Medal Mistake
One of our ninjas sends us this tale of unintended consequences, and how complete strangers unite to correct a fraud on a hero’s record.
War Hero’s Son Says He’ll Donate Authentic Purple Heart to School
By Jennifer Norris
A moment that at first seemed like a highlight in the history of Robert G. Cole Middle and High School this month appears to have been founded on a fraudulent war medal inscription. But the initial mistake may turn out to be cause for the school to celebrate a donation from the son of its namesake.
At a pre-Veterans Day celebration in the school’s gym Nov. 8, the school at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston unveiled a Purple Heart medal inscribed with the name of Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole. The medal had been donated to the school by a woman in Long Island, New York, who said she bought it at a gun show.
The school’s JROTC Senior Instructor Col. William LaChance said he accepted the donated medal after failing to locate any living relatives of Cole. After the ceremony, however, word began reaching school officials that Cole’s son was not only alive but also in possession of his father’s Purple Heart, throwing the authenticity of the donated Purple Heart into doubt.
Cole’s only child, Robert Bruce Cole, is now 77 years old, and resides in Bulverde, north of San Antonio. He was certain the school did not have his father’s Purple Heart because he kept both that medal and his dad’s Medal of Honor in a safe deposit box at a bank. The medals were awarded posthumously and presented to his mother at Fort Sam Houston when he was a baby.
“Everybody recognizes it for what it is: just a mistake,” Cole told the Rivard Report. “… Everybody was well-intentioned.”
The inscription bearing the name of Robert G. Cole, it seemed, apparently had been added at some point to the medal donated to the school. Dishonesty surrounding military medals and honors is common, said Bill Crumlett, senior vice commander with the San Antonio chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a veterans service organization for recipients of the medal.
“We have seen an awful lot of frauds,” he said. “People that claim they have medals they don’t have, but I’ve never seen it where a medal was forged like that. That’s really strange.”
Bruce Cole said he doesn’t own a computer and doesn’t text or email, so the first he heard about the story of the donated medal was from his half-sister two days after the school’s ceremony.
While he certainly was surprised to learn the school thought he was no longer living, he focused his attention more on the mistake regarding the medal.
“I immediately knew it was a fraud,” he said about the school’s medal. “And I just thought the school’s reputation is going to be all shot to hell.”
But as Cole watched news coverage of the school’s ceremony, he said he also was overwhelmed by the excitement and reverence the school showed for the medal and the legacy of his father, a World War II hero who distinguished himself in the days following the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was killed by a German sniper in the Netherlands in September 1944.
We have the best ninjas. Read the entire article here: The Rivard Report
Category: Army, Bravo Zulu, Feel Good Stories, Guest Post, ninja, Purple Heart, Valor
BZ to our ninjas for bringing us these stories.
BZ to Mr. Cole for setting the record straight and donating the real medal to the school.
Interesting. My late father-in-law, a Marine severely wounded on Guam, passed away in 1963. His Purple Heart was stolen in a brazen home burglary years later. Mother-in-law woke up while the rat was rifling through the dresser drawers. She stayed quiet until he left, then called police. Too late. They never caught him and the medal is still missing. I got a replacement and had it engraved for her. The original has been reported to the group that looks out for, and tries to recover these lost/stolen ones, so if it ever turns up, I guess there will be two.
There’s a special place in hell for people like that. Hope they find it.
Anyone who steals medals from the recipient or his family deserves a rendezvous with a tall tree and a short rope.
“Bruce Cole said he doesn’t own a computer and doesn’t text or email”
Unbelievable.
How can people willfully deprive themselves of all the advantages of instant communication and instant knowledge.
Computers and mobile devices are not gadgets or toys.
They are an extension of our brains, that we interface with through our eyes and fingers, providing:
1- Memory (photos, data, phone numbers and addresses
2- Knowledge (databases, books, encyclopedias, research papers, etc.)
3- Entertainment to keep your brain happy (your favorite songs, movies, family videos and pictures, paintings, whatever your little heart desires.)
4- Communication (talk to coworkers, fellow students, friends and family through a huge variety of phone, video or text chat applications)
How can anyone refuse all these evolutionary advantages? A human with a computer devise it is far more effective at whatever he does than a human without a computer devise.
