Duckworth obit
At the risk of attracting some more trolls, the story isn’t over until the phony gets planted or imprisoned. It’s the former for Jesse Wayne Duckworth;
Visitors told us in the thread that he wandered off soon after our first post about him and his remains were found a few weeks later, but I can’t find anything to verify that.
Thanks to Pat for the heads up.
Category: Phony soldiers
Reference my remark about “Dennis”. He went from his company to LBJ, was there a few months and one of a very few that escaped and survived on the streets of Saigon for a couple of years before the 716th and MPI’s found him.
Hondo; FOIA underway….this chit has me bothered to no end, LOL!
TSO – does this mean I should no longer consider Legion membership as proof of honorable service? If so, that sucks.
TSO @48–But, we don’t have any form of DD214 here, so as far as I know, even if he did go AWOL, he might very well have served out his enlistment and gotten an honorable discharge, and thus qualified.
But highly unlikely. Remember, he was a PFC at one point and got discharged as an E-1. NJP cannot take more than one stripe, and to get busted all the way to E-1 would take Special or General Court Martial, which would typically mean either a DD or BCD.
Granted, while I can’t PROVE he got either one, I’d be willing to bet a significant number of Guinesses on that fact.
Susan; Coming from my end? No, Your 214 backs up your tour of duty. Sparky, I see we think alike? Somethings isn’t right in Mudville. His discharge may related to something else. Hondo? In case you are wondering, TSO & Jonn have my contact info. FOIA & BI underway…..This crap is driving me nuts, LOL.
@ Jonn Lilyea Says:
March 8th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Yeah, ST’s IP shows NYC.
John, Can you get his street address, apartment number, and photo. MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)
NHSparky: His reduction and confinement is consistent with having gotten a Special Courts-Martial. However, There are 2 versions of the Special: one that may impose a BCD (the “BCD-Special”) and one which may not impose that punitive discharge. Max confinement either can impose is 6 months; max forfeiture, 2/3 pay per month for up to 6 months. Either can bust an E2/3/4 down to E1. So a bad discharge isn’t a given, even if he went to a Special Courts-Martial.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm#ART.%2019.%20JURISDICTION%20OF%20SPECIAL%20COURTS-MARTIAL
My guess is he either got a Special w/o BCD authority, or that he got a BCD-Special but the presiding judge didn’t elect to give him a BCD. And as you pointed out above, it’s also possible he got a bad discharge but that his local VARO cut him a break regarding burial.
streetsweeper: Good. Hope you’ll post the results here when received.
Glad to see you guys exchanging high-fives after driving some nutjob to off himself. I guess Breitbart’s got a new friend in the 8th circle of Hell.
If it is a BCD, DD, and/or OTH under certain circumstances … only one word would come to mind … EXHUMATION.
BIG DOUCHE … so you know that he did in fact kill himself! Interesting. And you blame the good and honorable here. So follow my logic. Your tag is BIG DOUCHE. You claim he killed himself. OK. OK … your still a BIG DOUCHE and Mr. Breitbart, who is sitting at the right hand of God after a personal escort from Saint Peter is laughing his ass off at you BIG DOUCHE!
@ 37, RIP Duckworth, you’ve proven yourself. When all else fails make personal attacks, calling people vile names. I don’t understand why people like you think you’ll sway anyone to you’re twisted way of thinking by showing your ignorance in your choice of words. It’s very simple, Veterans here have served “HONORABLY” that won’t accept ‘posers’ nor allow them honors they don’t deserve.
@43 Doesn’t matter what you say, just add the chant “USA USA USA” and then your good.
BIG DOUCHE: see my comment 39 above.
Hmmm. As to how this poseur got into the American Legion, even though the requirements aren’t as strict as the VFW, where I live, many folks take people at their word. And believe that they will be truthful on the paperwork.
Unfortunately we found out that the hard way at my VFW post. We had a guy there that claimed Force Recon Sniper super trooper etc who fought in Lebanon. Turned out he was only in the USMC for a very short time, discharged as an E1, no awards. When this was pointed out, he was not seen or heard from again. This made me laugh, as he told me several times that me being in the ARNG and going to Iraq wasn’t like what real soldiers or Marines do. Now that I am an elected Post Officer, I am insisting on seeing DD214’s or other legitimate documentation for membership.
As for 15) Schweizer Troll: go fuk yourself, a-hole. The Swiss did not even have the guts to pick a side in WWII, but they were courageous enough to hide stolen loot, gold and plunder that the Nazi’s stole from millions. That makes it blood money, shithead, and was collaborating with Nazi’s. If it makes you feel any better, I was given a German Mauser rifle by a great uncle who took it from a Nazi he killed in the war. Maybe it was a relative of yours.
As far as insulting our military, tell me about yours. I tried to find any books on great exploits of the Swiss Army in the Modern Era. It was the size of a bookmarker. Hmmph, even the French Military looks good next to you.
@60
For the sake of argument, let’s assume you’re right… that he did commit suicide, and that it was prompted by this blog.
