William Deweese; phony homeless veteran
WOWK reports that Summersville, West Virginia police are looking for this fraud, William Deweese, who is panhandling in Raleigh County where he’s been arrested several times.
He’s probably the first hobo to falsely claim to be a veteran. Ever.
Category: Crime
If he wants people to believe he’s a homeless vet, he’s gotta pin a 2LT Butter Bar to his hat.
Everybody knows that all homeless vets are actually lost LTs from the Land Nav Course.
Dumbass.
“The Engineer Company”? In Viet of the Nam? That had to be “Brown and Root Construction”.
You should have known that, Claw.
LOL. Need coffee much this morning, Frankie?/smile (misrouted reply)
Now if AW1 Tim’s “vet” was wearing khaki work clothes and a ball cap with a PA&E (Pacific Architects and Engineers) logo on it, he may have been just a smidgeon believable, cause some of those dufooses (doofi?) thought they were the only engineering company in the world.
Yeah, it was PA&E who maintained all the permanent hardstand buildings in Viet of the Nam, especially those facilities with air conditioning and flush toilets.
Don’t forget RMK-BRJ, Vinnell, and Sea-Land.
The nickname for Pacific Architects and Engineers was “Promises, Alibis, and Excuses”.
I worked for Vinnell Arabia right after I retired from the Navy… they are in KSA contracted by the Army to train and modernize the Saudi National Guard.
Saw some of the craziest shit while I was over in the Kingdom.
Yep, beheadings and buggery…
Ahhh….Man Love Thursday’s
Naw, PA&E. Or as my CO used to say”pathetic answers and excuses”. I wonder what they morphed into, afterward?
Claw, if you call the fire department to get a cat down from a tree, the usual response is to leave it alone: “Have you ever seen a dead cat in a tree?”
It makes you wonder if the same is true of 2LTs. If you leave them alone, do they eventually find their way home?
“If you leave them alone, do they eventually find their way home?” Only if they’re smart enough to eventually ask their SPC4 driver if he knows the way to where they’re going.
At least that’s my experience with one butterbar.
Oh, my word…..
I was tasked to drive 2LT (redacted) from one HQ to another in the middle of Fort Irwin.
2LT had a map and compass as he took his seat, and said, I know the way PFC.
Two hours into the 20 minute drive, I asked him how certain he was of his navigation. “Stop the GD Jeep PFC!” (Lecture on LTs knowing what they are doing, PFCs be seen and not heard, yadda yadda yadda…
“If you are so GD smart PFC (shoves map and compas at me) then -you- show me where we are on this map.”
“Yessir”
Got out of the keep. Put rifle and web gear on seat. Walked 20 meters away. Oriented map, sighted Tiefort mountain, azimuth here, map there…. got it.
Walk back. Gear up start jeer.
“Well PFC?”
(Shows map) “Here we are now sir, there is Tiefort, there is where we were, and this is the best route to get to where we need to be.”
“Uh. Um…. Go.”
And off we went and arrived.
I avoided -saying- that holding a compass near a -steel- dashboard of a Jeep is not terribly swift. Neither is holding it near the shoulder holster containing ones 1911.
I think he got the message …..
(Start -jeep-. I most assuredly did not -jeer-.)
OK. I may have -giggled- a bit as we crested a small hill and sighted the destination…….
I ran into a guy like this up here in Maine. Wearing a “Vietnam Veteran” ballcap with all sorts of bling on it.
I asked what outfit he served with and his response was “The Engineer Company”. When pressed as to which “Engineer Co.” he served with, he said that there was only one “Engineer Company” and that if I had been in “the ‘Nam” as he put it, I would have known that.
He threatened to call 911 if I didn’t stop “harassing” him about his service. Homeless vet whips out an iPhone and starts calling someone. heh.
I hate these guys.
I’m always suspicious when I see someone wearing a Viet Nam veteran ball cap. Damn I shouldn’t be this jaded.
Just for the record: After decades of keeping my head down I started proudly wearing a Viet Nam Vet ball cap whenever I leave the house.
Mind you I am ALSO jaded and suspicious of many(most?), so when you figure out how to filter the phonies, liars, and cheats on sight keep us posted. Please.
I certainly don’t mean to offend anyone with my skepticism. I just am sick and tired of the phonies like everyone else here. It’s damn popular to be a vet now and a lot of people are taking advantage as we all know. Another thing, a lot of these guys look old. Hehehehehehe. But then my wife says I look just as old.
