Eugene Gino Zangara steals all of the valor

Someone sent us this guy, Gino Zangara when he passed away and the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders were making arrangements to escort him to his final rest.

Yep, he claimed that he served in World War II, even though he turned 16 the year that the war ended. From his obituary;

He joined the Army at the age of 15 (underage) as he went to the recruitment office with older friends who were required to sign-up under the draft law. He lied about his age, and the officer scolded him for not signing up sooner, as he added 3 years to his age, not 1 or 2. When the Truancy Board found him, he returned to school for a few months until the ripe old age of 17, which was the legal age for enlisting at that time. Gino was a member of VUMS (Veterans of Underage Military Service). He was trained at Fort Dix, NJ, and Fort Sill, OK. Gino made 1004 parachute jumps over his career (yes, from perfectly functioning planes) and was proud to be an Army Airborne Ranger, Special Ops.

1004 parachute jumps – sounds totally legit, doesn’t it?

Wild stuff. Wait it keeps getting better;

After his stint in the Army, Gino thought the Navy would be easy, as he would not have to go through Basic Training again, so he re-enlisted in the Navy. He served in the Underwater Demolition Team as a Frogman, with the primary function of locating and destroying underwater obstacles to allow for amphibious landings. Gino served as a Coxswain from 1950-53 on the USS Okanogan (APA-220). He could ‘walk’ his UDT boat sideways to ‘parallel park’ it next to the ship for loading and unloading frogmen. Gino was in the movie Frogmen starring Richard Widmark. He was filmed recovering fellow Frogmen out of the water single handedly as his rubber boat was being pulled by a faster boat.

He received his first Purple Heart for a wound he received in Korea; he took shrapnel in his left arm from a mortar explosion. Later in his Naval career, he attended Hospital Corpsman School and Naval Radiology School, and was then attached to a Marine Force Recon Unit as a Corpsman. As a corpsman, he had the opportunity of taking the Marine option – Gino took the rank and uniform of a Marine and conformed to Marine Corps regulations. As a Marine, he attained the rank of Sergeant Major, the highest rank an enlisted man can reach.

Think he’s done? Nope;

The Lake Champlain (also an aircraft carrier) was selected as the prime recovery ship for America’s first manned space flight. She sailed for the recovery area on May 1, 1961, and was on station on the 5th when Commander Alan Shepard was recovered along with spacecraft Freedom 7 after splashdown some 300 miles down range from Cape Kennedy. Gino was the Frogman, in the water, to open the hatch of the Freedom 7. (Frogmen and UDT specialists were the pre-Navy Seals that we know today). Being a corpsman stationed on the Lake Champlain, he gave Alan Shepherd his first physical once he was brought on board. Toward the end of his Naval career, Gino served on the USS Essex CV CVA CVS-9 aircraft carrier from 1967 to 68.

He received two more Purple Hearts while serving in Vietnam. He was injured twice by snipers, once in his back and once in his neck. He was awarded South Vietnam’s Gallantry Cross for heroism when, while temporarily attached to a South Vietnamese recon team, they were ambushed by Viet Cong while on patrol. Four members of his team were wounded, and while under fire, he pulled all 4 men to safety. He was rushed by 4 VC and, in defense of himself and his 4 wounded team members, he killed 3 with one of the wounded men’s weapons and the 4th in hand to hand with his knife.

Where to start? Well there is no record of him being in the Army or the Marine Corps. He was in the Navy, though, he joined in 1950 and his service awards indicate that he was in Korea. But there’s nothing that says that he joined the Army at 15 or again at 17. There are no World War II service medals in his file. There is also no mention of SEAL or UDT training. Jumping ahead to his daring rescue of Alan B Shepard and the Mercury capsule. Yep, the USS Lake Champlain recovered the space vehicle, but Zangara wasn’t there. He didn’t join the ship until 1963 – two years later. He was on board when they recovered Gemini 5, though. I wonder why he didn’t mention that?

He then transferred to the 3rd Marine Division – their 3rd Medical Battalion and he served 8 months in Vietnam. While he was there, the 3rd Marine Division earned the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry as a unit award, so it’s doubtful that he earned it for an individual action like he describes. He does have a Purple Heart – just one not the three that he claims. He also legitimately has a Combat Action Ribbon – I have to guess that earned in Korea along with the Purple Heart. But he left the Navy for the Fleet Reserves in 1968 after 18 years of continuous service in the Navy as a hospital medic in the pay grade of E-6 (HM1).

Then, I guess he joined the Texas State Guard (the state militia – not the National Guard) where he became a brevet general – I don’t know what’s involved in that, but that’s what it is. Judging by the picture, he decided that he needed some parachute wings and a Silver Star.

Notice that at no time did he become a Marine Corps Sergeant Major, nor did he have an assignment as anything else but a hospital medic. I guess he figured that he needed some bling to go along with those brevet general stars of the Texas State Guard. Normally, I’d lay some of the blame on the family for an obit – but that obit just has too many details. I suspect that he wrote it. You know he couldn’t resist pinning on a CIB and I suspect that it has two stars on it, too.

Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures