Tyler Dodd and his “little white lie”
Last week someone sent us a link to an article about Tyler Dodd, one of the “heroes” of the Boston Marathon bombing, who made himself useful in the aftermath of that tragedy by helping to treat some of the victims. He claimed, at the time, that he had been wounded by an IED in Afghanistan. He just sounded weird and it didn’t sound right to me, nor to the person who sent the link.
Well, it turns out that feeling was correct, he’s admitted that he wasn’t in the military and he hadn’t been wounded;
“She was obviously in extreme pain,” Dodd told Fox News. “If there was nothing else I could do, I could talk to her.’
He told the frightened victim that he was a veteran wounded by shrapnel in Afghanistan, and that when McGrath’s leg healed, she would have a scar just like his.
It was a lie — Dodd says he has not served in the military. In an Esquire article, he identifies as a recovering alcoholic. He said he has medical training in trauma and first aid, which is what sent him running to the medical tent after the explosions.
Apparently, that wasn’t the only time that he shopped that tale in public, according to Zap2it;
[JW] Cortes was on duty at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan when he responded to a call for an police officer needing assistance at the corner of Vanderbilt Ave. and 43rd street. There he found an officer and two men in an altercation.
One of the men was arrested, and the other turned out to be Tyler Dodd — who claimed at the time to be a former Marine and Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran — who had chased someone after witnessing a robbery. Dodd recognized Cortes from “Stars Earn Stripes,” and received a caution from the officer about becoming involved in such an incident in the future.
“He was just so humble,” said Cortes, pictured above with Dodd. “He told me he was a staff sergeant, showed me his wounds. I was so in awe of him, just how nice he was.”
Of course, everyone forgives him because he was their darling last week and he got a mention from Governor Deval and the NY Daily News calls it a “white lie”. We here at TAH know that people who lie about their service have other character flaws, some of them criminal, so I’d warn everyone, before they get too close to “white lie” Tyler Dodd to keep your hand over your wallet and make him keep his hands in his pockets when you’re around.
There was absolutely no reason for him to tell that lie, to Ms McGrath, or to the media, except to make himself feel better about himself. There’s something wrong with the dude.
Category: Phony soldiers
Douchefag
He helped save that girls life, but…. the fact that he told this lie more than just that one time. Attention seeking douche, he could have stayed anonymous, gone from view. I am thinking the girl he helped would have been better off not knowing her hero fed her a total line of poser bull shit.
I read this part, too, when it came out and thought it was strange:
“One of the men was arrested, and the other turned out to be Tyler Dodd — who claimed at the time to be a former Marine and Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran — who had chased someone after witnessing a robbery. Dodd recognized Cortes from “Stars Earn Stripes,” and received a caution from the officer about becoming involved in such an incident in the future.”
Thanks for following up.
He is no different than the Wannabee who “stood guard” outside a school while in a uniform with rank not earned and battle stories that were as false as his intentions. There are people online who are still defending that asshole.
Dollars to donuts he puts a claim in for compensation as a victim of the bombing.
Is this guy such a moron that he thinks that after he appeared in the limelight in such a high profile incident as the Boston bombings that nobody was going to check his background? Dumb…
What a loser.
He actually is trying to help people but wants credit for it so he invents the stories.
Sometimes your biggest heroes go unoticed.
Turd.
I can almost accept telling someone in the heat of a life threatening moment anything which will comfort them in order to reduce their anxiety level. Almost.
But to repeat the lie to others? Never. No excuse for it.
This guy has quite a rap-sheet.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=tyler+stanley+dodd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
There’s bad in good people, and good in bad people.
It would do this moron a world of good to get the bad beaten out of him. That way the good could shine through.
From the Stolen Valor FB page wall:
“Tyler dodd from the boston marathon bombings has stolen vslor from us brothers and sisters. He told the people of my town, as a pan handler, that he was an afgan war veteran but couldnt get his facts straight and as of his interviews after the marathon he is an oil rig worker…please pass this along my fellow brothers and sisters we must put a stop to this fraud”
Interesting.
Here’s the original story.
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/08/stars-earn-stripes-jw-cortes-encounters-good-samaritan-and-fellow-former-us-marine-in-new-york-city.html
Here’s that cop. Sounds like he can’t believe he was lied to:
https://twitter.com/McSev/status/325060450469441537
Damn! you guys need to recruit an Army of people just too keep up with these douche bags…
lol pretty much. They don’t ever think their lies will catch up to them, but they often do.
Helping to treat the injured, running into what was an unknown danger spot when so many ran away are all good things by themselves….
I will never understand why people who do good things have to embellish or outright lie to add to the story…if he wasn’t a liar everyone here and in the rest of the nation would be counting him as one of the good guys, someone with courage and strength to endanger themselves to help another….now the lie he tells sullies his good deeds…and leaves a sh1t stain he can’t wash out.
It is true that one lie destroys your word and reputation….
You can comfort someone without lying about who you are. What a d-bag…
@16
if he wasn’t a liar everyone here and in the rest of the nation would be counting him as one of the good guys, someone with courage and strength to endanger themselves to help another….now the lie he tells sullies his good deeds
I chalk it up to greed. They got a taste of fame and adulation and don’t want it to end.
Not making excuses, as there are none, just supposing what drives someone to this kind of stupidity.
EdUSMCleg@9: Well, at least we now know he has been a veteran since 2001…a veteran of the Oklahoma, North Carolina, Florida, Texas (and God knows how many more) Jail/Prison system.
@19- lol. Got that right. He got around.
He seemed off to me, too–a bit of glory hound. Thanks for getting to the bottom of it!
Sadly, I know an idiot of this caliber. Claims to be a former Army Ranger. And at this particular juncture is positioning himself with a hospice facility. I’m very worried he will use that position to prey on very vulnerable people. Some of these hospice administrators stand in awe of him. Is there anywhere to turn to prove or disprove his claims??? No one seems to be able to direct me. Any help or direction would be greatly, greatly appreciated.
Where2Turn: if you can come up with (1) the individual’s full name (first/middle/last), (2) his DOB, and (3) approximate dates of service, you should be able to file a FOIA request on the individual yourself. I can send you some info that might assist you in the process. Drop Jonn a note (see the “Contact Us” button above) and ask him to put you in touch with me.
However, be advised that “former Army Ranger” can be a somewhat difficult-to-pin-down claim, as it has multiple meanings.
Attendance at Ranger School confers the Ranger Tab (technically a qualification badge), but does not mean the individual ever served as a Ranger in a Ranger unit (many attend Ranger School who never serve in a Ranger unit). People who’ve completed Ranger School are legitimately “Ranger qualified”.
Service in a Ranger unit is also generally accepted as allowing one to claim to be a “former Ranger”, particularly if that service was in combat. That’s true whether or not the individual attended Ranger School. A review of the individual’s assignments is necessary to determine this.
However, if the individual has neither attended Ranger School nor served in a Ranger unit, then they’re very obviously lying when they claim to be a “former Army Ranger”.
Wow. All I can say after reading all these comments is that ya’ll must be some kinda special since it seems not one single person here has ever, ever, ever made a mistake and certainly none ya’ll has ever been guilty of any tell’n of a “white lie” before… I mean, God Bless each of you for being so damned perfect.
@24
Yawn. Your sentiments are misplaced. Nobody here claims to be perfect. We’re just adult enough to own up to our mistakes, not propagate them.