Battle of the Bilge

Update on Email Rumor

Last week, we brought you the viral email regarding a change in the language when a survivor is presented the flag at a military funeral. The rumor stated that the White House had changed the protocol to remove the words ‘On behalf of the President of the United States’.

At the time of that posting, we brought the issue up with DVA’s National Cemetery Program for review. The VA was initially unaware of this specific issue, they discussed it and responded.

Response from the Department of Veterans Affairs

The following was related to MOAA from James Flanagan, Program Manager for Presidential Memorial Certificates at the National Cemetery Administration (please note that the NCA is not responsible for regulations of the recitation – that comes from the Department of Defense):

“[Y]our inquiry also questioned the burial ceremony recitation by the different branches of the military in presenting a burial flag to the family or loved one of a deceased veteran, with some research and considerable discussion the National Cemetery Administration is now sharing these (your) concerns across our system and staff. We feel that the guidance below is appropriate to the needs outlined in your inquiry and we hope that this response will assist you in addressing the questions from your membership accordingly.

While military funeral honors often are presented at National Cemeteries, the Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for providing military funeral honors. Each individual branch of the Armed Forces may establish its own protocol, typically issued in the service’s policy manual. This includes guidance on the statement to be recited when presenting a burial flag to the next of kin. When a VA national cemetery representative presents the burial flag to the next of kin in lieu of a member of a military honor guard, they use these words: “This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful Nation, as a token of appreciation for the honorable and faithful service rendered by your loved one.”

While there may be some variations at the unit level in reciting the appropriate verbiage, neither the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, nor any branch of the military have published or directed any recent change to the recitation for presenting a burial flag to the loved one of a deceased veteran.

The military funeral honors website is located at www.militaryfuneralhonors.osd.mil.

Questions or comments concerning the DOD military funeral honors program may be sent to the address listed below:

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense For Public Affairs
Community Relations and Public Liaison
1400 Defense Pentagon, Room 2D982
Washington, DC 20301-1400
Phone: 703-571-3343
(emphasis added by author)

Additionally, Mr. Flanagan gave information regarding the Presidential Memorial Certificate Program (PMC):

“[E]very Presidential Memorial Certificate that is mailed to a family member or loved one of a deceased veteran contains the signature of the President of the United States. The PMC program continues to be a White House program that is exclusively administered by the Department of Veterans affairs. It is truly unfortunate that a message is circulating in any form or in any medium that suggests otherwise.

If you would like to read more about the Presidential Memorial Certificates I would always encourage you or any of your membership to visit our web site at http://www.cem.va.gov/pmc.asp

