The Most Elaborate (Fake) Heroism Group I Have Ever Encountered

[Dave]

I've tried to figure out how to sum this guy up in something less than pages of biography...but it's nearly impossible. If you google Edward Lee Daily, you'll find countless articles about him, there is a ton of information about him on the web. 

 

But why, you ask? How is he famous? 

As the story goes, 2nd Lt. Edward Lee Daily started his time in the Army as a young enlisted man. Not two years after his enlistment, he was thrown into the meat grinder of Korea, in the thick of the action with the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, suffering tremendous losses during the hot and hellish summer of 1950. Captured by the North Koreans in August, he escaped his prisoner of war camp and made it back to UN forces. Wounded in November, he spent weeks recovering in a Swedish hospital. He was lucky to survive, eventually earning a Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and more. He received a field commission for his heroism, and finding religion, was baptized in Korea before returning home in 1951. 

 

Like many veterans of his time, his life after the war was "normal". He married, had children, was a well-loved car salesman in the area. His past was just that, the past, and he went forward with life. 

 

Fast forward thirty years and cracks started to appear in his personal life. He divorced his wife, quit his job, and reached out to the VA for counseling. It was at this point that his exploits became magnified. Grasping for the fame of his past, he began to tell those who would listen about his heroism during the war. Instead of keeping these events out of sight, as he had for the previous three decades, he proudly displayed his medals and awards. 

 

As he felt more at ease discussing the events of the past, he became more involved in various organizations. He became president of the 7th Cavalry Association. He wrote four books about Army cavalry, and in particular, the 7th Cavalry. He represented the 7th Cavalry at an apology tour of the Little Big Horn battle, took multiple trips to Korea representing his unit and the Army, but his biggest splash became his undoing. 

 

The Associated Press decided to do an investigation into the events surrounding the massacre of Korean civilians at No Gun Ri. During the course of their investigation, which later won a Pulitzer Prize, they found Edward Daily, who confessed to being one of the trigger-pullers "just following orders" and killing civilians. This propelled him to fame, being interviewed on television, becoming even more well known, in a cycle that would please anyone looking for "their time in the spotlight".

 

But with fame comes scrutiny, and as people began digging into his past, the more things didn't add up. While he was able to supply documents to support his claims, the actual record did not match. As time went on, the investigations went deeper and finally, he confessed to the lies. His ignominious ending was 21 months in prison, 3 years probation, and restituion of over $400,000 to the VA. 

Come to find out that instead of the glorious exploits he claimed, he was actually a clerk in the 27th Ordnance Maintenance Company. They were attached to the 7th Cavalry for a short period in 1951, but otherwise, that was his entire experience with the unit. He was discharged as enlisted, never receiving the battlefield promotion, nor any personal awards, let alone awards for heroism.

 

It wasn't until the 1980s that he began making his claims and created a remarkable hoax that fooled thousands of people. His efforts were so thorough that he even created fake correspondence to his mother by finding postal covers with period postal cancelation dates and erasing the original information - to replace it with his "own" created identity. Even his baptismal certificates were edited to fit the story - though the original (without embellishments) can be found on ancestry (at the time, the internet wasn't yet invented...so he might have gotten away had he not gone above and beyond with his desire for fame). 

I don't know what happened to him in the end. He'd be 91 now, but I can't find anything to indicate that he is still alive or not. A sad story for someone who couldn't simply be proud of the service they actually had - but had to create an elaborate hoax to convince others they were something they weren't. 

[Dave]

Interesting is that he notes in his letter about the medals that he had his name or initials engraved on them after the war, and that they were illegal to buy or sell...though he obviously bought them...

 

It appears that someone tried to remove the name on the Purple Heart, but either decided against it or something.

 

Incidentally, the CIB he refers to that's "made of silver" is honestly really nice. One of the heaviest two-piece CIBs I've encountered (no maker marks). His jump wings are from Phillips Publications, but are still marked sterling.

 

 

[Dave]

He "surrounded himself with heroes" - it's interesting to note he is quoted upon the death of another DSC recipient.

 

Getting into the forged paperwork, this is his immunization card, which has his POW status typed onto the backside. 

[Dave]

Before I get into more elaborate parts of the hoax, this is some of the other paperwork with the group. He studied the unit considerably, reading about losses, battles, etc., so he could place himself at the locations.

