Anyone who has been reading The Veterans’ Voice for any length of time knows Bruce Salisbury and the role he has played in the naming of Mt. KIA/MIA. He credits his wonderful wife, Dottie, with the idea, and together, they worked tirelessly, through serious illnesses, and all manner of objections thrown at them from the various Alphabet Agencies of our government to finally achieve their long sought goal in October of 2007.
According to Lowell Forbes, who was very involved and guided Bruce through the process, the proponent for the mountain has the privilege of directing the dedication ceremony in the manner that they wish.
Recently a small dedication ceremony was held at the mountain, by a group calling themselves, “The Society For Mt. KIA/MIA.” Bruce decided to distance himself from this group after he learned they did not want his input, but only his support of the event, which was nothing like what he wished for our KIA/MIAs or the mountain, and after he made this choice he disavowed the group, and then he learned more about one of the members, which further validated his decision.
Bradley Washington Hight, the president of that group, is also in violation of the Stolen Valor Act, as you can see from the picture (left), as labeled by C. Doug Sterner, webmaster of Home of Heroes.com, ( a true hero himself). He works with Mary Schantag, of the POW Network, and the FBI on matters related to military frauds and phonies.
The POW Network pulled Brad’s DD-214, and compared his records with claims he had made in various news publications about his combat service in Vietnam, and this picture is the result of the Freedom Of Information Act data. This man who claimed to be a door gunner on a Huey , north of Saigon, was in fact a parts chaser in the Motor Pool, and had never been in Vietnam. Even his marksmanship badge is bogus.
When Bradley Hight was being interviewed by media in Colorado and claiming that he and his three friends had "named the mountain,” he boasted that he had been on the front page of The Veterans Voice in May 2004. Well he made the front page again!
It is doubtful that formal charges will be brought against Mr. Hight. The FBI simply does not have the man power to prosecute all those who are in violation of the Stolen Valor Act. In hopes of helping combat this problem and to be sure families are aware of awards, Doug Sterner is pushing for the Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2007 to become law. It would require that the Secretary of Defense establish a searchable online database of names and citations of all members of the armed forces, who have been awarded the medal of honor or any other medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces, the United States merchant marine, or affiliated civilians. As of June 24, 2008, the Bill is Co-Sponsored by 67 Members of Congress.
The whole dedication debacle was rather heartbreaking for Bruce, Dottie and those from coast to coast who supported their efforts. At present, Bruce and Dottie are busy on other projects. Bruce was recently named commander of the NM Chapter of Veterans of Underage Military Service, and he is in pursuit of a memorial to honor an obscure MOH recipient, Kenneth Worley. Kenneth was an orphan who spent his first 14 years in Farmington, NM, before moving to CA. His act of bravery in Vietnam cost him his life when he was 20 years old. Four decades after his death we are going to build a proper memorial to Lance Corporal Kenneth Lee Worley, USMC ,CMOH
Bruce’s hopes for a proper dedication of mount kia/mia are still alive, but he knows that such an event can’t be thrown together in a few months. It will problably take one or more years of planning and should represent all fifty states and all five uniformed armed services. To contact Bruce, e-mail him at bsalisbury@acrnet.com