Lea Daniels; Stolen Valor Justice doesn’t rest on Memorial Day
All I wanted to do was read a nice story about Rolling Thunder on Memorial Day, and so I opened up the Washington Times and started reading the words of Meredith Somers, a Times reporter who rode with a local club to the Pentagon from their Northern Virginia staging area. but then I ran across this part of the missive;
As is my habit, I checked the DoD’s Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office’s list and of course there is no Lea Daniels.
The only Daniels on the list of Vietnam POWs is a Navy O-5 who returned in 1973. So since Lea Daniels lost part of his tongue as a POW and he wasn’t a POW, maybe he wore it down licking windows at the homeless shelter, or licking light sockets. So, I sent the article to Mary and the National Personnel Records Center responded; who?
I’ve written to the author of the article and to the Christian Motorcyclists Association whose chaplain asked him to be their “honored rider” to see if anyone had checked his story out. I heard back from someone at CMA a few days after I emailed, and they said they’d check on it, but I never heard back. Nothing from the Washington Times writer, either.
Category: Phony soldiers
Some 2.5 million Americans served in Vietnam; VA says less than 700,000 are still alive today. Yet, the Census Bureau reports that about 16 MILLION Americans today claim they are Vietnam Veterans. Somebody out there’s sure lying…
I guess they think no one will check anything these days.
BTW, if not mentioned here yet, Col. Bud Day, REAL Vietnam Hero and POW, passed away yesterday. Rest in Peace with Honor, Colonel…
Regarding #3: Oops, I’ve been out of the loop this past weekend; I see that Jonn has already posted about Col. Day’s passing. RIP, Colonel Day…
13.5 million Airborne Special Forces Recondo Marines and shuttle door gunners have no official records because their ops in the Nam were so black that even the CIA wouldn’t have known about it. So it’s no surprise that only ~2.5 million Vietnam vets can be accounted for in official records.
/takes off Makeshitup hat
Why are these people so quick to accept phony’s stories at face value with all of the stolen valor claims floating around ? Without knowing who he was, I would have checked out Col Bud Day’s name from the list before I wrote about him or asked him to be in an honorary position.
Once again, the trinity of Motorcycle Clubs, Martial Arts Studios, and Airsoft Groupies keeps it’s streak going. The sad thing is that it appears this MC didn’t have a phony in their club so they had to go out and recruit one.
@TheOtherMatt, does that hat come with a huge gold Trident or SF crest emblem on it ?
#7…There is a HUGE difference between an Motorcycle Association and a Motorcycle Club. Your very limited experience is due to pieces of shit like Monkress and Crane. As with any organization, sometimes shitbirds do make it in. However, unlike most, they do not last long in a traditional MC because MCs take their garbage out quickly once issues like that arise. I assume you are probably a proud owner of a firearm right? How do you like being lumped into the same category as shitheads like the Aurora or Newtown shooters? My point is…do not lump all MCs (which there isn’t even an MC listed in this post) into the category of shitheads because a couple of members of MCs or Riding Clubs or bikers in general (of which very few actually belong to an MC or RC) get posted on this blog
@6 Because most folks don’t really know about stolen valor. It’s a common theme for veterans because of sites like this, but the average joe no longer knows anyone in their family or circle of friends who serves.
With less than 1% of the population in uniform the general public has no idea how to tell the phonies from the honest veterans. They have no common knowledge to work from, they have no family or friends to ask so anybody presenting themselves as a veteran with a story has a huge advantage. It’s not quite as easy as stealing from a baby, but it’s pretty f$cking close….
I wonder if this clown is in Phil’s gang?
Turd.
#11…most Motorcycle Clubs are not identified by the U.S. government as gangs; only a very small percentage of them are (that’s why they call themselves 1%ers). As I’ve already said, the Christian Motorcycle Association isn’t even a Motorcycle Club, much less some dude riding in a side car. He is a turd though; on that we agree
@1 and 5 – just like out of the 200-250,000 who actually went to Woodstock, only 672,654,369,252 still talk about it today. I once saw a PBS fundraiser showing the movie in which the announcer said “if we had $5 from everyone who claimed to be at Woodstock and wasn’t, we’d never have to have another fundraiser again.”
@12.
“Gang” was meant more in a facetious attempt at comedy.
Like the “Over the Hill Gang”.
But your point is valid and I should have clarified my statement and intent.
