Questionable service history

[M1Marksman]

A year & a half ago, I invited a fellow co-worker to stay at my house for awhile since his condo was in foreclosure & he had nowhere to go. My wife & I needed the money to save our home from foreclosure, so we deciced to charge him $350/month which included meals. The guy has a job driving a school bus, so he's not exactly rich. He's also VERY lazy! He hasn't saved a penny to use as a deposit for his own place & feels pretty comfortable staying indefinitely. He locks himself in his room & is constantly on the computer trying to find a South American or Caribbean wife. He's fallen behind on the rent a couple times & I found out it was because of his online auction spending habits...AND...he's sent lots of money overseas to a couple of the women he was trying to woo. I had a talk in August with him about that & he stopped buying stuff...until December.

 

My concerns (among others) are his habitual lying. He told me (& anyone else who will listen) that he's a US Army Viet Nam vet. Supposedly joined in '66 & stayed til '72. I did see a book he owned with a pic of him in uniform thrusting an M14 with a bayonet. It identified him as Staff Sgt XXX (his name where the X's are) demonstrating the proper bayonet technique. He's lied to me about there being no mail (he likes to walk to the mailbox to see if anything came for him), when I checked it earlier & there was a delivery confirmation receipt for him. He told me there was "No mail at all".

 

The rest of his story seem to get a little far-fetched, but someone please correct me if I am wrong. He claims to have gone through basic training (of course), paratrooper jump school, Ranger school, sniper school, jungle training in Panama, armored training at Fort Knox...AND was a drill instructor. He claims he was a LRRP sniper with an M14 & iron sights (no scope), was in the 173rd AB Bgde & also assigned to the 4th armored & 1st Air Cav in Viet Nam for one tour in VN. He also claims a Silver Star, Bronze Star(for disposing of a grenade thrown by a new recruit during training) & a Purple Heart. He owns a Colt 1911 made in 1913 that he supposedly carried in Nam & his CO gave him, along with the M3 knife he used to harvest enemy ears, to keep after his heroic tour. He also claims to have escorted a fallen comrade's remains home; a soldier he said he tried to save & was awarded the Silver Star & PH doing so. He claims to have been exposed to Agent Orange & that he's entitled to over $3,000/month compensation from Uncle Sam when he retires & collects Social Security. As far as I know, he never filled out any paperwork because it's too difficult.

 

He collects tons of stuff from militaria to western gear (fancies himself a cowboy, or something); books on everything military, dinosaurs, sci-fi, etc.; leather coats & jackets (supposedly one A2 jacket was awarded to him after taking out a difficult sniper at Ton Son Nhut AFB); Stetson hats (about 2 dozen or so); plastic & resin model kits like you wouldn't believe; and every bit of paperwork/receipts he's ever touched.

 

Is all of this possible in the 6 years he says he was in? I've tried searching online for his military records, or even something that would prove his service. NO matches to anything I (or even others) have typed in, including medals or awards. I could find previous & current addresses, but not much else. Sorry I don't know that much about military training & stuff, but I was never in the military & figured someone here would have an answer.

 

Could someone with a subscription to a search site help me out here? I can post his info through a personal message. It would just ease my mind to know he didn't embellish or just outright LIE about his service history & accomplishments. Also, NO college records or history comes up when searching. He supposedly went to North Dakota or Montana to study paleontology & geology after he returned, then dug up dinosaur bones. He also said he worked on "Sue" the T-Rex at the Field Museum in Chicago. Supposedly worked on the belly gastralia...Can't find anything to substantiate that, either. The only records we find are high school.

 

I'm working on telling him tomorrow that we need him to find a new place & that our 5 year old son needs his bedroom back. My wife is very uneasy when he's around & it's time to reclaim our home. She thinks he may have served, but nowhere near the capacity he claims. I just need to know for sure.

 

Sorry about the long post. Are we paranoid, or is this just a regular guy living his life? Thanks for looking.

[Bob Hudson]

I bought some stuff from the son of a Vietnam veteran who actually did earn a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, yet STILL felt compelled to embellish the truth. As his son told me words to the effect of, "If dad was in Vietnam for 6 months he'd incorporate a dozen other people's stories as his own."

