Stolen-Valor--Lying-and-Dishonor

Seeing A Lady Warrior Off to Iraq

When Tanna Bia came to Aztec VFW Post 614 to celebrate a birthday and going away party she had no idea what else was going to become a part of our Post History.

Tanna is being shipped out to Iraq and her family and friends were there in the Post Dining Room to see her off. She was surprised beyond words when the VFW Officers and some Army Personnel walked to the podium and asked her to please come forward.

Commander Abe Saiz then made a few opening remarks and presented her with a New Mexico State Flag. The New Mexico State Flag has a yellow field with a red Zia Sun Symbol in the center. It seems appropriate that a state with so many Native American Warriors should have such a flag.

As a Life Member of Post 614 and the proponent for Mount KIA/MIA it was my pleasure to present a Mount KIA/MIA Challenge Coin to her.

While there are already a few of these challenge coins in circulation, we expect them to become very popular. They will be sold for fifteen dollars each and a part of the proceeds will go toward continuing efforts toward a Mount KIA/MIA Memorial, and we are hoping that there will be a memorial built in the city of Saguache. We are also searching to find a place where people can bring, or send, dog tags honoring killed or missing military personnel. Since these stainless steel tags are almost indestructible it is hoped that there will be a perpetual place of honor for them. We really don’t think they should be on the mountain, but more likely at a “memorial” to be built for this special purpose in Saguache.

New Mexico is proud of all its warriors and I was honored to present the Challenge Coin to one of our Lady Warriors. We wish her a safe journey and look forward to seeing her again when she returns home.

A sunny day and a clear blue sky greeted us as we memorialized Army Cpl. John Spruell. As I stood there I could not help but feel the warmth of this December day and compare it to the cold of the Korean War. The people of Cortez can be proud of the event.

On Saturday, December 06, 2008 more than 100 family members, classmates and friends gathered at the Cortez Cemetery to see the memorial for Army Cpl. John A. Spruell dedicated. It was 58 years to the day since Spruell went missing West of Chosin Reservoir while fighting the Communist Chinese Forces in North Korea.

I traveled to Cortez because of my interest in honoring our heroes, because I was invited, and because Cpl. Spruell was part of a military unit that I had been researching for over six years. He was a member of Btry. B 57th FA Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.

When I read the data on Cpl. Spruell I realized that he had been in the same unit as Sgt. Jimmie Jumbo who I have often written about. Jimmie was from Toadlena, New Mexico and he and Spruell went missing on the same day at Hagaru-Ri North Korea, at the Chosin Reservoir. Spruell and Jumbo were from the Four-Corners Area and being soldiers I believe they would have talked about home. They may have discussed Fry Bread, Mutton Stew, Home Fries and Tacos, and probably family and girlfriends were discussed.

A funeral for my friend of many years, Glen Gabehart, was being carried out in Aztec, New Mexico on the same day as Spruell’s memorial and I thought of Glen as I stood there watching the dedication. Glen and I are members of Farmington High School Class of 1949 and the last time we visited we were looking forward to our upcoming 60th Class Reunion.

As we stood beneath a bright sun viewing a clear blue sky I gave thanks for the weather. This man deserved good weather on the day his memorial was dedicated. As I watched the wonderfully performed ceremony my eyes focused beyond the Speakers and the Honor Guard and the crowd as I looked toward Sleeping Ute Mountain behind them. Surely John Spruell saw this mountain every day he lived in Cortez, and it is fitting that his memorial be within view of this famous landmark

When I visit Cortez I will always stop for a moment at the Southwest corner of the Cortez Cemetery and stand at Cpl. Spruell’s memorial stone to say a prayer for him and his buddy Sgt. Jimmie Jumbo and gaze to the West to enjoy that same Sleeping Ute Mountain that I first viewed as a five year old boy when my family moved to Cortez in 1935

I have a younger brother who lives in Cortez now and who is also a Korean War Veteran, and I am sure that George will be pleased to place a fresh red rose on John Spruell’s memorial stone now and then.

A donor who asked not to be identified provided seed-money to the Cortez cemetery to establish a Memorial Fund in Cpl. John A. Spruell’s name. The fund will be used for maintaining the Veteran’s Section of this cemetery. The fund will repair older headstones and provide a buffer if a family cannot afford the hundred and forty dollar cost of stone-setting. Should you desire to contribute to this fund please contact Dennis Spruell, The Cortez Cemetery, or the Cortez Journal Newspaper.

Even after 58 years, it was evident that John Spruell was a favorite with his high school friends and the younger family members who had never met him. Now they will learn about the events of late November and early December 1950 when a small American Force held off the Chinese Army “East of Chosin” just long enough that the Marines and the few surviving Army personnel were able to fight their way out to the sea, and live to fight another day.

When I arrived at home I could not help but think of the love these “Chosin Few” have for each other, so I telephoned my friend Sgt. Carson Gentry who lives in Johnson City Tennessee. Gentry was a part of that unit and had survived having been a prisoner of the Communist Chinese for years. He was the one who first contacted me with a photo and information about Jimmie Jumbo and has put me in contact with others of these brave men who survived the battle West of Chosin. When you look at the photo of Gentry and Jumbo please remember that Gentry still had this photo over 50 years after the event, and that he has fond memories of Jimmie and his other buddies.