 

The group also consists of multiple albums; one about a North Korean atrocity to Americans (very graphic photos) and two scrapbooks he assembled during WW2 as a young person, obviously with a keen interest in the military and military actions.

 

 

[Basic Rifleman]

I was almost a buyer when this hit eBay - mostly out of curiosity. I thought the seller took a very honest approach in the listing, and I actually messaged them to see if the photos in the binders were originals from the Korean War, or if they were merely copies, but never heard back. Perhaps you could answer this... 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this group. You're right. This is likely one of the most deceptive and elaborate cases of stolen valor (that we know of....)

[Dave]

Of the parts of the hoax that are most creative, these are the ones that took the most effort. Below are his "letters home" that were written on vintage paper with vintage envelopes, and his baptismal certificate that was thoroughly embellished to show his unit and rank. 

 

 

[Dave]

If you look at the Record of Pastoral Acts in the above post, it will look familiar to the below image...because the one below is from ancestry and is NOT embellished. It's the original one...and he's a Corporal. Note on the embellished baptismal certificate, he states that he's "not a Captain" in order to account for the "C" typewritten on the certificate (except that it was a "C" for "Cpl")

 

 

[Dave]

And finally, how he presented himself...a heroic prisoner of war...but it was all a hoax...all the way down to the fake card from the Cincinnati Post.  

 

 

[Dave]

This is probably the best overall article about his saga:

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/053100korea-massacre-ap.html

[Dave]

Finally, it's linked in the article, but not really obvious. This is his completely fabricated story for the Silver Star. I haven't been able to find the information he created about his other awards...

[Basic Rifleman]

This guy was the military equivalent of Frank Abagnale (Catch Me if You can) with all these detailed paper forgeries. It truly makes you wonder how many more are still out there, or proceeded him in elaborate hoaxes to win fortune or fame that were never exposed. I suppose in some ways it helped his case that he waited 30 years to really start inserting himself into the veterans groups; and even started using one or two of the guys who believed his story to vouch for him to others. There was a story I read about one such soldier who fell prey to this fellas lies, and was reduced to tears upon learning Dailey was a fraud. I can't even imagine the anger and pain he must have felt. I also saw an interview with Dailey long after he was exposed. He admitted he wasn't in the places he said he was, and didn't deserve the medals, but showed zero remorse.

 

I find it most interesting how meticulous he was in using post it notes to describe each "Artifact" with great specificity. Also, do any Cavalry guys know of a "Silver Spur Award". I tried googling it, and came up with zilch.

 

Thanks for posting all of these items, Dave... And for taking them off the market.

[dhcoleterracina]

He just seems like a sad little person. 

[jerseygary]

Wow, this is really fascinating. Funny thing is he's from Covington, just 2 towns away from where I am right now. Wonder if he's still around?

 

On a side note, I create vintage ephemera props for movies and TV and this guy could have had another career in that!

 

Thanks for posting, it was a very interesting read

[militbuff]

Truly astonishing.  I remember this from many years back.   He sounds like a psychopath.  

[mndoss]

What a truly fascinating and sad story, thanks for sharing this! It definitely looks like something in him snapped later on in life that caused all of this. I mean the shear amount of time and effort that went into his fabricating all of this definitely shows some kind of mental psychosis. As others have said, just be proud of the service that you actually did because someone had to do it!

[LuftStalg1]

He lived in a time when it was easy to recreate yourself.  I have some hand writen checks for those days and I don't mean filled in by hand.  They were drawn by hand and were accepted by banks.  Just crazy!   What an amazing group and story.   It is really sad that some people seem to crave attention so much they would go this far.  I wonder if he had any real family?  I can not image creating a life while you had real family alive.

[ushistoryman]

I am the collector that found this fake group in a local Antique Mall in Crown Point, Indiana.  I knew the set was fake fake fake, but there were so many original items that I could use in my Veterans Museum.  The price was cheap and there are a lot of items that didn't make it to ebay.  I was honest on ebay about it being fake and honest as one collector pointed out.  I just didn't want this junk in the museum collection.  I was told that his son brought this in and wanted it out of the house.  I was a US History teacher for 40 years.  I looked up this guy's son's address and found him living in St. John, Indiana only about five blocks from my school.  Sad to say I never contacted him.  At one time there were videos of him in Congress talking about Korea. What a FRAUD!