Gordon Katske; phony pilot, phony Vietnam vet
Thomas sent us this link late last month about Gordon Katske who claims in the article about him that he was a fixed-wing and rotary wing pilot in Vietnam and that he had been shot down “over enemy territory”;
Following in his father’s footsteps, Katske enlisted in the Air Force just as the war in Vietnam was heating up. He became a pilot (call-sign: “Doc”) of helicopters and F-4 fighter jets, emerging at barely 20 years of age as a much-decorated captain (and still healing from injuries sustained when his chopper was shot down in enemy territory).
For future reference, “Doc”, captains don’t enlist, they get commissioned by Congress. he says that he was a pilot when he was “barely 20 years of age”. Katske was born in 1944, his records show that he didn’t join the National Guard until 1971 making him 27.
No awards for service in Vietnam, no pilot do-dads, and it looks like when he was 20, he was in college and medical school, in Chicago, which is probably like Vietnam these days, but not then.
Katske goes on to tell the reporter that he was “inducted into the Royal Society of Medicine by appointment of the queen.” Yeah, I’d believe that shit just like I believed the crap about his military service. It looks like he benefited from draft deferments through most of the Vietnam War and then went to the Guard where he was less likely to be sent to Vietnam – not that there’s anything wrong with any of that, but then to steal from people who went to Vietnam and put their lives in various levels of danger is just creepy and the ultimate “F-You” to actual Vietnam veterans.
If I lived in San Jose, this is the last person I’d let in the operating room with me. I’m guessing that the rest of the shit he brags about in the article is probably bullshit, too.
ADDED: I’ve been staring at that picture all day trying to figure who he looked like, then I remembered – Harcourt Fenton Mudd;
ADDED AGAIN: The Mercury News shut down the web page so here are some of the pertinent screen shots from a cache copy;
Here’s a .pdf of the articlethanks to Hondo, who I also neglected to mention got us the FOIA on Katske in the first place.
Category: Phony soldiers
Dude looks creepy.
Turd.
But I do like the mustache.
He sorta looks like the Red Baron pizza guy.
@47:
Hey, I’m in full agreement with you.
@49 Chip- I’m able to get to it again.
@44 My comments @15 were satirical in nature I have no idea if dad was a liar or not….regardless of dad’s character his kid is a f#cking liar…that was the point I was attempting to make in comment 15, clearly I need to either ratchet up the level of humor or stop attempting to use humor to make an observation.
OK for those who may have pantiesinabunchitis and don’t understand SATIRE or comparative messaging, here is a message to calm all concerned:
Separated at Birth:
Gordon Katske = Lieutenant Frederick Georges
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=35326
MCPO NYC Ret: Master Chief, take Advil liquigels for the back spasms, or else an alcohol rub on the inside via a prime dosage of Irish whiskey.
I have just planted seeds in pots and my back is not happy with me, either.
@ MCPO: Happy birthday – you’re in NY, right? Check out the NY Post today and get yourself invited to one of those parties they’re talking about. You’ll feel better instantly.
Chill pill taken.
This dude is literally 20 minutes form my house .. I might go pay him a nice visit ask him why he decided to play hero.
Los Gatos is a very nice hospital I bet this phonie is attracting a lot of money, his practice is: http://www.drkatske.com/ they even linked the article in the first page so you really know is him.
BTW the article is up at http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23286454 … I just visited it via the godo ol’ doctor’s website.
The Mercury News link has been taken down. If you are that close I would suggest presenting this to his hospital CEO and informing the state licensing board about his fraud. I have seen doctors suspended for far less than this.
Hah! we can dub him “the phantom pilot”! At least Harcourt Fenton Mudd was a real pilot; he piloted the starship smuggling pretty women in that Star Trek episode…
How many rotor pilots did the USAF have in Viet Nam again???
This guy makes we want to gag. Looks like USAF is getting entirely too much attention this week.