Fair enough.
Point taken.
@8 – Nope. It’s a run of the mill NASCAR hat.
“Why are these people so quick to accept phony’s stories at face value with all of the stolen valor claims floating around?”
Because it doesn’t matter to them or 99% of their readers whether the story is true or not. It’s no skin off their nose if they report lies that few will notice or care about.
@14…gotcha. I stand corrected
Jatama, apologies if I don’t understand all the specifics of what makes up a MC vs. an association. I will just say that a significant number of the posers we see on this site, also enjoy riding motorcycles and wearing leather vests with patches. Maybe they’re posers in the motorcycle world too.
It’s not just Crane & Monkress. Big Dawg Keaton, Bustamente, David Groves, Michael Douglas, Cesar Crespar…Check out Don Shipley’s FB page for a phony SEAL/Biker outed over the weekend. Someone known to a lot of us on this site told me he’ll never go back to Rolling Thunder because the amount of posers in the crowd was too much to endure.
AverageNCO my apologies as well because I realized it seemed like I was attacking you as well. You have to understand, I’m in a respectable veteran Motorcycle Club and our members are thoroughly vetted. When it seems like someone is attacking MCs, it lights a fire up under me. I do know that many of the posers are bikers but that doesn’t mean all bikers are posers. Also, just because they’re wearing a vest with patches doesn’t mean they’re part of an MC, RC, or some other association. Many bikers wear vests with random stuff sewn all over them and yes, there are many posers in the motorcycle world too. When I went to Rolling Thunder this year, my first, I saw what you’re talking about. It is impossible to determine the reals from the fakes there and there are, literally, millions of people there.
“…homeless in Richmond…”
Wonder if the Chaplain took him to Arkansas after the ride or left him in the Fairfax/Richmond area…
I personally haven’t run into a poser at Rolling Thunder, but I pretty much stay with Legion Riders and don’t go poser hunting during the event. TSO was there and didn’t bust anyone this year, but he was busy *not* putting sun screen on.
What percentage of the original tourney entries are bikers? We’re down to one now….or 25%.
@1 “Some 2.5 million Americans served in Vietnam; VA says less than 700,000 are still alive today.” That is an unreal statistic….really shocked me. But makes sense now when I look at the taps section of the VVA newsletter…..all are at or about my age.
I meet ex RVN “vets” all the time who’s stories fall apart when poked with a few pertinent questions….and given my strange military career, then can’t hide behind the “different” branch cover.
Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine
USAF 6924th SECURITY SQ
USNR 3-12th NAVAL SECUITY GROUP
USAR 11th SPECIAL FORCES GROUP ABN
USMCR Co “G” 2nd BN 25th 4thMarDiv
NJNG 3/113th M INF
Matt, you missed the Coast Guard.
@22. I knew a fellow with a similar service background. He was an air traffic control guy.
@23 Tried. Went to the Cost Guard recruiter….they said I needed my wife’s signature…..that was not going to happen. She later told me to get out or get divorced….made the mistake of getting out (last service NJNG) with 17+ years (4 active, the rest reserves). Eventually got divorced anyway.
Expected some skepticism about my service…sent details to the admin of this site…(copies of orders, discharges, dd-214, dd-215 and an invite to call me, etc.). Should save me some typing….all the best.
@25 Matt You sound legit, mostly because you aren’t claiming a bunch of high speed Low drag stuff. I have personally never met anyone who got into 4 branches. More than a few guys I was with in the Corps got out and ended up in the Army… In the 20 years I did I served with maybe 5 guys who were prior service that I knew of, and one of them had been Air Force AND Army before joining the Corps. He was about a 40 year old SSgt when I met him. Not because he was jacked up, but because he had a lot of broken time.
@26.
Saw a woman a few years back claiming three.
She was legit but thought it was cool; something special.
Not.
Weak.
Did anybody ever hear back from the CMA or the Wash Times reporterette about this “homeless” phony?
Is it just me, or are most of the reporters who get duped by phony soldiers, females?
@1 Don’t mean to come across as an ass, but not sure where you got your numbers. Here is what the Census Bureau is currently showing:
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff27.html
I’m a “Vietnam-era Veteran” myself, having been at the AF Academy from ’73-’77 and then on active duty until 1994.
I will agree with you on two things:
1) There ARE an awful lot of liars out there!
2) They are all asshats!