| PHONY MARINE OUTED
BY NAVY COMMANDER, FACES CHARGES
The moral: Never go to a class reunion
wearing a uniform and medals you didn't earn.
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA
Watchdog dot Org ... Use our search engine for more about
Stolen Valor ... phonies ... wannabes ...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=stolen+valor&op=ph
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=phony&op=and
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=wannabe&op=and
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Medals Of Dishonor
FBI: Prodigiously decorated
California man never served in military
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years
/2009/1111091medals1.html
Just in time for Veteran's Day,
a California bank employee is facing federal charges for allegedly
masquerading as a decorated Marine and wearing a
 host
of bogus medals, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Navy
Cross.
Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled
to surrender tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Riverside,
California (Burton, who has never served in the armed forces, was
named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him
with the unauthorized wearing of military medals).
According to a
search warrant affidavit, Burton's charade was discovered
after an actual Navy commander, Colleen Salonga, ran into Burton
at their high school reunion.
Online records indicate that
Salonga and Burton graduated in 1988 from Alhambra High School in
Martinez, California (and that their class's 20th reunion was last
October).
Suspicious that Burton was
playing dress up, Salonga asked to take a photo with him. That
image, seen above, was later provided to FBI agents.
A subsequent investigation
turned up another photo of Burton in uniform as well as blog
postings in which he recounted his "combat experience" and tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the real world, Burton is
employed at Rabobank in Palm Springs, California.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Stolen Valor |