Wasn’t offended here, in case I wasn’t clear.
I would REALLY like to have some way to say “Welcome Home!” to those that deserve it and “Go F**K yourself!” to the rest.
Zero, look for one that says “Dysfunctional Veteran- Leave me alone” Favorite of mine. There’s a whole bunch of stuff.
I contacted a hobo wearing a Vietnam veteran ball cap. He told me he was a sniper in Vietnam. When I checked ID I found he was born in 1957.
I called BS on his story I got the “I am wearing it in honor of the vets”
I let him know he was full of bs and told him to stop wearing the hat.
Fast forward acouple of weeks and there he is again wearing a camo ball cap but nothing on it.
Boot to the head!
In NY they are part of a huge network. I’m sure its the same in other places too. They are all coordinated and organized to be in locations with heavy traffic flows at specific times of the day. In the morning, they are on one side of the intersection, in the evening the opposite side.
A state trooper friend of mine explained it to me. They all have cell phones, they get picked up and dropped off daily, and use whatever message will help get money in a particular demographic. They make a shit-ton of money for someone and get a percentage themselves.
Even before that I don’t give people asking on the street money because it isn’t a good idea. I might give them food, but that’s rare.
Same thing in my AO… local PD and Sheriff end up having to tell them to move on because they start getting obnoxious and pushy at intersections. There latest hangout is at the entrances to the parking lot at the local mall and the freeway underpass near it. Try to offer them food or even a say job and they flip out – it’s all about the cash.
They need cash to buy drugs and booze.
Shit like THIS is why I just think “BULLSHIT!”, roll up my window if it’s down and drive away sans making eye contact any time I see a critter like that on the roadside.
FUCK. That. Shitball.
iPhone! I’m working with a LG!!!
We have a number of these “veterans” here in San Antonio. I rarely say anything to them, but when I do I suggest checking in with the VA. The VA has a program that reaches out to homeless veterans.
In all the years I’ve been approaching these “homeless Vets” I’ve found a grand total of ONE that I can honestly confirm was in fact a homeless Vet. One out of the several dozen I’ve approached over the years.
This one was about 2 years ago. The kid was at the entrance drive to a mall. Had an new issue assault pack and current issue boots on and he looked to be 22 to 24 years old.
So I park and walk up to him.
Turns out he had ETSd about 4 months before and came up here (Michigan) for “the love of his life” (who he had only known online). He was from California.
Anyways that didn’t work out after he had spent what little savings he had and he was on the street on his ass.
I tell him to hop in. Take him to the VA and the Homeless Vet Coordinator.
Kid was off the street that evening and on his way to applying for benefits.
None if which he had any clue about unfortunately.
Good job!
Yesterday (Saturday) I was up in our MICU Ward at the VA Hospital where I volunteer. A 90-year-old retired Air Force flight engineer was all by himself as a patient. I spoke with him for while and discovered he had little or no knowledge about his benefits. I’m going to try and help him as well as getting my local DAV Chapter involved.
Being an older disabled veteran in the hospital is not a easy thing I’m sure.
BZ Jim!
And if they are 70+ years old they get front of the line service.
A few years ago our local librarian approached me about her mom – a WW2 Vet who was a Nurse Officer. She was in a medical retirement home and it was costing the family an arm and a leg.
This old Vet had NEVER applied for anything from the VA.
I did all of the paperwork for her and walked it through the VA.
Less than two weeks later she was getting her pension, medical benefits and the nursing home was being paid for.
Both a happy and sad situation.
Sad in the act she had been missing out on her earned benefits for decades and the family was struggling to pay out of pocket for something the VA would have covered.
I remember one Sunday morning, some years back, walking back to my apartment on South Temple Street in Salt Lake City, Utah, when I stopped at the Cathedral of the Madeleine where some children were selling candy bars as a fundraiser.
I bought a couple of candy bars, and then noticed a guy with a sign claiming to be a wounded combat veteran of the recent campaign in Panama.
I asked him if the VA was helping him, and explained that I was a Viet Nam veteran receiving compensation from the VA.
I inquired if he had sought help from the VA, but he made some sort of excuse which didn’t sound right.
Since I lived only a short distance away, I invited him to come home with me for a hot meal, but he refused.
