Stolen Valor - At War Blog - NYTimes.com

There is so much that is missed when we hear stories about phony veterans, especially posers pretending to have medals of valor, as if they would even know what that word meant. This one, did much more damage than that but I doubt he cared at all.

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.
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http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/stolen-valor/

Alleged Veteran Impersonator Charged

Alleged Veteran Impersonator Charged With Faking Military Medals
11 News just learned that the man accused of pretending to be a wounded veteran is now facing federal charges.
Posted: 4:10 PM Oct 2, 2009

11 News just learned that the man accused of pretending to be a wounded veteran is now facing federal charges.

Rick Strandlof, who went by the name Rick Duncan, claimed to be a former Marine injured in combat. An arrest warrant has just been issued by the feds for charges of making false claims about receiving military decorations or medals. Strandlof allegedly claimed to have been awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.


An arrest affidavit obtained by 11 News details the exact circumstances of the case against Strandlof. The document says on May 4, 2009, the Denver FBI was notified that a Captain Rick Duncan, born in 1977, was falsely representing himself as a Naval Academy Graduate, wounded Marine veteran and Purple Heart recipient from injuries sustained in the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq.

Individuals reported to the Denver FBI that Duncan started a veteran's organization called Colorado Veteran's Alliance (CVA). However, they reported that the the trade name for CVA was registered under a Rick Strandlof. That's when their suspicions led them to call the Naval Academy, who then confirmed that no one by the name Rick Duncan ever graduated from the academy during the time framed claimed by Strandlof.

Denver FBI agents then confirmed a man under the name Rick Strandlof had been involved in a fraud scheme in Reno, NV and had two outstanding arrest warrant in California and a state-wide warrant out of Colorado Springs for a traffic offense.
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http://www.kktv.com/military/headlines/63325692.html

Military Deception, Made Easier by a Reluctance to Ask Questions

How does this happen? How does a fake veteran gain so much attention and power but real veterans have a hard time getting any attention at all? Please, don't tell me it's a compelling story they tell, because I've read about more impressive real veterans, wounded in service to this nation and then moving mountains to help other real veterans. So how did he do it? How did he get enough attention to lie in the first place?

A Military Deception, Made Easier by a Reluctance to Ask Questions
New York Times - United States

DENVER — The thick-muscled man with close-cropped hair who called himself Rick Duncan seemed right out of central casting as a prop for a Democratic candidate running against Bush administration policies last fall.

A former Marine Corps captain who suffered brain trauma from a roadside bomb in Iraq and was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks. An advocate for veterans rights who opposed the war. An Annapolis graduate who was proudly gay. With his gold-plated credentials, he commanded the respect and attention of not just politicians, but also police chiefs, reporters and veterans advocates for the better part of two years.

Yet, except for his first name, virtually none of his story was true. In reality, he was Richard G. Strandlof, a charismatic drifter with a history of mental illness and petty crimes who had moved from Montana to Nevada to Colorado, assuming different names and identities along the way.
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Colorado Veterans Alliance begun by impostor

Local veterans advocate exposed as impostor
Story By: Susan Davies
Source: KOAA

Published Wed May 13, 2009, 09:47 PM MDT
Updated Thu May 14, 2009, 05:41 AM MDT

He was a local activist for veterans issues who claimed to be a 9-1-1 survivor. He said he was a marine captain serving three tours of duty in Iraq and wounded in the line of duty. But federal investigators say he lied about all of it - even his name.

The man we knew as Rick Duncan was an advocate for homeless veterans. He started the Colorado Veterans Alliance. But fellow veterans say he was really 31 year old Richard Strandlof - a former mental patient who never served in the military.
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Local veterans advocate exposed as impostor