And the quality and speed of the devise enhance the productivity of the human.
Therefore, every time we upgrade our phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, we updating our productivity and our access to knowledge.
You cannot be competitive without a computer. You are selecting yourself out. Natural selection doesn’t stop working.
and that, in a nutshell, is the difference between some of us older types and those like Joe who follow. Evolutionary advantages? Oh, and while you are upgrading your ‘evolutionary effectiveness’… learn the difference between ‘device’ and ‘devise’. We’ll wait while your computer tells you.
A tip of the hat to you sir. I applaud the man, wish I could do it sometimes.
David, devise is a piece of equipment, and device is when you are planning something nefarious, like devicing a plan so the OPS SGM doesn’t put me on the stuff duty roster for Thanksgiving.
Staff duty, dude.
How many Joe’s do you need to change a light bulb?
All of them.
Between all the Joes, they have only one working brain cell, and have to share it to be able to do anything.
Joe, here’s a razor blade, denatured alcohol, and some rags. Strip down the entire hallway, rewax it, and here’s your old friend, the Buffer. Don’t drink the alcohol!
Seeing as Mr. Cole is 77 years old, he is most likely retired, and I doubt that having a computer would make him any more effective at that endeavor. As for productivity, many retired folks don’t really see that as a goal at that point in life…
Good point.
In his case would be more about communications and entertainment. If I survive all the way to retirement, the last thing I want is to have to watch the crap they play on legacy TV channels as my only source of entertainment, or an old dial phone as my only means of communication.
Now that’s a solid point..Though some folks don’t do TV for entertainment either, they read, or just have hobbies / activities that entertain them… My dad is about that age, and though he has TV / computer, he rarely uses them. He prefers radio, and woodworking / reading to keep himself occupied.
Slow Joe:
I can’t believe what I just read.
What you wrote.
Seriously?
That is all you focused on?
Someone’s personal decision not to use a computer or a smartphone?
(BTW, that SOMEONE’s Father was a WWII Medal of Honor Recipient).
Sometimes I just don’t understand your thought process.
IMHO, you STILL come across (to me) as being someone who thinks he is better than others.
Grow up, Soldier.
Learn to be HUMBLE.
Why do you think that I think that I am better than others?
Obviously that’s not true. I am very self-aware of my furriner accent, I regret every day not being an American citizen by birth, and I wish I had gone to Ranger school when I was a brand new private, instead of going by the time I was an SSG and failing my ass off like a bitch, twice.
(1) You have shared your background, i.e. where you originated and the struggles of coming to U.S Soil. It takes those of powerful determination to escape a nation that rests on dictatorship. More power and respect to you. HOWEVER: (2) None of us had a choice as to when and where we are born. However, we have the LUXURY and HONOR if we want to serve in the US Military. Yes, LUXURY. We all have different reasons why we serve or have served in a unique occupation that requires one to willingly sacrificing one’s life for others. And I mean ALL, not just necessarily those who are Queen of Battle. BTW, our First Responders serve in the same unique job. (Thank You, LEOs, Firefighters/ Medical Personnel, you know who you are). (3) Decisions we make at a younger age may not be the same decisions we make 10,20,30 years ago. If you still have the same 18 year old thought process at the age of 38, then it makes me wonder what you have been doing for 20 years. (4) Going to RANGER School does not make one a better Soldier. Having a RANGER Tab does not mean you are a better Trooper. (5) If at first you don’t succeed, then try again. That is, if you really want it. “Failure” can makes a person stronger, depending how they respond to that “failure”. None of us are perfect. You know that. Look where you came from. I’m sure all of us here have had “Failures” in our lives. (6) Having “faster” communication because of technology does not equate to having a better lifestyle or life. I personally now dread getting on the road by driving because of a new fear call “Death By Texting” or “Talking By Driving”. Just recently, a NJ woman was convicted of Vehicular Manslaughter, all because she just had to text while driving. (7) Having an “accent”? Who in the US DOES NOT have an accent? When I went thru Basic Training, I had a Drill SGT from Maine. The other was from the Virgin Islands.… Read more »
“Ask AW1Ed and the KoB when it comes to a yearly December Ritual.”
Heh. Best buds 364 days a year.
Go Navy!
Yep…My Main Man…364 days and 21 hours.
Go Army!