 

Your guy does indeed sound like a possible poser (if it sounds too good to be true...) but really he sounds like someone who has found the senior citizen equivalent of living in his mom's basement and ain't gonna leave! How old is he? If he enlisted in 1966 he is a minimum of 63-64 years old and is coming up to Social Security retirement age.

 

But the Agent Orange Settlement Fund closed in 1997 and I understand veterans had to be 100% disabled to have qualified. Same with getting close to $3,000 a month in disability benefits: 70 to 100% disabled.

 

If you're uncomfortable - and it sounds like you are - you need concrete answers and some action on his part, unless you want Maria Conchito Alonzo to show up at your doorstep one day announcing she's come to live with El Jefe.

[Bob Hudson]

PS: send he his name and hometown if you know it and I'll search some paid databases.

[Jack's Son]

You're on the right track, and Forum Support has given you some good advice and an offer of help.

Don't wait too long, and remember.....this guy knows ALL about you!

 

BE CAREFUL!!

[Manchu Warrior]

This reminds me of a situation I once found myself in. My ex-wife invited an old friend into our home when he was down on his luck. He was supposed to stay for a few weeks, or up to a month, until he got his vehicle titles and plates transferred to West Virginia, he owned property there. Well, a few weeks turned into six months and six months with a grown man living in your living room can be a very, very long time and very nerve racking. He also dd not work and had no money coming in. So, we had two of our own children at four and two years old and basically a 50 year old one living on our couch. Needless to say it caused major friction between me and the ex and I finally asked him to leave. And instead of being grateful he was pissed off and hasn't talked to me since, it has been almost 20 years, even when I happen to see him he completely ignores me. And by the way your guest story sounds like a big pile of what my kids use to call number two. I wish you luck and I hope it doesn't get ugly.

[Robswashashore]

Wow, talk about no good deed ever going unpunished.

[capa]

We have a saying in my family---NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. Sad but all too often true. You try to be nice to people, and wow you truly have been a good Samaritan, and they take advantage. Trust your gut on this. He has to go, and go now. Secure all your valuables before you tell him and be prepared to change the door locks the day you send him packing. Also, I'd have the wife and child away from the house when you do tell him. And perhaps have a male friend with you (not trying to be sexist here). You might want to consider getting him a hotel room for a week for his 'transition' time that way you diffuse (a bit) putting him on the street.

Good luck, God Bless, and keep us posted!

Fielding

[Steve B.]

All I can add is that Bronze Stars are NOT awarded for stateside training accidents/incidents. An Army Commendation Medal - perhaps, but not a BS.

[Bob Hudson]

All I can add is that Bronze Stars are NOT awarded for stateside training accidents/incidents. An Army Commendation Medal - perhaps, but not a BS.

 

You mean the BS was BS? And we found concrete evidence of the guy posing as a retired Army colonel!

[M1Marksman]

At noon today, he & I are going to remove a desk I have at his storage locker. After I get it home, I'll drop the bomb. He has until Feb 1st.

[rr01]

At noon today, he & I are going to remove a desk I have at his storage locker. After I get it home, I'll drop the bomb. He has until Feb 1st.

Good luck and while you're at it point him in the direction of the VA. If he is already enrolled then his next stop should be with a veteran service officer with the American Legion, VFW, DAV; etc. These men and women are trained to help navigate the VA claims system. Offer to at least keep track of his progress and lend encouragement to, well go somewhere else while he's going all this. If he's a bus driver then he can make a decent living if he so chooses; I know, I played work up from substitute to director in less than five years which makes me living proof any idiot can do that job.

If he is already enrolled with the VA and says he has been all the other routes with no success then haul him down to his congressman's office, those people can get down to the meat of the matter at the stroke of one auto pen signature.

If he continues to balk then just show him the curb and you & your family move on. Good luck.

[M1Marksman]

Nobody can actually find evidence of any military service whatsoever! The profile he uses for the mailorder bride site touts him as a retired Army officer & helicopter pilot! He never told me THAT one before! Why in the heck did I ever trust this guy?

 

Saw him today & told him our son needed his room back. He seemed ok with that. Told me he was going to find a place asap. He seemed very happy & smiley, too. He must be laughing inside about his BS!

 

I know a guy who works security. He's going to run a background check on him tonight. We'll see...

[Sjef]

Drop us a sign of life every ones in a while, so we can take action when you have been of the radar for some time. :thumbsup:

[67Rally]

He was a door gunner on a sub as well!