I then offered to buy him a candy bar (they were BIG candy bars!) from those children, but he didn’t want that either.
I had no way of proving or disproving any of his story, but I sensed that something didn’t quite sound right, and I knew better than to give him money, so I continued walking home.
I figured that if he was really homeless, penniless, and hungry, he would have gladly accepted my invitation to provide him with a hot meal.
You fared better than I did, John. I’ve had them cuss at me for offering food while demanding cash.
Even the ones with a “Will work for food” sign get pissed when you actually try to give them an odd job and a meal instead of cash….
Ok look, there are practically zero homeless vets. The few that are out there are seriously addled with drugs and alcohol to the point that they can not function in society at all. If you give them money they will spend it on a flop and intoxicants. That is all they do.
Most of the ones around here live under the underpasses of the freeways through town, or in abandoned buildings. There are a few “encampments” around, and most of the people panhandling at the freeway off ramps are from them. Other than the ones who park their ride a couple of blocks away and walk to the off ramps.
I agree, if you give them money, it buys cheap booze. Or weed, or heroin.
Our local news did an undercover on some of these jewels and showed that quite a few of them were bringing in up to $800 a week panhandling. I will buy them a couple bottles of water or a burger, but beyond that – nope.
Years ago I listened to a talk radio segment where the guest was someone who ran a faith based homeless assistance shelter.
He said the absolute WORST thing to do was give a hobo ( my words not his,, he said homeless) was money.
true of a hobo….and also true of adult children
I remember when I was a HAZMAT Contractor and was doing a job near Memphis when during a weekwnd off work one of the downtown Trolley Motormen told me that the local panhandlers would use three main sob stories. One was that they had been ordered to leave town by a Judge and were only a few dollars away from getting a bus ticket by the midnight deadline, another was they just got out of prison and didn’t have any money to eat or a place to stay and I can’t remember the third right now, but lo and behold, he was right.
Yeh, that’s like the ones that are only “20.00” from having enough gas to make it home!
I only give money to homeless cats. I know, I know: they use it to buy toy mice and catnip, but it’s that sad, sad look they give you and the ‘meow’ that just breaks my heart.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VvB6tmC4lu_WCx7hE0PZA
I’m with you Ex, I will give money to a homeless cat much before any wino I run into. I just had to chase a bobcat away from the baby foxes living in my front yard just this morning!
Offered one a room temperature canned soda one day. He took it and got pissed b/c it wasn’t cold.
Used to see one at the freeway exit sitting in a wheelchair. Traffic was a pain as people would stop even on a green and get out of their car to give him money. What they didn’t know was the faker would push his wheelchair into the woods when it got dark and push it back out in the morning.
I like interviewing homeless vets. They like it too, until I tell ’em I was military poleece. For some reason they scatter…I blame Dave Hardin for that.
My civilian job is a Paramedic in a mid-sized city near Ft Knox. I work the west end and downtown area, and the number of homeless “vets” (people claiming to be vets) dropped when I started calling them out in the back of the squad. It was about the same time I started volunteering with the local effort “Rx: Homeless Vets” program here. I had information on who to talk to about getting vouchers for housing, cash support, the VA programs, etc. So when some drunk/panhandler started telling me the sob story about how they were a wounded vet who can’t find a job because people discriminate against vets, I would pull out the information and give it to them. Well try. Many suddenly would explain that their “VA Benefits had run out” or “the VA lost my records”. They won’t ask to go to the VA because if they show up at the Emergency Department and are not a Vet, they often get arrested for attempted fraud (mostly because there is normally nothing wrong with them other than a high BAC) EMS deals with a lot of these panhandlers/homeless when they are too drunk to go to jail or they want to get out of the chill/heat or just want a ride across the town after the busses have stopped running. (when it is cold the shelters open up “warm up rooms” that don’t require you to be sober to get into,) There are a few actual Vets I deal with regularly, one is my personal project to try to get help. He said it best, “I enlisted in 69, went to Germany, started drinking, got out in 73, and did not stop”. He claims he was a truck driver for a quartermaster company. After several tries, I got him to talk to the coordinator and we got him a decent place to stay, ride vouchers to go to appointments, and food stamps. He still panhandles for booze but NEVER says he is a vet when he does that. “I would not do that, it is embarrassing to all… Read more »