Gary Wayne Gilbert
About three years ago, Gary Wayne Gilbert almost got away with taking his stories about being a POW in Vietnam to his grave. Not only did his obituary claim that he was a POW, we also found incidents in which he’d said that he was a POW while he was alive.
The headstone on the left above appeared on his grave. We made a bit of a stink about it with the help of Mike McGrath, a real Vietnam POW.
Arlington National Cemetery opened an inquiry a little over two years ago. Pat sends us a picture of the proof that the error has been corrected.
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
Nice going, Mike McGrath!! Thank you.
BZ to Mike for his work!
Mike McGrath, Job WELL DONE! Can you rip the Trident off of Bernaths hat next?
An honorably served and retired officer who took his lies to the grave…sad and pathetic…
Yes, it certainly is. In FaCt, AnYoNe DoInG sOmEtHiNg LiKe ThAt’S sAd. JuSt FrEaKiNg SaD.
Maybe he was looking for a $500k handout on GoFundMe.
Why are you posting with all fucked letters?
JuSt WoNdErInG.
Maybe you should spend your time looking for the giAnT PHiLdO?
It can be found either in your two-hole or at All-Points Logistics in Merritt Island, FL or Huntsville, AL.
But I expect you already know that, turd.
Get lost, clown.
Now, there’s something I don’t understand. There’s a list of POWs/MIAs and he should have known that. Did he think no one would or could possibly check on that?
The better question is why people with perfectly honorable (and above average even) service feel the need to make stuff up.
I mean retired major, looks like he did some time as an E before his commission (good conduct medal is an enlisted only award, correct?), two DFCs, PH, and BSM. There’s no need to embellish that.
Don’t be so sure the guy knew about DPAA’s list, Ex-PH2. It’s surprising how many people don’t know that information is publicly available from official sources.
It’s also surprising how many people are so gullible they assume, “It must be true – no one would lie about something like that!”
Of course, given the last 2 presidential elections (plus those in 1992 and 1996), that degree of ignorant gullibility on the part of a large part of the American public should be no surprise.
What a horrible memory to leave to the people that knew you…
Why in the fuck do they do that.
Any service that didn’t end in a BCD or DD was honorable service, no matter what.
The US Army was an adventure beyond all my wildest dreams and was truly exciting for all the reasons both wrong and right.
To shit all over that memory would be a real shitty thing to do to everybody involved.
I just feel lucky as hell that I got out with an Honorable Discharge considering all the shit I pulled when I was in…
I wouldn’t dare embellish it in any way shape or form. It’s hard enough to convince people that I was a ski instructor for the Army, but I wouldn’t think about doing anything more…
This maggot’s legacy is to continue shaming his family and friends from beyond the grave.
I wonder what the family did when they were told that the headstone was going to be changed to reflect Gary Wayne Gilbert’s actual awards?
In on particular order:
1. Screamed.
2. Claimed that “There must be some mistake!”
3. Claimed that “The official records must be incomplete!”
4. Claimed “You’re just out to get him!”
5. Threatened to sue.
6. Called or wrote their Representatives and/or Senators.
7. Cried.
8. Whined that “They’re persecuting the dead.”
In short: pretty much anything except accept the fact that their family member was a shameless liar. Unless that fact was quite apparent long before death, that’s a damned hard thing for a family to accept.
I wonder if they had a “ceremony” when they changed out markers?
I believe you. Have a good friend that was a ski instructor/lifeguard in Germany, late 60’s. Good duty if you can get it!
Yeah! I was on the AFRC Ski Patrol at Garmisch in 1978. Would cross-country ski from Jaeger Kaserne to to the Olympic Ice Stadium (my job site). I didn’t downhill ski then, when I was selected for Ski Patrol.
“Good work, if ya can get it.”
The Purple Heart also disappeared from the headstone, even though it was documented in his FOIA. I wonder why? Did the investigation reveal that the PH wasn’t legit?
You beat me to it.
There is a Silver Star on the FOIA as well.
Per the FOIA, it’s a silver service star on the VSM, but not a Silver Star medal.