Ninja, how long did it take you to right all that?
Slow Joe:
Have no clue on “time”.
Again, you & I have live thru different situations.
Again, I respect and admire what you and your family went thru to be a US Citizen.
And again, being different does not make one better than another.
The December Ritual is coming up. Please join us in this great event. It has made us stronger as a TAH Team, i.e. Brotherhood, Friendship (AW1Ed and the KoB are two great examples).
And despite difference in our opinions as well as us ribbing you on your choice of beer and being chosen as the King of Buffers and NCO for policing cigarette butts, you still are our TAH “Little Brother”.
My family?
I came alone. My parents died years ago. My uncles made aliyah (moved to Israel) before I came to America.
I met my wife here in the Land of the Free, and our two boys were born here as well.
So at least they are real Americans…
I owe you a huge apology for thinking that you were with a family unit when you came to the US.
Since you are a naturalized US Citizen, you are a “Real American”. There are those who were legally born here, but did care to support our Country (espinoge spies, John Walker being one).
So you are blessed. A wife. Two sons. Living in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Having a career as one of America’s best.
You are lucky. Please wish others with the same fortunes that were bestowed to you.
Be positive. Look at a glass half full. Show kindness and humbleness to others.
Isreal. A beautiful place that I had the opportunity to visit when I served with the MFO. God’s Holy Land. The person I worship was once a Jewish carpenter who brought love and wisdom in my life.
Thanksgiving in another day. Please be thankful for everything your God and Faith have done for you. You are one lucky Soldier.
Joe, you’re as real an American as anyone else.
ninja-
Please stop referring to Slow Joe (who also posts here as Yef and Slowest Joe) as our TAH “Little Brother”. Why do you continue to pander to him?
Have you not been paying attention to the vile garbage that he frequently says to TOW about TOW being a communist, when Slow Joe knows full well what TOW’s in-laws endured at the hands of the Khmer Rouge?
Or have you not been paying attention to any of the other grossly inappropriate crap that he posts here, to include all of his childish whining about other veterans’ combat awards?
Our TAH “Little Brother”? Give me a f*cking break. He’s lucky that he hasn’t been permanently banned from TAH.
If you really think that Slow Joe is now somehow representative of what TAH is all about, then TAH is definitely headed in the wrong direction.
Please stop with the TAH “Little Brother” pandering.
As you so often say, “you’re better than that”.
Bruno,
I appreciate your honesty and being forthright.
“A Peacemaker does not avoid Conflict. A Peacemaker engages Conflict—not to inflame it, but to resolve it.”
However,in the situation between TOW and Slow Joe, I am staying out of it, because it is their Battle to resolve
and not mine.
We can’t please everyone. If we tried to that, we would only make ourselves miserable.
It’s not worth it.
Thank You for your comment.
“Drill SGT from Maine”
Oh man. I would join just to watch.
One of mine was Samoan.
I had a Samoan drill Sergeant as well. Yuge. So big you could’ve divided him into 2 11B’s. Soft spoken and mostly calm, but absolutely intimidating.
Was thinking of you, 26LB, when I made that comment.
😉😆👍
Reminds me of Twain’s story where he first caged a Baptist from the wilds of Arkansas, and when he seemed tame enough Twain put in a Scotsman from Aberdeen, etc.
No accent beat SSG Camacho from the Phillipines. No one could understand him by the END of Basic.
Put the Bud Light down and step back.
In other words, he drank the water from the beer bong?
I wonder if he ever gets his brain out of first or second gear before his fingers start typing. But then that is why many commenters here accuse him of huffing the floor wax between his sessions “ridin” the buffer.
There’s also the possibility (not knowing the full award background) that the second medal wasn’t engraved because it was given to the parents if they were still alive at the time. My nephew has his father’s engraved PH and the fully decorated certificate that goes with it, while his grandparents had a blank PH with a copy of the certificate of award that was presented to them.
I’m glad that this was resolved in the manner that it was and that the surviving son was able and willing to step forward to clarify it.
Duane- just as a point of information, I don’t think my PH came with any engraving on it. Too lazy to go dig it out right now. Was given it by a General (Westmoreland?) who was walkin’ through the ward at 36th Evac Hosp handin’ ’em out. Never bothered to look in my Personal File to see if there were orders for it. On the copied page of my medical records that I sent to Mr. Baum, it shows my MOS (11Bravo) and that the PH was “awarded this hospital” in June of ’68.
