He claimed he had a Purple Heart, when he never even served. Then he claimed he had PTSD, when again, he never served. People will read this story and just think about the fact this is one more coward-lower-life-form wanting to take what he did not earn. The problem is, he took a lot more than that when he claimed to have PTSD.
There have been Vietnam veterans suffering for over 30 years with PTSD, real veterans with real battle scars, with real suffering. They will not admit they have PTSD because they cannot overcome the stigma of it as if it is some kind of stain on their courage, but this fake, saw it as a badge of courage he would take as well. He had no clue. We've lost too many because they viewed PTSD as something to be ashamed, instead of something that came home with them because they cared. This man, this man didn't care about anyone but himself.
October 5, 2009, 6:19 pm
Stolen Valor
By James Dao
Fraudulently claiming to be a decorated war hero so infuriates veterans that they have given the deception a name: stolen valor. And since 2005, it has been against federal law, punishable by a fine and up to a year in prison.
Now, in perhaps the highest-profile case of its type this year, the government has charged a Colorado man, Richard G. Strandlof, with fraudulently claiming to have won a Purple Heart in Iraq.
Until he was unmasked this year, Mr. Strandlof was better known in Colorado as Rick Duncan, a charismatic former Marine Corps captain who had served three tours in Iraq, been wounded by a roadside bomb in Falluja and struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
His tale was convincing enough that Mr. Strandlof became a spokesman for Iraq veterans in Colorado, meeting with mayors, appearing with political candidates and forming a well-regarded group, Colorado Veterans Alliance.
read more here
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/stolen-valor/
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