Discussion | 8 comments

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• Greenwood BillJuly 09, 2012 - 11:25 am

  Sorry James but it always has been and they (politicians) always have been. Nothing new here

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• RichJuly 09, 2012 - 1:00 pm

  Mr. Longhofer, many of us believe that there's a special place in hell for people who claim military awards they didn’t earn.......Semper Fi

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• Hero or free speech?July 09, 2012 - 9:00 pm

  Editor’s note — Dick Grinnell of El Dorado Hills enlisted in the Marines in 1952 with a fake birth certificate. Part 1, below, of his story takes the marine through two Purple Hearts in Korea. Part 2 will tell the story of his Silver Star. It’s been 58 years since El Dorado Hills Korean war [...] From: " Amerman GS11 Annette D" To: Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 5:50 AM Subject: FW : Website Inquiry CWO Andrews: This is in response to your email sent to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, which was forwarded to me at the Marine Corps History Division. I have pulled the two articles you mention which discuss Mr Grinnell . I went through our records of individuals who served in the Marine Corps from 1798 to 1971. I was unable to locate any Marine named "Richard Grinnell " or "Dick Grinnell " that matched the dates of service mentioned in the articles. The articles mention that Mr Grinnell was wounded three times during the Korean War; I could NOT find any corroborating evidence of this either. As for his claim that he earned a Silver Star and it was revoked due to his fraudulent enlistment; I can find no evidence that a Silver Star was awarded to any Marine by the last name Grinnell . Furthermore, the claim that the award was revoked due to his age, is simply not true. A famous case of a fraudulent enlistment which resulted in a heroic act is PFC Jacklyn Lucas of WWII. PFC Lucas was 14 when he enlisted and later was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. You can read about this on our website: http :// www . tecom . usmc .mil/ HD / Whos _Who/Lucas_ JH . htm A further claim by Mr Grinnell (in the article) was that he was wounded during "mopping up" operations after the Inchon landing in 1952. The Inchon landing took place in 1950, not 1952. Furthermore, MacArthur was dismissed by President Truman in 1951. I hope this information is helpful to you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Annette Amerman Annette Amerman Acting Branch Head Historical Reference Branch Marine Corps History Division 3078 Upshur Ave Quantico , VA 22134 www .history. usmc .mil

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• Free speechJuly 09, 2012 - 9:23 pm

  Mountain Democrat Memorial Day 2011-Editor’s note —-- ----- of El Dorado Hills enlisted in the Marines in 1952 with a fake birth certificate. Part 1, below, of his story takes the marine through two Purple Hearts in Korea. Part 2 will tell the story of his Silver Star. It’s been 58 years since El Dorado Hills Korean war [...] From: " Amerman GS11 Annette D" To: Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 5:50 AM Subject: FW : Website Inquiry CWO Andrews: This is in response to your email sent to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, which was forwarded to me at the Marine Corps History Division. I have pulled the two articles you mention which discuss Mr ----------. I went through our records of individuals who served in the Marine Corps from 1798 to 1971. I was unable to locate any Marine named "------ ------------" or "------------ " that matched the dates of service mentioned in the articles. The articles mention that Mr --------- was wounded three times during the Korean War; I could NOT find any corroborating evidence of this either. As for his claim that he earned a Silver Star and it was revoked due to his fraudulent enlistment; I can find no evidence that a Silver Star was awarded to any Marine by the last name ----- ------ . Furthermore, the claim that the award was revoked due to his age, is simply not true. A famous case of a fraudulent enlistment which resulted in a heroic act is PFC Jacklyn Lucas of WWII. PFC Lucas was 14 when he enlisted and later was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. You can read about this on our website: http :// www . tecom . usmc .mil/ HD / Whos _Who/Lucas_ JH . htm A further claim by Mr --------- (in the article) was that he was wounded during "mopping up" operations after the Inchon landing in 1952. The Inchon landing took place in 1950, not 1952. Furthermore, MacArthur was dismissed by President Truman in 1951. I hope this information is helpful to you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Annette Amerman Annette Amerman Acting Branch Head Historical Reference Branch Marine Corps History Division 3078 Upshur Ave Quantico , VA 22134 www .history. usmc .mil

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• James E.July 09, 2012 - 9:37 pm

  Rich, recall when the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) committed suicide in Washington, DC, because it was claimed he was wearing an award that was questioned. A journalist was to see him at 1400, and he killed himself around 1200. This illustrates how important this is to military personnel. The CNO could not face the shame. If he had only lived to 2012 he could have claimed it was free speech. Bad decision by the Supreme Court. Semper Fi Marine!

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• Deanna WiseJuly 11, 2012 - 11:51 am

  I agree with you Mr.Longhofer. However, this time your ox is gored so as you and your cronies told us after the Obamacare and Arizona decisions, "It's the law. Get over fit."

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• James E.July 11, 2012 - 2:54 pm

  Ms. Wise, I'll get over this if you promise to get over Obamacare/Arizona. Deal?

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• ScottJuly 11, 2012 - 5:42 pm

  Just remember that the First Amendment doesn't guarantee you the right to never be offended at someone else's comments, but, at the same time, it also guarantees you the right to make an absolute idiot of yourself by the stupid, sometimes untrue, comments you make.

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