Siri Dharma Singh aka Dennis Leroy Franks
The real deal SEALs at Military Phonies discovered the above grave marker in their hunt for phony SEALs. They couldn’t find a listing for Siri Dharma Singh in their BUD/S database. A search in genealogical records told them that Siri Dharma Singh had changed his name from Dennis Leroy Franks whose name did appear in the database. So they ordered his FOIA;
The grave marker says that Franks earned a Silver Star Medal, but there is no record of a Silver Star Medal in his records except the Silver Service Star on his Vietnam Service Medal (which denotes participation in five campaigns of that war).
Unfortunately, it looks like the name change was necessitated by Franks’ arrest for an attempted rape in 1970.
Category: Navy
He died awfully young – 47.
This story is tragic on so many levels.
Think the family or the person requesting the plaque got it wrong..
That’s what I was thinking as well.
Yeah, I’m willing to give him a pass on the headstone thing.
As far as the raping a 13-year-old girl thing… I got nothing.
Dumb question for Navy/Marine types: Why no CAR on his DD-214? From the BSM citation he seems to have more than qualified for the ribbon. Maybe an omission on the part of the Navy?
The Combat Action Ribbon was established on February 17, 1969 and he served in Vietnam in 1968. It probably just didn’t get added to his records.
OK, makes sense, I wasn’t sure how long the CAR had been around.
When it was established in 1969, it was awarded retroactively back to December 7th, 1941, but many people didn’t get it in their records.
Fuck that guy, rapist piece of shit…good fucking riddance.
You have the conviction? I missed it, I guess.
A lot of guys wearing red socks as hats at 0500 in that area? Regardless of what happened to the case (and eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable), but from what’s presented, I think there’s a pretty good chance they got the right guy.
I’m going to guess that his discharge 22 days after his name appeared in the paper and at a reduced paygrade are pretty good indicators that he didn’t provide a very strong defense.
No offense bro but how many times have you been mistaken for a rapist because you were dressed exactly like one described by the victim as you drove away from the scene in the middle of the night?
Fuck that guy. Good service doesn’t excuse being a miserable felonious piece of shit later.
Me? Never. I was IDed as someone who broke another guy’s nose once, but it never happened. Besides, it’s not a question of whether I have ever been wrongly accused but whether people are sometimes wrongly accused and, of course, they are. Some are wrongly convicted. We have nothing–zip–on this guy to conclude he was guilty. For all we know, he could have walked or he could have died in prison.
I hope he died by getting mauled by a bear or two
I’d like to know what happened to those charges. They hinged on a desrption provided by a youngster who, no doubt, was scared to death. I would also like to know the cause of death. Lastly, the name change is very odd. Sounds to me like he converted to something or other and maybe that was part of the transformation. I don’t know. Another lastly: the Silver Star for valor and the Silver Service Star are often confused by those not in the know. This is one case in which I would (and will) just pass by.
Name change due to conversion seems incongruent with the Christian cross on the headstone. With a name like Singh, I’d expect Hindu or Sikh. Yeah, I know, I’m stereotyping.
Stereotyping I have no problem with. It’s a useful tool sometimes. I don’t disagree with your observation but, having read many of your comments, I know that you are more than smart enough to come up with alternative explanations. I have no answers, just a lot of questions.
He may have taken up Buddhism. “Darma” is commonly used by people who do that.
He was charged with multiple rapes, mostly of children. I imagine there is a bit more to this story. What rabbit hole his case went down after the arrest could prove interesting.
A wrongly accused decorated vet would make headlines even in the 70s.
This guy lives on as an Apple personal assistant? Awesome.
Wait…I got something…wait…let me process my thought process…..i got nothin…
Oh….did Apple choose the name Siri because of some political correctness thing….?
Jacked up stone.
Good deeds don’t erase horrible ones.
But the opposite is true too.
King George said this about a Victoria Cross recipient convicted of murder. People had written demanding that he be stripped of the medal:
Inter Alia: “He will be able to wear his Victoria Cross…on the gallows”.