A Sad Sad Day… One of our own, the Ultimate Betrayal

I was hoping it would be found there as a snafu.

I was hoping someone would step up and say we screwed up, he’s “NOT GUILTY”.

My hopes were dashed.

One of our own plead guilty to falsifying documents etc, and wore a Purple Heart, a award he never was awarded.

He was a Navy Corpsman, and also a Chief Petty Officer, this is a double barbed hook to me.  I am a member of both fraternities.

I always post the positive stories on our site, and I post the negative stories as well.  It is rare that a SNCO does something like this and gets called on the carpet in this fashion.  I want “EVERYONE” to see what happens when you start with “1″ lie, how they multiply.

All I can say is Honor, Courage and Commitment, mean something.. Remember and live by these words and you will never find yourself in this predicament.

It is a sad day for the HM and CPO Community.  A real sad day.

The Good News?  There is tomorrow!  There are many more heroes serving in our Corps!! Many, Many Many hard chargers out there doing the daily do!

US NAVY

I salute you!

I never forget what you do, but it is good to put our trash out for all to see as well.  This is one of those times..

D/C

Corpsman jailed for unauthorized medal

Whether Robert White was injured in Iraq in 2005 and deserved a Purple Heart makes no difference now.

The chief hospital corpsman wore the award without receiving it through official channels, and in the Navy’s eyes, that makes him a faker.

The 19-year sailor, who was selected for advancement to senior chief in March, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to the unauthorized wearing of a Purple Heart while he worked at Great Lakes, Ill.

White’s military judge sentenced him to 45 days in the brig, busted him down to E-5 and ordered him to forfeit four months of pay.

The Navy initially charged White with several counts of filing false documents, making false statements and knowingly wearing a Purple Heart he never formally received.

He pleaded guilty to Article 134, unauthorized wearing of a Purple Heart; and Article 107, making a false official statement.

White also pleaded guilty to fraternization for dating the second-class personnel clerk who entered White’s Purple Heart information in his official Navy file.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges related to submitting false documents.

White’s guilty plea marks an ambiguous end to the case that initially threatened a general court-martial, years in the brig and a dishonorable discharge.

Still unresolved is his claim that he sustained a minor hand injury during a mortar attack in July 2005, when he was deployed with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, in Hit, Iraq.

White and his immediate supervisor — who took the stand during White’s Article 32 hearing in September — put in late paperwork for the Purple Heart several weeks after White said he was wounded.

A Purple Heart for White was never was approved, and Marine Corps officials said they have no record of granting or denying the award to White.

In White’s guilty plea, he told a military judge that he knew he did not receive the award through official channels, and that he went out and bought the medal himself.

“He did put in [paperwork] for it, but he never got it — and he knew he never got it,” said Lt. Carrie Theis, the lawyer who prosecuted White at Great Lakes Naval Station.

The admission contradicted a witness’s testimony during the Article 32, in which he said White claimed to have found an envelope containing his medal and citation sitting on his desk one day.

Question is called moot

The question of whether White deserved the award is moot, Theis said.

“We are not really pursuing where [the paperwork] may have been stalled up.” Theis said. “It sounds like it was somewhere in theater.”

The investigation stemmed from a formal accusation from a senior chief storekeeper who worked with White at Great Lakes and grew suspicious after hearing rumors that White never earned the award.

To friends and co-workers, White told wildly inconsistent stories about how he earned his Purple Heart. He once told a military doctor that an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle and caused severe injuries that led to a 72-hour coma and a medical evacuation to Germany.

After White pleaded guilty, his attorney presented several medical professionals who testified regarding White’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

White’s future status with the Navy remains unclear. He is seeking a medical discharge based on his PTSD.

He may face administrative proceedings to determine the circumstances of any retirement or separation. A Wisconsin native, White has been in the Navy for 19 years, 15 on active duty, Theis said.

Rear Adm. Douglass Biesel, commander of Navy Region Midwest and the convening authority in the case, still has to approve the judge’s sentence and plea agreement.

White’s case is not unique, said Mary Schantag of the POW Network, which tracks claims of military honors.

“It’s not an isolated incident. It happens more than you would think,” she said. “These guys had earned the right to be called a hero and yet they still have to fudge it.

“And that erases everything. It’s sad that they will forever be known as a liar instead of a good sailor.”