Good question. It’s on the original FOIA, so I guess that’s a possibility.
Wonder if Arlington will release a copy of the inquiry report if I request one under the FOIA?
Does the “DFC” on the gravestone mean “Distinguished Flying Cross?”
If so, WTF…OVER!
The DFC is a pretty studley award. I would be proud and humbled if I was presented that medal.
Just no figurin’ these guys out.
It does indeed. The FOIA reply from NPRC indicates the individual had the DLC with 1 OLC – plus a BSM, 25 Air Medals, and a Purple Heart. He also had the VSM w/6 campaign stars (1 silver, 1 bronze).
Sad to see someone who’d actually been “in the sh!t” like this guy – and who’d served both honorably and well – embellish his service. BuT wE sEe ThAt FrOm TiMe To TiMe.
Green Thumb made an awfully interesting point. These assholes who live a lie thinking they’ll never get caught, and go to their grave being honored as a hero end up with a heap of embarrassment on their family. All just so they could be held in such esteem by a gullible public. They spout their lies so long, eventually they delude themselves into believing it. To them, it’s all about being recognized as someone special who is ENTITLED to respect and awe. To which I say, “Aw shit, you are full of IT, rather than embalming fluid.”
One “Aw Shit” can wipe out a hundred “Atta Boy”. This “Aw Shit” certainly did that.
Jason Foshee commented in the original 2014 thread: “MAJ Gary Gilbert was a hero. I knew him. I know his history and this dishonors his sacrifice. I am his nephew. You are horrible to dishonor a great man. I have seen all of his medals and all of his photos from 3 tours in Vietnam. He was captured in a place where the war was technically not being fought. He suffered years of nightmares and numerous health problems until his death. This post hurts our family terribly!”
Who hurt your family Foshee? The liar or the revealer of the lie. As for your uncle’s being captured, how would you like your crow, with or without salt?
No doubt nephew Jason Foshee also saw pictures the liar took during his capture. What did he mean by, “He was captured in a place where the war was technically not being fought?” Since Uncle Dearest claimed in one of the documents above that he had been held prisoner in a cave “Where 24 other captives did not make it out alive”….Does that mean the NVA captured this character in possibly Mammoth Cave in Kentucky? Technically, there was no war going on there.
Jason he did a great job for his country but forgot about his only living child Laura Renee Gilbert, who was born December 9, 1970
who survived him and was left out of the obituary and had to find out three years later from an outside source about his passing.
I think any of you passing judgement should look at your own lives .. I can forgive my dad for what he did to me.. You should forgive a man for trying to make the ghosts that haunted him a bit nicer.
It is sad that truth was stretched, maybe he was not the one to stretch it??
Everyone needs to take a good look at their own lives and put their energies into creating positive not negative emotion.. Wars throughout the ages all come with untold stories and a price..
Let the dead lie in peace and concentrate on those around you living. Laura R Gilbert
Hmmm..interesting…wonder why the Second Headstone read ” Beloved Uncle” and not “Beloved Wife.”
Am sure his widow is still living. She may be humiliated and ashamed. Or perhaps she wants to keep a low profile after being confronted by her husband’s lies. Who knows…she may be/might have collected illegal monetary benefits based on his “POW” Status.
I noticed the PH was missing as well.
I also wonder how much the VA paid this ass nugget over the years for his POW claims?
Maybe the family should be held responsible for paying it back?
In death there is an inheritance of both wealth and debt.
Not saying the family has anything to do with this, just an observation.
That’s truly mindboggling – a man who received a Distinguished Flying Cross wasn’t satisfied with that and made up a story about being a POW?
Maybe this would be a better lie, since he wanted to be a POW. There I was, just me and my M60, M16, and half dozen grenades. A little Vietnamese kid came up to me and I surrendered to him. The End.
Damn 2/17….You’re breakin’ my heart! That’s so touching that I believe you have the makings of a good movie, maybe even a television series. Call it “War Stories From The Dead” Now I’ll have bad dreams for the next two nights. Thanks a lot! Who’s in charge of the whiners today?