The POW liars
The piece we did yesterday on POW pretender Bob Curtis reminds me that we need to repeat this story about the Veterans’ Affairs Department and their inability to weed out phony POWs from their ranks. I talked to the reporter who wrote the article that we linked to at the Lebanon Democrat last night and he went back to Mr. Curtis and asked him about the concerns that we raised about his tales. Curtis flashed him a VA ID card that identified Curtis as a POW. This morning, Mary sends us an article from USAToday from 2009;
There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data released by VA to The Associated Press.
A similar discrepancy arises with Vietnam POWs. Only 661 officially recognized prisoners returned from that war alive — and about 100 of those have since died, according to Defense figures. But 966 purported Vietnam POWs are getting disability payments, the VA told AP.
Back in 2012, Senator Patty Murray, who was the chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs asked incompetent boob Ric Shinseki to rectify this problem. We asked the Senate Committee send us the response from Shinseki to the Senators. Shinseki told the committee that they had found only two phony POWs and one had died. Well, we already know how dependable Shinseki was on questions of accounting.
Well, we went to real POW to ask about VA’s documentation, Navy Captain Mike McGrath, who was held for nearly six years by the Vietnamese;
My own VA card has these words on it, just below the picture: “VA HEALTHCARE ENROLLEE SERVICE CONNECTED PURPLE HEART FORMER POW.” If Mr. Curtis has similar words on his VA card identifying himself as a former POW, then that means he has submitted fraudulent documentation (signed) and testimony to the VA to gain that status. In that case, he has committed fraud, Title 18. If this is the case, this matter should be presented to the VA Office of the Inspector General for investigation.
Now that Shinseki is gone, the VA needs to make this thing right with our POWs. There was a bill in Congress that just sat in committee through this Congress – HR 5172; The POW Accountability Act – to force the VA to bounce their rosters of POWs against the DoD’s DPMO records. That bill needs to be revived in this Congress.
Category: Phony soldiers, Veterans' Affairs Department
the VA needs to make this thing right with our POWs. There was a bill in Congress that just sat in committee through this Congress – HR 5172; The POW Accountability Act – to force the VA to bounce their rosters of POWs against the DoD’s DPMO records. That bill needs to be revived in this Congress.
Amen
What Chip said in Spades. I have already contacted my congressman!!!
Done and done…I just sent a thoughtful and well worded e-mail to my congresscritter cutting and pasting some of the specific references here and asked him to get on board with his fellow members, particularly with the “new crew” coming on board in January.
I did the same. Everyone, send the message! Hold these people accountable.
Not that any of you need to have me write anything for you but this is what I sent (in case anyone wants to cut and paste any of it): Congressman, I would respectfully ask that you, with your fellow members of Congress, particularly with the new group coming on board in January, visit the issue of Stolen Valor, VA Fraud and people presenting themselves as POWs to the VA for financial Benefit. Stolen Valor encompass so many areas but this particular area probably needs to be dealt with, with more urgency as it can be “fixed” more quickly than other areas. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 ( (Pub.L. 113–12; H.R. 258)) was passed by the 113th United States Congress and that does accomplish some of what needs to be addressed but specifically looking at the Veteran’s Administration and the rampant mismanagement, there is, as you well know, more of a current concern. For example…” There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data released by VA to The Associated Press.” Senator Patty Murray, who was the chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs asked Ric Shinseki to rectify this problem. And I believe that it was not ever addressed satisfactorily. To that end, there is a simple option that you and your fellow members of Congress can revisit and get behind. It is HR 5172; The POW Accountability Act – to force the VA to bounce their rosters of POWs against the DoD’s DPMO records. That bill needs to be revived in this Congress. It will remove the frauds and phoneys from the Veteran’s Administration teet, saving the tax payers and government millions of dollars in fraudulently paid benefits as well as helping restore some of the integrity to the VA and support and sustain the honorable members of the military who served our nation faithfully. Yours, Here’s the link to find your… Read more »
Didn’t you all see the ‘Flarda’ Congresswoman say she had asked the VA if there were any problems and they told her no. So clearly there is no need to push c
further accountibility at the VA for something as ‘minor’ as fraudulent POW claims.
//end snark//
Damn broken cell phone screen and fat thumbs screwing up my rant….
Here’s a stat that is one of my personal favorites—and I don’t mean that in a good way: “In 2003, although only four living Medal of Honor recipients resided in Virginia, 642 Virginians claimed on their tax forms to be recipients of the Medal of Honor, probably because Virginia provided various benefits to Medal of Honor recipients, including tax-free military retirement income.” Source: The Federal Lawyer Magazine, Sept 2011, Michael J. Davidson, “Bits of Ribbon and Stolen Valor.”
Each and every one of those qualifies as tax fraud AND stands in violation of the Stolen Valor act (as no one can claim that’s NOT attempting to gain financial benefit from their lies). And given how very easy it is to prove these are lies, I cannot help but wonder why they do not do so.
These dudes are the lowest motherfuckers in the Stolen Valor book.
And the VA pays them while screwing Vets that were wounded in combat.
Call Willie Clark, the Western Area VBA Director at his publicly available government number (602-627-2746) and let him know what you think.
I recently got around to (finally) reading the book Stolen Valor. One thing that was discussed was that if a veteran has “POW” stamped on his records, it doesn’t necessarily mean the veteran actually was a POW; in some cases the VA merely took the veteran’s word that he was a POW. I’d like to think that the VA’s criteria have been tightened up since the book was written, but that’s probably not a safe assumption to make.
Just ask Bon “The Maggot” Hay what he thinks.
Word has it that he is still getting paid.
Bill, I think this is the same situation going on in the Curtis case. I spoke with Curtis for approx 30 minutes when I first saw the story about him scheduled to speak at the Veterans’ Day parade. He told me he doesn’t remember where, when, or how the POW stamp was placed on his VA card. He said he receives no monetary benefit from the VA for his alleged POW status. But he is obviously using that card as credibility to receive those intangible benefits afforded to genuine POWs.
how hard is it to cross-check two lists together? give them both to me (the dod pow list, and the va pow list) in an excel document format and i can do it in 2 seconds.
maybe i should submit this to the idea program and make some money.
It would take me a bit longer, but I’d still do it for nothing. Bet there are a bunch of us who would.
I’m easy AND cheap…..
I am still doing penance for the sins I committed doing stuff for a Klondike Bar…
I don’t have any idea how many Our Father’s and Hail Mary’s I have done, but it feels as though it is several hundred thousand at least…
And no, I won’t tell you anything about it…
What happens for a Klondike, stays with the Klondike !!!
Oh, tie these fucks up and shoot their asses…
I’m in. I was thinking about doing some volunteer work on the weekends anyway now that I retired from the Reserves.
“Shinseki told the committee that they had found only two phony POWs and one had died.” He didn’t add that the one who died was being treated at the Phoenix VA.
Speaking of phony POW’s, I have one in the hopper. Claims POW status after his helo went down in the RVN, not listed in DPMO and waiting on the FOIA to be processed. Complainant sent a “copy” of a 214 they were given when processing him, one item jumped right out. lol.
What, exactly, is stopping the VA from checking the DD-214/DD-215 for an award of the Prisoner of War Medal?
Or checking with whatever branch the troop served with to verify that they were captured and behaved honourably in captivity?