Fake Vietnam Veteran Caught After Claim Paid for PTSD

With so many real Vietnam veterans struggling with PTSD and not wanting to seek help, this guy didn't have it but used it to get money?

He said his aircraft was shot down in Vietnam, and got $71,000 for it. He was lying.

Miami Herald

Josh Magness

December 21, 2017

“In fact, as Jones well knew, he never served in Vietnam; was never assigned to Special Operations in Vietnam, and, was never shot down and rescued by U.S. Marines,” the DA’s office wrote.

William Jones pleaded guilty to lying about his service in the Vietnam War. U.S. Air Force 

William Jones said he wanted help with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2013, Jones, 86, told officials at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that his disorder stemmed from his service in the Vietnam War, when the AC-130 Spectre gunship he claimed to be on was shot down, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in Rock Island, Illinois. 

Jones — who had retired from a decades-long stint in the Reserve and National Guard the year prior — said he received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal because of his time in Vietnam.

He wanted disability benefits for that service, but there was just one problem: It was all a lie, according to the DA’s office.
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