Buffalo Republican phony
I apologize for not doing my due diligence on this one. I thought by reading the number of articles from several sources (including the New York Post) in my search before hitting the “publish” button would be enough. Apparently I was wrong. But it will remain posted for the next bozo who believes the Buffalo News.
The BuffaloNews.com website tells the tale of former candidate for governor in New York and Buffalo businessman, Carl Paladino;
Carl Paladino says he served three years of active duty in the Army, but actually was on active duty for only three months.
Official records, as reported by the New York Post, show he served only from Aug. 5, 1971, to Nov. 4, 1971. Yet when you search for Paladino on the Internet, Wikipedia pops up with his bio and says he spent three years on active duty in the Army. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has become one of the main sources of information on the Internet.
The Post also reported that Paladino had claimed he commanded 250 men at Fort Bliss, Texas, but “a former senior officer at Fort Bliss reviewed the Paladino military record and called claims that Paladino commanded anyone at Fort Bliss a fraud.”
Paladino was, in fact, leading a civilian life and going to an occasional weekend drill.
Yeah, his Wikipedia entry still says he’s been on active duty for three years. Even his campaign website shows a video that relies heavily on his military experience;
There’s big difference between three months and three years. If you’re going to use your military service as reason for people to vote for you, you at least need to be truthful about it. And here we are more than a year since the campaign and after the admission by Paladino’s campaign staff that his statements were false and nothing has changed;
Paladino’s campaign manager, Michael Caputo, admitted the contentions were wrong after The Post obtained military records showing the Buffalo builder was on active duty for only three months, and was at Fort Bliss for training as a newly commissioned officer in the late summer of 1971, while the Vietnam War was raging.
Category: Phony soldiers, Politics, Veterans in politics
If it was on the site it is no longer there. I have a account on wiki if anything comes up that we want to challenge. Originally got the account to fix a comment that the AAM could be awarded with the valor device.
It’s the fourth sentence in the “Early life, education and career” paragraph.
This editorial is a late hit by the Buffalo News and a personal foul. Paladino never claimed he commanded men at Ft. Bliss – I did. In fact, I was wrong. During an interview – one of 797 interviews – I read from incorrect notes taken on a conversation with Carl as we prepared for his run for Governor. In fact, he commanded 250 men at Ft. Dix. The error was in the location of his command, not if he commanded at all. Also, I corrected my error in an interview with the New York Post – which appeared in the same article The Buffalo News should have read to write this editorial.
As for the Wikipedia error – that is not Carl’s fault, nor mine. Carl never said he served on active duty for three years, ever. Wikipedia is “open source,” developed by millions of users and is rife with errors, including on the Buffalo News’ own entry where it claims the newspaper has made money every year for the last ten years. Wikipedia’s own entry on itself says “Wikipedia is not considered a credible source.”
As a veteran of the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division, I am 100 percent certain the person who wrote this false editorial didn’t serve in the military, as Carl did honorably for many years. If they did, they would know that active and reserve duty soldiers share a lot in common – and when they die on the battlefield, you cannot tell the difference.
Mr. Caputo: thanks for manning up to mistakes made during the campaign. The campaign’s over and Mr. Paladino may find it in his interest to ensure the entire public record is set straight.
To no one in particular:
A rule of political campaigns:
Your opponent is only your competitor; but the press is your enemy.
Stealing valor being what it is, isn’t it important to get the facts straight before filing entry paperwork for a political campaign?
Information Operations are constant – 24/7/365-6 and only flaming a$$holes need apply. Robert Gibbs may suck as a human being, but he’s a pro at IO.
So, what you’re saying is that the Paladino campaign didn’t write the Wikipedia entry? Then I guess no one will mind if Sporkmaster corrects the error?
I put in a citation request considering that the topic is a person. The rules are stricter to prevent vandalism.
If there is no citations after so long the section can be up for removal.
John: We never accessed Wikipedia during the campaign. We thought the entry written by the regular open source users was pretty fair and nobody messed with it as we noticed. Feel free to alter the page – keeping up with Wikipedia is a full time job.