[Manchu Warrior]

He was a door gunner on a sub as well!

Good stuff, lol!! And I needed to laugh. Thanks!!

[M1Marksman]

He also claims to have led various commands from Viet Nam to Iraq, although he spells it Irac...

 

My cousin was in the Army & this kind of stuffs pisses him off! He's going on several sites he knows of & is going to check the Ranger School roster. He also mentions (my cousin, that is) that if this "vet" was in Viet Nam, why in the heck did they send him to Panama for jungle & sniper training? It's getting weirder every minute!

 

BTW, I plan on popping in here a few times a day. If you don't hear from me, send in the Cavalry! Just kidding. I'm armed to the teeth & ain't afraid of a 150 lb bald-headed model-building geek Army Staff Sergeant-Colonel helicopter pilot Airborne Ranger Sniper paleontologist wannabe!

 

Dang, I just got a finger cramp typing all that!

[Rakkasan187]

Make sure when he leaves the house you change the locks on your doors. People down on their luck sometimes do vengeful things.. Just a word of caution to protect your wife and kids, and yourself...

 

Leigh..

[M1Marksman]

Already have the locks...

[willysmb44]

Embellishing service is as old as war itself. I think the majority of people who’ve served have done it from time to time, if even just telling stories about the girls they’d met on leave, how awful a deployment was or how terrible a certain NCO was.

As for having someone hang at your house like that, I’d never dream of making the offer. Other than the mother of our godson, we wouldn’t trust anyone in our house at night and even then that is on the two occasions we had her housesit the place and look after our pup when we were on vacation. Even then, you always have to take a risk.

[M1Marksman]

As for having someone hang at your house like that, I’d never dream of making the offer.

 

Funny thing is, I only brought him home to have dinner & show him that my house was too small for him to stay. After my wife heard about the problems he was having at his current location, she told him, without consulting me, that we could easily move our son into our room & he could stay in our son's room. After that, everything was moving in slow motion. I looked at her & my jaw just dropped! OOOOOOOH NOOOOO! The next day I had to move everything out of my son's room & into ours. Later that day, I was helping him move in.

 

I have a search request in at pownetwork.com. They search military records, awards, etc.

 

So far, everything is still friendly. He said tonight he thinks he'll be out by the 20th.

[Jack's Son]

.............. He said tonight he thinks he'll be out by the 20th.

Of which MONTH, and what YEAR ? :pinch:

[M1Marksman]

This month (January), this year (2012).

 

BTW, did I mention he's spent a small fortune on fake gemstones over the past year or so? Latest purchase was a 50 ct & a 100 ct cubic zirconia. He also has 2 sets of jeweler's ring sizers (rings that measure the width of a finger to ensure proper size). Probably for his next scam; telling South American women he's a rich American jeweler & "Look at all my diamonds & rubies".

 

He buys crap on ebay, but rarely opens the package after it arrives! He hides it away like a deranged packrat! Not a pot to pee in, nor a window to throw it out of!

 

He tells the prospective mail-order brides his job is a road construction flagger in the warmer months & a yellow school bus driver in the winter months. Only the latter is true. He also tells them he does community service to help those in need. I don't know when he does that; he never comes out of his room except to use the bathroom or to eat. Kinda like having a 64 year old teenager!

[Jack's Son]

Another of life's lessons learned!!

Remember......No good deed goes unpunished ! :thumbsup:

[M1Marksman]

Found out from pownetwork.com that he DID serve 3 years (NOT 6), and not in the rank or role he claims.

 

Rank was E5

PMOS: 11C4B Indirect Fire Crewman

SMOS: 11E44B Armor Crewman

 

They plan on doing a more thorough search & should have results in 4-6 weeks. They asked for any documentation he used to claim his rank or service. I'll gladly send them what I found.

 

Also, found an address & phone number of his former wife. He claimed he'd never married...

 

Still waiting to hear from another source as well.

[M1Marksman]

Also, did I mention he claims 78 confirmed kills as a sniper? He says there were more, but couldn't reach the bodies from where he was.

 

He also claims he shot a water buffalo with his M14, but it didn't penetrate the skull & it charged him. Said he ran past a bunch of guys & they eventually shot it with a .50 cal.