see some pictures of all the stuff this fella had doctored up. He even got a Purple Heart from combat action in Afghanistan more than two years after we left the country. Hard core.

Category: Crime, Stolen Valor