When a veteran lies about their record, it hurts others

by
Chaplain Kathie
With so many real wounded veterans not able to get the benefits they need to have their wounds treated and have their lost incomes compensated for, this really goes much deeper than just one more story of a fake hero.

Brian Culp managed to collect a lot for his fake wounds including appointments with a psychologist because he was a good actor. Veterans veterans like my husband see their appointments cut back because there isn't enough hours or providers to take care of the older veterans with the new veterans coming into the system.

My husband never thought he deserved anything from the VA and never called himself a hero, even though he has a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service, he does not put himself into the class of those he thinks of as "real heroes" like some of his friends. He also didn't see the wound of PTSD as a wound equal to a physical one. Most of them are humble and appreciate the care they receive from the VA instead of acting as if they earned it, when clearly they did. It took us six years to clear up a paperwork error to have his claim approved and for others, even longer.


Yet Culp managed to pull it all off with computer skills and good acting. He also managed to validate the perception that there are fake claims flooding into the system. Over and over again, when claims are denied, people tend to regard those claims as fraudulent because they were turned down. After all, the VA has to be right and they would honor the claim if it had been a legitimate one, right? Wrong.

Until a claim is approved, it's non-service connected. This can happen with paperwork errors, lost files, inability to find someone they served with that can back up the claim and offer a letter of support, along with a long list of others problems including the shredding of claims at many VA processing centers. Culp just put the thought of false claims back into the minds of the American people.

While it's great this fraud was found out, there are some willing to look at the good he did while pretending to be a wounded hero. Did he help some? Sure. But the truth is, his actions may have harmed a lot more than he managed to help. What would it have cost him to just help the veterans he pretended to be and not pull off a crime like this? Imagine the good he could have done for others without doing this. With a talent good enough to sell himself as a hero, he could have used it to really help the real ones falling through the cracks instead of himself.

INVALID VALOR - VETERAN LIED ABOUT HIS SERVICE -- 12-15-2008 VA Watchdog
He admitted he had used his computer to create not only a fake ID card, but also an authentic-looking DD-214 larded with fictional honors and service.

By John MacCormack
Express-News



Boasting a military record that included two Purple Hearts, decorations for valor and combat service in Somalia with the Army Rangers, Brian Culp seemed the perfect war hero to be honored last year as grand marshal in LaVernia's patriotic parade.

“He was very deserving because of his military experience, battles and honors. And he had gotten hurt,” said Merrie Monaco, president of the Lions Club that sponsors the Bluebonnet Fest Parade.

“We actually made a quilt with his patches and medals, like a memory quilt, and we gave it to him,” she recalled.

A large and rugged outdoorsman, Culp, 38, also merited special recognition because of his nonprofit organization Veteran Adventures, that takes injured service members on hunting trips around South Texas.

But even as Culp was bathed in adulation as he rolled along Main Street at the head of the LaVernia parade, time was running out.

Smelling something fishy in his improbable war stories and claims to being a brother in arms, members of the small fraternity of Army Rangers already were comparing notes and digging into his military past.

Then on Aug. 23, 2007, Culp overplayed his hand when he tried to enter Lackland AFB using an ID card that identified him as a retired master sergeant.

The gate guard turned Culp away and confiscated the card, which investigators soon determined to be well-done forgery.

When Culp came in for questioning, Air Force detectives Stephen Vaughan and Sean Garrettson at first found denial and defiance. But eventually, they say, he admitted to even more elaborate fictions.

“This guy came in and thinks he's gonna run the interview,” recalled Vaughan, who had just returned from his second tour in Iraq.

“I was personally offended by his behavior. I found it reprehensible,” he said.

Culp first claimed he knew nothing about the fake ID card that bore his name and photo, but when the stakes were raised, he crumbled, Vaughan said.

“I said, ‘So check it out, Culp. What if I run a search warrant on your house right now? Do you want to bet there's something on your home computer to make this ID card?'” he recalled.

He said Culp eventually admitted he had used his computer to create not only the fake ID card, but also an authentic-looking military discharge paper called a DD-214 larded with fictional honors and service.

Culp admitted to using the fake documents to obtain benefits and services from on-base haircuts to Purple Heart license plates to disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Vaughan said.

“He said he lied to the VA counselor about having post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Bosnia and witnessing mass graves there,” Vaughan said.

And while Culp had served honorably in both wars against Iraq, he never was wounded, never served in Somalia or Bosnia and never had been a Ranger, Vaughan said.

“All of us want to be John Wayne, but most of us outgrow it when we're 12,” he said.

Almost a year later, Culp was charged with four federal offenses related to making false claims to military honors and to using a fake ID card to try to enter Lackland.
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