That’s pretty much all I need to know that he was so screwed up emotionally that the blog would have had virtually nothing to do with the suicide.
So, even in the unlikely event that your premise is correct, your conclusion is wrong.
While Jimmy Carter was president people could get their discharge upgraded. It was part of the amnesty that Carter had for draft dodgers and deserters. So Duckworth could have had an undesirable (as it was called back then) upgraded to general. Anyway the sob is dead and buried. Let’s move on to the next one.
As to the questions of how he got into the AL……
As a Post Commander and District Vice Commander, I can tell you that we ask for a 214 before acceptance into the Legion, which is done at the Post level. National doesn’t control the individual Posts on such matters, but Department (state) or District may. When you become a District Officer, it is required in my Department (Department of Minnesota) due to an incident that happened 20 years ago where someone running for District Commander was found to be ineligible for Legion membership and no one had checked up until that point. Asking for the DD214 seems like a no-brainer, however, some Posts still don’t.
Hope that helps.
@66 – you are awesome. The only thing I could find under Swiss Army was a Swiss Army Knife. The Swiss are like the French. They are cowards.
Cav cops rule….
@ #70…..Cav cops rule…..*cackle*
You guys are going to piss him off and he’ll take all the cake rolls. No more Twinkies is bad enough, but I’ll never forgive you if you make him take off with the chocolate.
His Am. Legion post was #218 in Irving, TX
ROS–no worries, I got some of these awesome raspberry Zingers somewhere…
Oh, and BD? I don’t see anyone grave-dancing here. Yes, a human being has passed, and nobody here drove him to it. He lived a lie, he died in one, and the only person he could ever blame for that stared at him in the mirror every morning of his life.
My conscience is clear. Can you say the same for the acts in your life, son?
Jesus, I didn’t know they still made those, Sparky. Holy hello kitty, Lent just got worse.
Interesting – a couple of posts from early this AM have disappeared. Looks like Jonn or the other admins have been busy today. (smile)
@60 and 67. Duckworth was outted a couple of years ago on POWNetwork. He is still listed there right now. I think it unlikely that TAH’s outting caused anything.
60,67, and 78… excerpt from Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History (Burkett, Whitely 1998) “While trying to raise money to build the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial, I had had a quiet, on-going fight with some local veterans’ groups and their ragtag contingents. Some members were sincerely trying to help the memorial, but I often wished they would stay away. They had a tendency to appear at veterans’ events in shabby military regalia, reinforcing that “Vietnam Vet as bum” image. One of them was Jesse Duckworth, who donned combat fatigues and a green beret on holidays such as Memorial Day. He wore his beret at a jaunty angle, often signing autographs for awestruck kids. He frequently bragged not only had he been awarded the Silver Star for combat heroism, he had even had been nominated for a Distinguished Service Cross. A younger man named Rocky, who also dressed in military garb and wore a green beret, went with him everywhere. They had served together in Vietnam and Rocky confirmed Duckworth’s many war stories. But Duckworth did not look like any Green Beret I ever knew. Slovenly, he always needed a shave and stank of alcohol. In my experience, those who’d earned the right to wear the beret of the Special Forces had too much pride to be seen like that in public. Of course, photographers gravitated to Duckworth at parades and wreath-laying ceremonies. Journalists asked him for quotes on Agent Orange and VA programs. On Veterans’ Day, November 11, 1986, an Associated Press photographer shot a picture of Duckworth at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Washington Mall, saluting a pair of jungle boots. The photo appeared in newspapers around the country with a caption such as: “Vietnam veteran salutes war dead.” Impulsively, I sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis for Duckworth’s record. I had learned about FOIA while obtaining the “Killed in Action” list from the Department of Defense; we wanted to engrave the names of all Texans on the memorial. FOIA… Read more »
Kevin – THANK YOU – for posting that – that is exactly what we have been telling his followers – that think he is a GOD.
Yeah, Kevin, Duckworth disappeared from the local veterans’ scene just to reemerge years later as an Iraq and Afghanistan war “hero”. I guess he just couldn’t help himself. He just wanted to be somebody. He must have been a really sad individual. He certainly didn’t leave this earth a “Hero”.
I really feel sorry for his family. They have had to put up with his stories for decades.
Fuck him. He is burning in hell. I need to know where the grave is… to piss on it.
DFW NAT’L CEMETARY IN GRAND PRAIRIE, TX
Late to the game, sorry I couldn’t add to this earlier.
I am a Duckworth, by blood, and probably distantly related to this recently departed poser. This man has brought shame to our family name. Chalk it up as a true case of stolen valor. I have Duckworth ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. My grandfather, SFC Willie Thurman Duckworth, served honorably in Korea and Vietnam. My father served in the Navy and my step-father served in the Army. I served honorably for twelve years. My cousin and brother both served honorably. One bad apple won’t spoil this bunch, but he gets no sympathy from us, not here or in the hereafter.
J.W. Duckworth may not have caused us physical or financial harm, but I am pissed this man has brought emotional harm and shame to our family.