A reply from Mrs Shelton
Seems that Billy Shelton better half responded to the post about her husband’s military history.
Billy is my husband and I just came across this website. I know him very well. He spent endless hours and days training Marcus and Morgan. He loves them like a his own, and they are not the only guys he trained. He did not charge a dime for his time and mental and physical training. How many of you out there give a d…. or would take hours out of your busy week to train young men, half of you don’t spend an hour a day with your own children.
Yes, a few things he did say was wrong. When he was asked to do a book, he told the writer he wanted it to be about the workout, but that wasn’t good enough, they wanted more, more of what would sale a book, so he did say the wrong things, but never to make money, they are just p…. because they paid hime $35,000.00 and didn’t get to publish the book. Now he has been asked to pay it back.
Morgan and Marcus were hurt, yes, but they still care about him, and talk to him, you all don’t know the whole story. Every book you read has been beefed up and every little detail is not the truth. So please before you criticize, have you ever made a mistake and been forgiven. He was never trying to make money off the book, the other people insisted on pushing for more on Marcus so they could sale the book. Even when he wanted to try and put together a ranch for wounded soldiers, they said they had to have Marcus envolved or it would not take off. People thrive on drama, the truth is Billy is a very loving compassionate man who cares very much for his family and the men and women who serve his country. He has spent hours physically and mentally training young men, no money paid, because he had the ability to do so and wanted to. His work out is very different from any other.
You spend one day in Viet Nam back in the 60’s, rather combat or not, tell me how you liked it, and how did it effect you? We have lots of pix from over there and yes men in his group where killed. I could go on and on, but this person is trying to discredit a man who did a lot for those boys and others and they don’t hate him. Ask them yourself.
My reply;
Except that this is not a simple lie or mistake. This is him pretending to be something he is not and lie about being some place that he was not.
While his actions in helping people is commendable and should not be ignored. It should not be ignored that he pretended to be a Special Forces Sergeant and claim extra tours that he did not do. Also regardless what they wanted it is still a lie. A lie that he was about to make 35,000 dollars on the the blood sweat and tears of those who passed and served as real Special Forces. Those who served multiple tours as combat vets. All of gain with none of the suffering. Again this is not just a “simple” mistake.
I spent 14 months in Iraq, while not Vietnam I can tell you that is has not caused me to inflate my military service. Again while he served honorable with one tour, consider this. What about the people that where still in Vietnam when your husband claimed he was there when in reality was home safe in the United States doing a job that he never was qualified to do. If he was such a hard charger then why did he not go to Q school?
Yet despite all of this you want us to view this as a simple white lie like when a kids gets caught eating cookies before supper.
All in all it can be argued that he did good things but just because I agree with his other actions compared to those that i do not for example Jesse Macbeth is not a excuse for not calling on someone lying about their military service. More so to this extent.
I mean I still caught grief trying to add my second Star to my Iraqi Campaign medal even when I brought in proof along with my ERB and deployment orders saying that I could add it.
To the point the good is not enough for us to overlook the mistakes made by this man.
Category: Phony soldiers
Mrs. Shelton is of course defending her husband out of loyalty. And nobody here hates Billy Shelton. They just don’t like the lying. There is nothing that justifies it at.all.
I have admitted before to being easily impressed and very gullible.
Let me express that when I read Marcus’ book and heard who had trained him, I actually wanted to try to get some of that for myself. I am a woman, but I wanted to see what I was made of. At the time, I considered re-upping and I figured I needed to be strac. I really did think Billy Shelton could have done it for me.
No one wants to take away what he gave the Luttrells because it proved to be invaluable. But lying is not an honorable thing, least of all about military service to other veterans who have served. I understand how people get caught up in the moment, honestly.
Duty, Honor, Country. That says it all.
Marcus has been through it and must have been torn to learn what had transpired. Does it mean he won’t forgive? Probably not. But Mrs. Shelton has to know no matter the true character of her husband that nothing can excuse it away. Not the fact that he was pressured to say more than he had to offer in truth and experience to have to sell a book, or most of all to betray those he has trained.
I commend you for posting this opinion, as this is one case where people seem to be quite ‘hush-hush’ over compared to other cases of imposters.
I don’t like double standards, and regardless of the good people do, it doesn’t or shouldn’t gloss over the fact that stolen valor is a very serious and very bad thing to do.
Nor does it negate the severity of the grammeurysm I had reading that horrid fluff.
If Billy Shelton was in special forces, he isn’t going to say exactly where he was or what he did. And if he was in spec ops the information you are trying to dig up is kept secret for a reason. Just because you can’t find answers or things don’t add up, doesn’t mean Billy wasn’t in spec ops. They keep secrets and obscure the truth to protect themselves, there families, and you.
@4
The only problem with your little fantasy (and his)? There are hundreds and thousands of folks who were and are in Special Operations who can detail and verify their service. Operations themselves may be classified…but units (by and large) and training (by and large) and awards are not classified.
You are dealing with people on here that are as close as you can come to experts in this “field”. I highly suggest you just slink back under the rock you slithered out from before you look even more silly.
Clown.
@4: Anon, if you believe that “spec ops personnel are super secret squirrel” nonsense, just do a Google search on one Don Shipley, Navy SEAL, and watch a few of his YouTube videos in which he demolishes various SEAL impostors who try to sell him that line. The missions may be classified, the fact they were some flavor of special ops, not so much. That’s why they get to wear all those coveted insigniae on their uniforms (i.e., SEAL trident, triple canopy shoulder tabs) that posers love to appropriate for themselves. If they were Super Secret Squirrels, there would be no bling for the posers to steal.
Anonymous: virtually everything from Vietnam is now declassified. That includes the former “secret war” in Laos as well as operations in Cambodia – and most if not all other records relating to US combat operations in SE Asia.
Your contention that “it’s still classified” is thus absolute BS. That might be true for some aspects of operations in more recent conflicts. It’s no longer the case for Vietnam.
@4 Calling total bullshit on you. There’s no way Shelton was a “secret squirrel”. Just like its been said over and over and over, anyone who served in SF, SEALs, Force Recon, etc would have their training documented on their DD214. The Army has no reason to go into the records and erase the fact that someone had went through SF or airborne School or been assigned to an SF unit in Vietnam. If that is your reasoning why are there hundreds of servicemen whose schools, unit assignments and combat tours WEREN’T scrubbed from their records?