Anthony Vanderhoof: Phony SEAL selling trinkets in Saginaw
Yeah I knew this guy was FOS when I saw him in the link sent to us by PCS, but I went through the motions of verifying first with POW Network and Captain Larry Bailey. A local news station found Anthony Vanderhoof on a street corner in Saginaw selling cheap plastic crap to get by;
For the last several weeks, a former Navy Seal has been on a street corner in Saginaw, on another mission: A mission of survival.
“When I came home, I was spit on and called a baby killer, all that,” said Anthony Vanderhoof, disabled Vietnam veteran.
Vanderhoof says that’s how he was treated when he returned from Vietnam in 1975, but while those words hurt, he says, in a way, they were accurate.
“I unwrapped a baby, it was wrapped up in grenades, so it was a bomb. There were 7,000 men in Da Nang, that would have destroyed the base.”
He has that memory from the war, and there was also the time he was injured.
“I played tag with a landmine, lost my toes, got into a firefight, I was hit and on my left hand, I lost my index finger,” he said.
The disabled veteran now lives in a Saginaw apartment and is just getting by on Social Security disability payments.
“All that does is pay my bills and utilities. I have no money for myself,” Vanderhoof said.
Vanderhoof had a steady job until 2005, but hasn’t been able to get a job since. He says he has applied to the Veteran’s Administration for other benefits, and is waiting to see if he is eligible for other financial assistance.
Yeah, Mary says that he doesn’t appear in her database of Vietnam veterans. She also points out that combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in 1973, and Vanderhoof says he came back in 1975, of course because he’s a secret fucking squirrel. He even holds up the place where the finger he lost in the war used to be. Well played Anthony. And a baby wrapped in enough grenades to blow up the base at Da Nang would have to be moved by a truck.
I’ve emailed the author of the story and I’m awaiting a response but there’s strength in numbers; terry.r.camp@abc12.com .
Obviously, he fit the stereotypes, so they didn’t have to check on him. I’m pretty sure Mumbles McQueasy couldn’t even get into the military, unless he was in Jimmy Carter’s VolAr with his 64 GT score. I think it’s pretty disgusting that the author thought this guy could have been a SEAL – they do have standards after all.
Category: Phony soldiers
I don’t know about Vietname era but now you can’t leave service without having your benefits gone over.
hell when I got rated 20% disability there was nothign i had to do but show up for that first physical. The rest happened.
The military takes care of its own as long as you have done your duty.
Saginaw, eh? that’s like 2 hours from me….wonder if I can get off work….
By 1975, there were very few, if any, spitters around doing the “babykiller” routine at airports, bus stations, etc., because we were already out of there. Most of the country, by 1975, was worried about inflation and the crappy cars coming out of Detroit (think I’m kidding? How many look back with fondness to any car model from 1975? And the AMC Pacer don’t count)?
The reporter answered back that they’ve had a few emails in the past few days and he’s checking with his editor about what he should do. Apparently, the guy was right outside their office, so they thought it’d be a slam dunk day’s work. So, thanks to our readers, his day just got harder.
Yeah, you just don’t get discharged without folks going over your benefits and applications.
If this guy really WAS injured by a mine, he’d have been eligible from the get go for at least VA health care, if not some form of disability rating/pension.
Email sent….wait….HE?
The reporter is a HE?
Damn. Well…
fuck me.
I’ll get over it.
You missed it, he was Randolph Hearst’s bodyguard, right after the SLA kidnapped Patty. “If anybody wanted to see Hearst, they had to to see first. I searched everyone looking for weapons. There were a few incidents but nothing serious,” said Vanderhoof.
He scammed the Saginaw News back on March 5. The reporterette, Erica Perdue, was taken in back then.
[…] author of the previous article told me that the Saginaw News also did an article on Mumbles McQueasy, so I went looking for it and sure enough, the little turd isn’t just telling people that […]
Forgot to add the link to that article, http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/03/disabled_navy_vet_former_body.html
I e-mailed Terry, and got a response as he admitted to screwing the pooch on this. I told him to talk to Jonn about how to do his job in a better way regarding those who claim to be veterans with a big story.
@9, I too e-mailed Mr. Camp and I also got a response where he, Mr. Camp, admitted he didn’t do his research. Gotta respect that!
Like we discussed before in similar topics, we will never see the end of these phonies getting the best of media/journalist types.
The fact is that media/journalist/vet orgs continue to drop the ball when it comes to phonies.
It’s like a broken record. Phony dupes journalist/reporter. People get suspicious and start background checks. Phony is unmasked. Journalist/reporter is contacted. Said journalist/reporter claims to be embarrassed about screw up, not sure what happened, but assures that it won’t happen again. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Obviously many people out there have some sort of “honor code” where they feel that it is somehow bad to question someone about their military claims. So they take things at face value. Yes I can understand that but come on some of these military claims are so ridiculous and outrageous there should be no excuses!
There is one thing I do understand about Rangers & SEAL’s, if one is down on his luck, when the others find out, they will come to his aid. As far as this guy goes….burn his lying, worthless ass!
FWIW: The last official combat action of the Vietnam War was 15MAY75 on Koh Tang Island 40 some kilometers off the coast of Cambodia, Gulf of Thailand. Also known as the “Mayaguez Incident, 15 US Marines were being air lifted onto the island when the USAF CH-53’s they were on-board were engaged by rocket and small arms fire from Khmer Rogue forces and gunboats stationed on the island. All personnel on-board the Chinook’s perished and three US Marines were left behind and killed several days later.
SS Mayaguez Incident Sorry for muffing the link in my last reply.
streetsweeper: in this case, Wikipedia is misleading. The Mayaguez incident is not officially recognized as part of the Vietnam War. Rather, it is considered a separate operation, participation in which is recognized by the AFEM vice the VSM. See SECNAVINST 1650.1H, Appendix A to Chapter 4, p. 4-65, and AR 600-8-22, para 2-12.
Addendum to comment 14: technically, the same is true for both EAGLE PULL (evac of Cambodia, 11-13 April 1975) and FREQUENT WIND (evac of Vietnam, 29-30 April 1975). These operations are also recognized by the AFEM vice the VSM. However, FREQUENT WIND – though occurring after the end of the Vietnam War – is in a special status, as by regulation participants in this operation may elect to wear the VSM vice the AFEM. See regulations listed above.
Wait a second. Wikipedia wrong? Man, tell me this 4th of July is the 500th. Right? my folks were from the UK but there is zero hard feelings. Darn, glad I didn’t rent the hall. Next you will be telling me John Decyk WASN’T a Marine or MMA fighter. errrr, wait a sec….
[…] tear soaked articles about how the VA and the military was mistreating the derelict (previous posts here, here and here). Mary at POW Network came through with his records last […]