9-11 hero becomes a fraud
Greg sent us a link to the story of retired Cmdr. Charles Coughlin of Severna Park, Md who did some really grand stuff at the Pentagon on 9/11 (Navy Times link);
Coughlin is a graduate of the Naval Academy and Harvard Business School who spent most of his 21-year naval career in the submarine service. He had a top-secret security clearance and commanded nuclear submarines. He was working at the Pentagon when a plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into the building about 75 feet from his office. He said he went back inside the burning building to help rescue others, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and Purple Heart for his actions and injuries that day.
But then he screwed it all up by defrauding a 9-11 victims fund of $331,034 by claiming injuries that had happened before 9-11.
Coughlin’s claim to the victims’ compensation fund said he was left with constant pain in his neck and headaches, as well as weakness in his left arm and numbness in his left hand and elbow.
So the prosecutor caught him in a marathon a month after 9-11 and playing lacrosse. So U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced him to three and a half years in prison for stealing from the government fund.
Category: Phony soldiers
I’ll never understand why a service member or citizen in good standing, with a career to be proud of would pull stupid stunts like these….
Greed and lack of honor, CI. Greed and lack of honor.
@2 – Certainly the best answer, no doubt at all. It’s still hard to understand.
I cannot express how much it pains me that he is a Submariner.
So, what does this distinguished naval officer do at trial when the prosecution presents evidence of fraud against him? Why, he does what any decent fellow would do: He blames his wife! Yep, he’s a real stand-up guy, the personification of an officer and a gentleman. “For example, he claimed a check for his lacrosse league dues was actually for someone to lay mulch in his yard. Coughlin said they were not fraudulent but mistakes due to sloppy accounting by his wife.” (Navy Times)
@4. He’s a veteran. It pains us all, Bubblehead.
Its a sense of entitlement. No different than OWS really.
I know plenty of folks who beat their bodies to hell in the military and at the end of it all they have to show for it is a pension, a crappy VA doctor, a coin, and a shortened lifespan. Its easy for them to feel like they should milk the system for all they can, because they feel like they’ve earned it.
Never mind, that if you’d asked them back when they enlisted (or even while they served) why they were serving money/benifits wouldn’t have made the list.
Which doesn’t excuse them, or what this guy did any more than it does the OWS folks.
@4 I agree. I wonder though that if this a product of the “If you aren’t cheating, you ain’t trying” mentality that has become pervasive in the nuke community. This state of integrity in the sub force has been discussed ad nauseam over at TSSBP
@7 – Actually, money and benefits are two of the biggest deciding factors for a lot of people who enlist. Trust me, I’m a recruiter.
“Trust me, I’m a recruiter.” Bwahahahahahahahah.
I cannot condone it, but I can understand someone committing fraud. Greed happens. What I can never understand is anyone being so stupid as to think that they won’t be checked up on or turned in by someone?
3364…that kind of shit mentality is inevitable when the pipeline becomes a pump rather than a filter. I’m not so naive to think that some guys on the boat didn’t try to game the system back when I was on the boat 20-plus years ago, but it sure as hell seems a lot more common today. But I have to concur with Ray…I hang my head because this guy is the antithesis of what I was raised to do and how to conduct myself. Any self-respecting submariner would agree.
NHSparky, I rode my boat ~ 20 years ago, and I concur with you and Ray.
@ 13 – Oh God, not ANOTHER nuc.
@14 Yes! We’re here, we’re proud, and we glow in the dark!
Bobo–what did you think a 3364 was? (Hint: Submarine Electrical Operator, Supervisory).
Sincerely,
Former 3353/3363/3373/3376
3364–careful, this is primarily an Army blog. Next thing you know, you, me, Ray, nucsnipe, and squidthoughts will be discussing something and we’ll be regarded like the apes regarded the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Mentioned in the Iran/UAV thread.)
“Any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.”
Probably why we just told skimmers and airedales we had a “hot rock.”
Bobo – What did you expect would happen when a former bubblehead was the subject of a post?
NHSparky: I work with Marines now so I’m used to dumbing down what I say. Most of the time I stick to short sentences using single syllable words 🙂
I’m just asking for some more representation from the front of the boat.
Sincerely,
Former 3313
A talent that you no doubt perfected on the boat while dealing with A-gangers. I deal with a couple of former Marines as well. I find that the usual pit scratching, point-and-grunt, and crotch grabbing usually gets the point across pretty well.
If you get to deal with Marines using actual WORDS, ask them sometime what year they graduated from the Academy.