DaveO: I accidentally flipped Ft. Bliss for Ft. Dix in a telephone interview while Carl and I were on the road – one out of 797 media interviews in six months. I thought it was an innocent mistake, but the New York Post’s goldbrick reporter Fred Dicker tried to make hay out of it. There was such a veterans backlash against Dicker and then Andrew Cuomo, who tried to ride the issue, that everyone dropped it completely.
Here’s a story from back then:
It was dropped as a non-story until today, eight months later, when the Buffalo News dug it up to screw with Carl. I really hope the authors here will correct the headline and this story because veterans who read this blog need to know that Carl Paladino served his country honorably for many years.
Carl Paladino has never lied about his service, and he never would. He remembers his service fondly and has deep respect for veterans and our active duty military.
Mr. Caputo:
Speaking only as a reader here; we see many posts about phony soldiers. Most of them have someone who will come on here and tell us that we have it wrong. Most often we don’t have it wrong. When we do, Jonn and most of the readers are more than pleased to offer our apologies. In this case you’ve quite clearly cleared it all up. Thanks for manning up and letting us know the source and cause of a bit of the error.
Give my regards to Mr Paladino, and toss a rotten egg at the Buffalo News for all of us.
My Friends:
I was deeply disappointed to read the Buffalo News’ June 16 editorial (“Respect our Military”). Carl Paladino never lied about his time in the US Army – quite the opposite. He remembers every moment of his service and never mixed up what he did, where he served or for how long. A liberal Democrat blog – Huffington Post – got it wrong in September, that story was cribbed by the New York Post’s clown prince Fred Dicker in October and now the Buffalo News bases a false allegation on those errors nine months later.
The HuffPo blogger never served in the military. Fred Dicker never deigned to serve his country. I’m willing to bet the writer of the Buffalo News editorial never wore the uniform, either. The Buffalo News needs to study up on the military before they editorialize about a man who served his country with honor – and they owe Carl Paladino an apology.
Sincerely,
David Bellavia
SSG, USA (Ret)
Any politician running on their military service should have their 214 posted on the website to avoid any issues. I carried mine with me when I doorknocked, and sure enough a couple of Vietnam Vets had questions so I showed them.
Glad to see Mr Caputo log on and get this squared away.
@ #9 – Thanks ofr the input, David. Only because its you, David! Hooah!
@ #9 – Thanks for the input, David. Only because its you, David! Hooah!
Is there any site that correctly states when and where he did serve? That part still seems blurry from the comments here.
Mr. Paladino offered this statement in the online comments section of the offending Buffalo News editorial:
I was commissioned from ROTC as a Reserve Officer on June 21, 1968 as a Second Lieutenant. I entered active duty on August 5, 1971 with a 2-year active duty obligation. My orders were Fort Bliss, Texas for 3 months for training and then Fort Lewis, Washington (Vietnam).
Insofar as I was the ranking 1st Lieutenant in my class of about 100 regular and reserve officers in advanced training for air defense artillery, I was appointed Commander of my class around September 25, 1971. I read the morning report to my class, which included a DoD letter stating that the Army was riffing officers because the war in Vietnam was winding down and that all Reserve Officers would receive new orders calling for 3 months of active duty for advanced training and 6 years in the Reserves.
I joined the Army 98th Reserve Division and was based in Amherst, New York, served for approximately 10 years and retired honorably as a Captain. Every year we had a 2-week active duty requirement at Fort Dix where we took basic training companies of approximately 250 men for 2 of the 6-week basic training cycle and trained them. In that capacity, I served as Training Officer, Executive Officer or Commanding Officer. I also at times served as Duty Officer for the entire base of Fort Dix and my Battalion.
I am proud of my military service. I have never stated or represented anything but the above. Media types have attacked my character and records with fabrications and lies. I have no idea what Wikipedia is or where they received their information. As for what the unnamed “former senior officer at Fort Bliss” has to say, he obviously knows nothing about the issue or is brain dead.
Carl Paladino