When I asked for a DD215 and my CIB, they sent along that and another PH, in case I hadn’t been given one. I now possess two Purple Heart Medals but have only earned and claim one. Fortunately, I have a daughter who served eight years in USNavy and says she’ll be honored to have both when I pass on.
I wonder if my pos brothers Purple Heart is engraved or not? Do they usually engrave the phonys medal when he buys it on the internet?
WW:
As with other TAHers, I hope oneday your Blood Sibling will be caught.
Hearts and Prayers for you on your upcoming events. You are an example of someone who is humble, always perseveres, yet keeps a wonderful sense of humor and positive outlook on Life.
Thank You.
Thanks ninja, you don’t know the pain when a brother lies and cheats and literally killed my parents with his lies! Then the pos didn’t even show up for his mothers funeral! I hope he burns in hell and that I live long enough to piss on his grave, Along with Hanoi Janes!!
Thank You, Ed, so much, for sharing this story.
Have personally been to Gun Shows/ Military Shows that had businesses set up and sell Purple Hearts. Some of those businesses started protesting when those shows prohibited the sale of any PH.
The other amazing thing was some of the businesses who were selling DSC and SS whom they claim they bought at an Estate Sale. Sadly, 100% of those DSC and the SS (certificates, the Award) were BOGUS. In other words, the “original owner” lied about their Military service and took their lies to their graves.
LTC Robert G Cole was a hero of the 101st Airborne Division, specifically the 502nd PIR,
He was a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions on D-Day, specifically the bayonet charge at Carentan.
Steeleyl:
Thank You.
I suppose that if one were to fraudulently engrave a Purple Heart with a name to increase its value, it would seem that the name of an MOH recipient would be a logical choice.
Especially since it is really hard to determine the age of the actual medal in that many that are issued even today were minted during WWII. I read that factoid in “Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 by Giangreco. I thought it seemed farfetched, but it is apparently based in fact:
https://www.stripes.com/blogs-archive/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/are-purple-hearts-from-1945-still-being-awarded-1.116756#.Xd3GCi2ZNQI
https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/todays-purple-hearts-were-first-made-for-the-invasion-of-japan
Speaking of the Yearly December Ritual:
Once again, PETA has tried to pull another stupid stunt. However, it backfired on them.
This time for the Georgia Bulldog:
https://myfox8.com/2019/11/26/he-looks-miserable-university-of-georgia-fans-fire-back-after-peta-demands-mascots-retirement/
Makes me now wonder if PETA will go after the US Navy and the US Army, the Texas Aggies, the Auburn Eagle.
You get the picture.
Pleeeaseee. Those critters are probably treated better than Humans.
Someone on a Fox News Business page made the comment that some of the best Stocks to currently invest in are those associated with pets, especially pet health care.
The commentator also pointed out that some pet owners will spend more money to take care of their pet’s health needs versus their own health needs.
I believe it. I have seen that happened.
My apologies to AW1Ed for hijacking this thread. Am sure the KoB knows the Georgia Bulldog story.
Roll Tide.
Oh, I’m sure the KOB wants to lay a TOT barrage on PETA’s headquarters over this. However, this may call for something a little more subtle…
GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWLLLLL!
Damn Skippy! Unmask all batt-trees, bring every weapon to bear. These Sparkle ponied, cotton candied fart blossoms can just kiss our azzes. PETA murders more orphaned critters every year than a Japanese Tuna Trawler. UGA is the most spoiled rotten best cared for and loved critter mascot out there. And, Bless His Heart, he is part Democrat what with free food, free housing, free unlimited health care, and so on. That Dawg got it made. Every critter should be as “mistreated”. /s/
“A little more subtle my Aunt Fannie. This is no time for half measures.”
See if this works.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219489599502697&set=gm.2534126753524062&type=3&theater
I meant less obvious. A well-placed Bangalore can get someone’s attention.
Wouldn’t mind having a few extry bangalores around. Might come in handy, you know, for removing stumps and such
Are you saying that claymores with foo gas would be a little too much?.
It’s a step up, but less than a couple of cratering charges. A string of ditching dynamite is not without its charms, though.