In the ANG, we sometimes had some trouble keeping some of the medical staff within regs, but that sort of moustache would never have been allowed. It is actually rather astounding that the pic even made it into his file. Maybe it’s there as evidence of some sort of punitive action.
I will keep you updated, could I get the full DD214 so I can show it to the manager of the practice? or you guys think with this copy that is online will suffice?
LostOnThemInterwebs: on a FOIA request, you generally don’t get a DD214 (sometimes you will, but if so it’s heavily redacted). What Jonn posted is more commonly what you get as a FOIA response.
Jonn can send you a copy of the FOIA on the tool. Sending a copy of that, plus a link to this TAH article, to the practice manager and/or state board might be a better idea than confronting the guy yourself. IMO he may well get bellicose if/when confronted.
Or, alternatively, you could simply post the practice manager and/or state medical board’s e-mail and postal contact info. Who knows what might get sent to them anonymously if that happened?
How come he doesn’t even have a gedunk medal?
Ex-PH2: can’t speak for the USAF, but if I recall the Army regs for the NDSM correctly prior to 1990 it required at least one day’s service on active duty in other than a training status. (There are a few other exclusions as well – active duty to serve on boards, for the purpose of undergoing physical exams, and for one or two other purposes were also excluded.) I think all the services had the same policy, as the NDSM was common to all services and DoD would have set policy for eligibility. But I’m not positive.
What the lack of a NDSM tells me is that any active duty Katske had was for initial entry training or AT – and that he had no other active duty service whatsoever prior to Aug 1974.
#67: What? Wait! He was a Jolly Green Giant pilot and Phantom driver and was wounded in action in The Nam and…oh, that’s right, he made up that shit for the newspapers…NEVER MIND!
Hmmmm. Now who else do we know with a mustache like that . . . .
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=29627
Wonder if they ever met – and compared notes about how to handle questions about their military service from newspaper reporters?
I wonder if these fakers think that the way things were done in the 19th Century are still the way they’re done now… The above photo is the second one, that I’ve seen, sporting the 19th Century style mustache while in uniform.
There was a phony Marine that did the same thing… wearing a Marine “Class A” uniform while sporting a 19th Century style mustache.
Here’s a photograph taken during the 19th Century:
http://images.bridgemanart.com/cgi-bin/bridgemanImage.cgi/400wm.LEM.2988550.7055475/555713.jpg
Sending this to my “buddy” an F4 River Rat. He will go apeshit.
@65 Hondo
Yeah I was planing to go to the practice and just talk to the managers and express my concern, show them this and give them a link to this blog I just wanted to have some documentation to show then right there and not just say “well is on the internet” they might dismiss it as a “troll” or non factual but with the FOIA which I will print I can go and say “Look this is what is going on, I’m personally concerned please address this. Thank you”
I will keep you guys posted!
I wouldn’t sweat it, LostOnThemInterwebs. The Mercury-Sun has a copy now – as well as an explanation as to why it shows Katske may have been “less than truthful”. (smile)
On a gorgeous note, researching more he owns the practice soooo I can’t go there unless I want to get out in handcuffs (not really inclined to that) and there is nobody to complain to in there, but I found this:
http://www.mbc.ca.gov/forms/07i-61.pdf?date=Nov6
I like how it says:
Nature of the complaint: Unprofessional Conduct and in the parenthesis says “Breach of Confidence, Record Alteration, Fraud, Misleading Advertising, Arrest or conviction”
But I’ve never filled one, I did find his medical records, clean no complaints so sounds like he is a good doctor just a little bit … mouthy .. might be worth a try?
http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/LicenseLookupSystem/PhysicianSurgeon/Lookup.aspx?licenseType=G&licenseNumber=23722
I know I know I’m over posting but
Holy crap!! you know this face reminded me of someone and it does look like this dude doesn’t it?
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=29376
OWB, 2 or 3 squadrons of Jolly Green. One in Saigon. One squadron in Da Nang and one possibly in Thailand. Joe
Ah, yes, Joe. Had a feeling I was disremembering something. Thanks! Those giants were something else.
