That Phony POW General
We wrote about Fermijon Marrero, who was the honored guest at a New Rochelle, NY event celebrating Veterans’ Day last month and his records disputed his rank and his personal narrative of being a POW in Vietnam.
The New Rochelle Main Street Connect has finally corrected their story which appeared last month celebrating Marrero’s decision to move to their town.
Veterans groups are accusing Fermijon Marrero, who was honored by the City of New Rochelle and United Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Association during Veterans Day services last month, of lying about his rank and status as a prisoner of war.
And of course, Marrero is still clinging to his poorly crafted narrative;
Pentagon officials with the Department of Defense confirmed that no one with the last name Marrero was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, nor was the 12th Cavalry ever in Laos during that conflict. A Department of Defense website, which lists all those missing in action or taken prisoner in the Vietnam War, does not show anyone with the last name Marrero.
Asked about the absence of his name from the list, Marrero declined comment but added that “the facts will come out.”
He did, however, address the general accusations against him.
“My response is they better get their facts straight,” Marrero said. “My name is not Fermin Ernesto Marrero. It’s Fermijon.”
Marrero said he has never had a middle name.
Marrero said he will take steps to defend himself and would gather facts and paperwork to discredit his accusers. He offered to fax his DD 214 to The Daily New Rochelle on Wednesday morning but had not sent it as of 3 p.m.
Yeah, well, it’s not his middle name that is in question, is it? If there’s no one named Marrero on the DoD list of POWs, his middle name is irrelevant.
Robert Cox of “Talk of the Sound” believes in giving credit where credit is due;
John Lilyea (SFC, US Army Retired), author of the This Ain’t Hell But You Can See It From Here blog is reporting that the man claiming to be Brig. General Fermijon Marrero is actually Private Ferman Ernesto Marrero.
Messages left for Marrero were not returned.
According to Lilyea, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri show that Marrero served in the Army reserves for two months, from December 23rd, 1975 to February 8, 1976 and on active duty for seven months from February 9, 1976 to November 22, 1976. He is listed as a private at the time of discharge.
I’m glad that New Rochelle Main Street Connect finally correced the story, but it shouldn’t take a pitchfork brigade to get the truth printed.
Category: Media, Phony soldiers
Isn’t there a list of general officers somewhere that can be looked at? That all by itself would shut down the blathering of this poser.
They corrected it only to the point of questioning “our” findings and the claims of Marrero. They made no firm accusations, which would be par for a back pedaling press. I guess that when we get what they would define as “conclusive proof”, that we will have to hire a banner plane to circle above the area with the findings.
@1, Old Trooper. There is a list, maintained by the Army General Officer Management Office. Resumes can be opened if you have an AKO password or a CAC card. There are no retired or serving AC generals named Marrero, 1 ARNG retired BG named ROBERTO MARRERO-CORLETTO out of Puerto Rico (interesting guy, according to his bio: Ph.D. in chemistry, field artillery, and an FO in Viet Nam), and none in the USAR (but the USAR’s system doesn’t look as up to date as everyone else’s).
And again, I wish to ask Fermin, Fermijon, or whatever the fuck he claims his name is some very simple questions, which I’m betting he can answer exactly ZERO of them, including:
–Where were you commissioned and on what date?
–What is your DOR for BG? At what rank did you leave active duty?
–How did you manage to retain your commission well past the mandatory retirement age and high year tenure?
–What unit were you serving with when you were taken POW? Who was the CO of that unit?
–Why does a retired Brigadier General, who under current COLA and your situation, who would ordinarily have a retirement pay in excess of $100K/year, require subsidized housing?
Come on, Fermin/Fermijon. Let’s hear it.
Just posted on line in the local paper
http://www.lohud.com/article/20111223/NEWS02/312230045/POW-general-grand-marshal-s-record-service-fails-materialize-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
And Jonn gets another mention. Bravo Zulu, Jonn! I’ll hoist a Guiness/Sarnac/Sam Adams for ya.
More links:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/12/22/westchester-man-masquerading-as-brigadier-general-for-years-finally-outed-by-true-veterans/
They should also ask him about his outstanding judgments and arrearages in child support. The guy is more than a phony general. He is also a deadbeat dad and a criminal.
This trickster is full of it mates!! I read the article linked in the comments. The general explains he was never a general in the real army but he was a cadet general in the ROTC program. The highest rank in the ROTC for cadets is cadet col or at Texas A&M the cadet commander is still a cadet col but has 4 diamonds still no general. The rank of general is not official or recognized by the program.