Fake veteran gets 5-month sentence

[NYVet]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332642_fakevet22.html?source=rss

Fake veteran gets 5-month sentence
Man claimed to have helped kill civilians in Iraq


Jesse MacBeth never was an Army Ranger, much less a corporal, never received a Purple Heart for wounds inflicted by a foreign foe, and neither saw nor participated in war crimes with fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, claims for which he became a poster boy for the anti-war movement.

<snip>

MacBeth was sentenced Friday to five months in jail and three years' probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs claim and an Army discharge record.

<snip>

Under a plea agreement in May, MacBeth admitted guilt to falsifying a claim for veterans compensation benefits and altering his military discharge record, which was issued after he washed out of Army boot camp after 44 days in 2003.

A thin man who sat quietly looking down through most of the hearing, MacBeth apologized for snookering anti-war groups with his claims of killing unarmed, helpless civilians in Iraq -- which were translated into Arabic and posted on the Internet -- and also to U.S. soldiers whom he defamed.

MacBeth said he felt bad for what he did.

"I'm sorry not only for lying about everything and discrediting anti-war groups, but also for defaming the real heroes, the soldiers out there sacrificing for their country," MacBeth said. "I was trying to pull a fast one, to make money to get off the streets."

<snip>


If his statement of remorse is true, then he has learned his lesson. If not, may he learn that lesson soon.

[SacredCow]

1. Heard Rush Barfbag gloating over this....

He was practically having an orgasm.... Ew. :puke:

[NYVet]

2. Like I said, I only hope that Jesse comes out of this better

I was actually hoping that he would get community service doing landscaping or something at a VA hospital.

that would also give him a skill that would help get him off the street.

[ohio_88]

3. False claims of service not that uncommon..

What Jesse MacBeth did is not that uncommon.  
The fact that so many people fell for his lies is unusual. 
Perhaps it is another example of people wanting to believe
something so much that they do not think it through.

Ohio_88

"Interesting Census Stats and "Been There"
Wanabees: 
1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as
of August, 1995 (census figures). ~ During that same Census
count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served
in-country was: 9,492,958. 

~ As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the
surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is:
1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000
between '95 and '00. That's 390 per day. 

During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely
claiming to have served in-country is: 
13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE
Vietnam vets are not".
http://www.screamingeagles327thvietnam.com/first/stories_poems/facts_vs_fiction.htm

[TahitiNut]

4. That's what fries my bacon. Seriesly. The frauds - the 'stolen valor' wannabes.

When I came back from 'Nam, I felt like some leper. I no longer felt comfortable around former friends and colleagues ... or even my own family. I found a whole new set of folks - liberals all - in whose company I felt accepted. But not all 'liberals' were accommodating. There's a self-righteous, blame-mongering breed who don't have the foggiest notions of the spiritual generosity that's the core of what I regard as true, humanistic liberalism.

So I, as well as MANY Viet Nam vets, went into the 'closet.' It seemed like there was a bimodal distribution of VN Vets ... some stormed the domestic barricades and became anti-war activists and others went into 'stealth' mode. Since I returned at the end of '69, the handwriting was on the wall and the war was tapering down. Additionally, I had bigger problems - personal problems - to deal with. I had to confront the situation with a wife who'd found 'greener pastures' and my own emotional problems of readjusting to a 'world' that changed - as well as a job that changed.

It wasn't until the 80s that many of us came out of the closet ... only to find that many fakes were posturing as Viet Nam veterans. It was clear they weren't. Many were former servicemen who'd never served in-country. Many others were War Surplus Store customers ... military "groupies" who did it "Halloween-style" and without more than perhaps an ROTC experience. Many of these seemed to be the same folks that greeted us with rabid hostility when we got back. Strange, that.

Today, I'm guessing there're less than 600,000 of us left alive ... out of about 2.5 million who served in-country. But it sometimes seems there're millions - since the pretend-vets are still prancing around.

It's appalling. For those of us who encountered some despicable crap 'coming home,' it opens old wounds. We get lumped in with the frauds ... and the venom flows. Just another "fuck you, GI" feeling of betrayal - "Americans prefer the fakes to the real deal." (I sometimes just want to say "Fuck you all.")

[TahitiNut]

5. I think he should get 24 months ... or 12 months at a minimum. That's how long a tour was.

People like that are despicable. Completely despicable.

:puke:

[rakeeb]

6. I would agree with you

if it were a simple case of trying to pass himself off as something he wasn't. I remember in the mid-90's I saw a guy lose a stripe and a lot of money for wearing an unauthorized CIB, he didn't even bother trying to doctor his records, I guess he was just trying to fit in with the company.
But this guy filed a false claim with the VA, a system already bogged down with trying to process real claims while filtering out the fraud, and he provided an anti-war group with what turns out to be a false flag, (which does nothing but hurt their cred).
This guy should do time or public service at least until everyone who was in the VA system the day he filed a fraudulent claim has been processed.