The story of the Korean War, which is called “the forgotten war”, is the story of men who still care about each other. Those who fought in this war will never forget!

Bruce L Salisbury

"Fighting for Our Veterans-Supporting Our Troops"

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Stolen Valor, Lying and Dishonor

by Rick Mowles, BS, DC, DICAK, DABCO

Vietnam Veteran 1968-1970. 1st Battalion 9th Marines, 3rd. Marine Division

A Vietnam veteran walks into a VA clinic to see a physician for an appointment. He picks up a magazine and starts to read an article. Another veteran comes into the clinic and sits next to him. A conversation begins between the two veterans. The conversation gradually ends up with where each veteran served and with what unit. The one veteran states that he didn’t do much, just drove a truck. The other veteran proclaims, "I was a Navy Seal! I served four combat tours in Vietnam. I won the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and three purple hearts. The other veteran continues to read his magazine article. As the conversation progresses, the one veteran realizes that this “Navy SEAL” is actually a liar. The information that he is very willing to give on his heroic military acts is not the truth.

The above fictionalized example has become more common in the last ten years around the country. People who have never even been in the military show up at high school reunions, business parties, and other social events wearing military dress uniforms decorated out in every conceivable medal of valor. This certainly is a complete turn about to what Vietnam veterans experienced in the late 60s and 70s. America was enduring a turbulent time, breeding an environment of rebellion, political friction and, of course, violent protests on the war in southeast Asia. The media didn’t help matters any with their sensationalism. The Vietnam war was a very hot target. Along with this were the men and women who fought in the seemingly endless war being portrayed as drug addicts, murderers of women and children, crazed killers with explosive tempers, misfits and every other manner of degrading label. Many Vietnam veterans returned to be met by crowds of protesters expressing their antiwar and anti-veteran sentiments.

Many veterans met with hostility and a "label" from their own family members. They were questioned about their use of drugs, or how many women and children they had murdered? This led a lot of veterans to isolate themselves. Most of the Vietnam veterans didn’t talk to anybody but other Vietnam veterans about anything related to their war experiences. In some cases, even mentioning that a veteran had served in Vietnam could hinder chances of employment.

In the early 1980s, the term "Post-traumatic stress disorder" appeared as a diagnostic term to describe the effects of war on the mind of the soldier or Marine. Then an interesting thing started to happen. Heroes started to emerge out of everywhere, from every war. It was hard to talk to a veteran who wasn’t a SEAL, Green Beret, or Marine Force Recon. What happened to all the cooks, supply clerks, administrative clerks and motor transport veterans?

On December 20, 2005, President George W. Bush signed into law the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The Act was first introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 19, 2005, by Representative John Salazar, a Democrat from Colorado, as H.R. 3352. The Act is a law that broadens the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals. It makes it a federal misdemeanor offense to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants may be imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case, imprisonment could be up to one year.

In January 2010, a legal challenge concerning the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act was filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado. The Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberty group, joined in the case on January 20, 2010. "Such expression remains within the presumptive protection afforded pure speech by the First Amendment," the Institute’s attorney wrote. “As such, the Stolen Valor Act is an unconstitutional restraint on the freedom of speech." This more than likely will be challenged in the courts in the near future.

Regardless of the legal parameters of this law, the plain and simple thing is that these impostors are liars and frauds. When a young man or woman enlists in the military, they should be respected for their commitment to serve their country in whatever capacity. When you enlist, it isn’t like going to college where you pick what you want to study. The military puts you in the job. There is no disgrace or shame in being assigned to motor transport, administrative duties, or supply. The respect and honor should be shown toward any young man or woman who wears the uniform. The disgrace or shame is the lying and fraudulent misrepresentation. This reflects a serious flaw in character.

Medals of Valor are awarded for extraordinary feats of heroism under the most dangerous circumstance above and beyond the call of duty. Nobody can observe a fresh platoon out of boot camp and pick out who will win a medal of valor. Most of those individuals awarded such medals are very humble about their awards. They all acknowledge those fellow soldiers and Marines who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Most of these "heroes" don’t really feel they did anything that anyone else wouldn’t do in such circumstances. For an individual to parade around in public and brag about themselves doesn’t fit with the character of a hero.

Veterans who served in duties of Special Operations don’t go around and talk about it. The training of Special Operations is covertness. Most of their missions are highly classified. These missions are not things you brag about or talk about over a beer in a bar. Those veterans who claim to have been in Special Operations are more than likely impostors and liars.

Those veterans who have fought in combat and have lost close friends, feel any misrepresentation as disrespect. These impostors, liars, and frauds are literally desecrating the memories of fallen veterans. It shows an element of dishonor and shame that should not be tolerated.

"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be"

-Socrates (Ancient Greek Philosopher 470 BC-399 BC

Rick Mowles

Click on picture for bio.

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