This guy is also the missing “Mario Brother”.
I think you can look for him on Level 8-9 or something…
Nerd.
It goes to show that insecurity and low self esteem, regardless of social status can lead to being a total d-bag.
The guy is probably well off financially, definately has a great education and career success. He was a commissioned Officer, which is an accomplishment not a lot of people can claim.
The only thing that comes close to matching the sliminess of his lies is the stupidity of the reporter and editor of the paper.
20 Year old Vietnam era Captain and dual qualed Pilot? For Pete’s sake do some research.
I forgot no, Air Medals, no PH and no DFC. No hot shot F-4 driver is going to voluntary cross train to Rotors.An Air Force officer at 20 and a Captain without a chest full of SS and BS medals.
@73 (and I should mention, I’m retired Army Medical Service Corps). In addition to his private practice, he has privileges at several local hospitals (also referred to as being on the hospital staff). These privileges are granted individually by the hospitals themselves, based on the provider’s training and experience, and the capability of the hospital to provide support to certain procedures or specialties. If he’s not privileged, he can’t admit patients or perform surgery. And I’m sure their credentialing committees would have a dim view of this. Those are the folks to talk to first. Here is what his website says:
“Dr. Katske is on the staff of the Good Samaritan Hospital, O’Connor Hospital, EL Camino Hospital, and the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Hospital where he teaches medical students and residents from Stanford University.”
There should be a “Best Supporting Douche” category in the Ballduster Tournament to recognize the reporters and editors who print this crap without verification (or applying common sense).
I wonder if Dr. Katske’s state medical board would be interested in his Vietnam service claims. If he would lie about military service, perhaps he might falsify details in the medical chart to cover up bad outcomes or exaggerate what he did for a patient to increase his insurance reimbursement.
The main premise of the article… “Dr. Gordon Katske is named one of America’s top doctors”
“…from U.S. News & World Report, several paragraphs of complimentary prose informed him that he had been selected as one of the country’s top cardiac and thoracic surgeons for 2012-2013.”
Appears to be about as impressive as being endorsed on Linkedin.
http://health.usnews.com/top-doctors/gordon-katske-cardiac-thoracic-surgeon-84CC011374
@83.
Absolutely they would.
His particular state’s Department of Labor and Industry (if applicable) will have a field day with the ethics issue.
Katske is a liar and a torturer-as a doctor. Torturer-by slow death due to the illusion that he is ‘God’.
FUCK ALL OF YOU PIECES OF SHIT!! This man is an incredible human being and doctor! One of the smartest men I have ever met!!
And not one of you, for whatever your reasons, has ever made yourself out to be more than you are.
Well, I’ve never claimed to have served in combat when I didn’t. Or to have been a pilot when I wasn’t. Or to have been injured in combat when I wasn’t.
So no, “L” – I guess I haven’t done what Katske did. I’ve never lied my azz off like that.
That’s probably because I know people who actually did most of the things Katske lied about doing. And I saw what it cost them.
TAH Hymnal, page 12, is appropriate for this guy.
Congratulations for reviving a thread that has been dormant for fourteen. Before you go full Wickre committing your time, money and bad azz internet skills defending this guy, check the TAH archives for the Phil Monkress and Paul Wickre threads. If you still would like to proceed, well, you have been warned.
He should also Google “Dennis Howard Chevalier.”
So you had sex with him, and that’s what makes him so WUNNAFULLA?
Haven’t met many smart people, have ya?
Oh looky – a couple of losers waking up a dead thread.
I’m with Hondo. Can’t say that I’ve ever made claims that weren’t true like Dr Red Baron pizza guy, but one claim I’d love to add is of kicking a sockpuppet’s stupid ass.
Sounds like fun.
Yeah.
Dude is loser.
Fabricated Vietnam stories like this do indeed disrepect all the Veterans out there. Shameful but I have to say I’m not surprised considering the source.