MOAA appreciates the efforts of Mr. Flanagan to help us raise awareness on this issue and hopefully put the rumor to bed.

~~~~~

MOAA Online Help Center

MOAA members and registered guests can now access the Member Service Center’s Online Help Center by visiting here.

Stolen Valor

The arrest of William G. Hillar in January has brought the issue of impersonating an officer into the national spotlight. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law by President Bush, made it a federal misdemeanor to claim to have received meritorious awards from the U.S. military. The law was struck down as an unconstitutional breech of First Amendment rights in 2010 and an appeal was refused by the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit). The FBI chose not to prosecute Hillar based on the SVA and instead charged him with mail fraud due to his use of falsified career achievements to obtain work as a professor and paid speaker. His story is baffling, and even more troublesome is how long he was able to keep up his ruse.

False History

William Hillar claimed that he had led the life of an American hero, according to the FBI affidavit that was unsealed upon his arrest. Hillar claimed to have been a retired colonel from the Green Berets, with tours of duty in Asia, Central and South America and the Middle East. He also claimed that the move ‘Taken’, starring Liam Neeson, about a father who pursues his daughter’s kidnappers, was based on his life and the alleged kidnapping and murder of his daughter in 1988. According to his biography on his website, which has now been taken down:

“William G. Hillar is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army Special Forces. He has served in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America, where his diverse training and experiences included tactical counter-terrorism, explosive ordnance, emergency medicine and psychological warfare.” [and that he] “holds a B.A. in Psychology, and M.A. in Education, a Ph.D. in Health Education, and an honorary Doctorate in Intercultural Relations.”

Hillar used these false credentials to further his career in lecturing on counter terrorism, often times to law enforcement agencies. He also landed a job at California’s Monterrey Institute of International Studies in 2005, teaching ‘Tactical Counter Terrorism’ among other subjects.

In November of 2010, North Carolina’s Elon University gave Hillar their annual award for “Hometown Hero” due to his supposed efforts to fight sex trafficking. Suspicions about his background began to rise alongside his increasing prominence. Members of the discussion forum professsionalsoldiers.org, a site dedicated to and home to members of the Special Forces community, took on the credibility of Hillar’s background in a thorough thread that led to an FBI investigation.

Reality

In the real world, William Hillar was anything but a hero. Not only did he lie about where he served and under what capacity, he was actually never even in the Army, much less an officer. He did serve for eight years in the Coast Guard, leaving with a rank of Radarman, Petty Officer Third Class, but had no discernible counter intelligence training or experience. According to the Army Times:

“William G. Hillar lived a lie and based his teaching career on military experience he did not have and credentials that he did not earn,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “He was never a colonel, never served in the U.S. Army or the Special Forces, never was deployed to exotic locales and never received training in counter-terrorism and psychological warfare while in the armed forces.”

Hillar entered a guilty plea on March 29th and has agreed to pay some $171,000 to the universities and clients that he fleeced over the past decade. He will also be required to serve 500 hours of community service at Veterans Cemeteries in Maryland, his state of residence.

Hillar’s actions and his punishment should help put the Stolen Valor Act’s reversal back in the headlines. The message that seems to be coming out from the federal courts is that it is OK to lie about being a war hero or receiving the Medal of Honor, but not if you make money off of the lie.

To see what real Special Forces members feel about Hillar, visit this thread on the Professional Soldiers forum that really gave birth to the investigation and subsequent events. A great read, and it makes you proud to have these men and women in our services.

Resources, Further Reading

Army Times
L.A. Times
WTOP Washington
Wikipedia Stolen Valor Act Page

Discussion

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Defying Conventional Wisdom

The Army has released a statement this morning that they are, once again, changing the standard headgear for Soldiers. Following their decision last year to change from greens to blues in their dress uniforms, today saw an announcement that there is a change to headgear as well. In an homage to the days of horse cavalry, the black beret will be replaced by a dark blue Stetson:

No, not really

This move challenges public (and rival military branches) perceptions that the Army has no sense of humor.

A New Era

From the announcement:

“We figure the Stetson will be popular with the troops,” said Sgt. Maj. Bob S. Stone, Army Uniform Board headgear task force president. “It’s been a while since we have changed the headgear, so it’s time. Plus a Stetson is functional and down right American.”

But reminiscent of the controversial switch from the garrison cap to the black beret, the Army faces opposition from one community deeply opposed to losing its special identity with the Stetson – the Armor branch.

“Why in the heck are they doing to us what they did to the snake-eaters?” asked one officer familiar with the board’s deliberations. “If you ain’t Cav, you ain’t ought to be wearing a Cav hat. That just ain’t right.”

But the sheer functionality of the wide-brimmed American-classic Stetson won over the majority of the board.

“You can keep the sun out of your eyes, the hat won’t melt to your head on a sunny day, and female Soldiers can tuck long hair under a Stetson a lot easier than with the current beret,” says Stone. “Plus we’ve already gone back to blue jackets for the service dress uniform. The Stetson actually completes the look.”

A vibrant discussion of the move is taking place on Facebook, with many commentators outraged at the change and the rest fully cognizant of what day it is.

The last line of the press release should have been enough of a clue, but who reads that far in an article?

The Army’s official adoption date of the Stetson will be April Fool’s Day, 2012.

Look forward to seeing this in email form without the last sentence in a few weeks. MOAA will be lobbying the Navy to follow this lead and return to their Cocked Hat roots.

Obviously kidding.

Discussion

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Introduction

A new version of one of the most widely circulated military related emails in history has been given new life. As detailed in full here, the story about a service member’s response to an article written by Cindy Williams (not the actress) in which she decries 4.8% pay raise in 2000 has become part of the internet lore. But the newest version has one additional line that is sure to enrage a whole new group of people. And it is completely untrue.

The New Email Language

The original email can be found at the link above. The new iteration contains the following introduction:

If you get this more than once, feel honored that you know more than one person who supports our military and appreciates what they do. If you don’t forward it, you don’t deserve their sacrifice.
CINDY WILLIAMS was appointed by Obama as an Assistant Director for NATIONAL SECURITY in the Congressional Budget Office…..

Reality

The section in bold in the quotation is simply not true. There is no truth to President Obama appointing her, but she did serve with the CBO as an AD in the National Security Division. She served in that position from 1994 to 1997. Additionally, the Executive branch has no oversight for the staffing of the CBO. That responsibility lies with Congress.

Cindy Williams is currently continuing her role as the Principal Research Scientist of the Security Studies Program at MIT. Her bio can be found here.

This isn’t the only email chain to be given new life recently with a simple alteration of the text. The almost-as-legendary ‘Jane Fonda Honored as Woman of the Century’ email, which dealt with Time magazine’s possibility of listing the scourge of Vietnam era veterans as one of the most influential women of the 20th century, is making the rounds again with a ‘Now Obama is going to honor her’ snippet added in, with references to Time taken out.

Fear of benefit and pay cuts for the military and their families is strong right now, which naturally lends itself to these types of resurgences. But changing the target of the hostility makes them no truer than when they were first issued. The Cindy Williams case shows how long a particularly emotion invoking article can stay in circulation. It also shows that the further down the road you get, the more distortions are likely to pop up.

Discussion

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“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem.”
– President Ronald Reagan, 1985

Background

There is no greater loss than that of one’s child. Military members know this loss far too well, especially when service to the nation is a family calling. For one of the Marines’ most influential generals, this Veterans Day became more meaningful and tragic due to the loss of his son just days before the holiday. Lieutenant General John F. Kelly held several command positions in the Iraq War, most recently as the Commanding General of the Multi National Force-West, a post he held until February of 2009. On November 9th of this year, his son, 1stLt. Robert M. Kelly, fell during battle while on his third combat deployment since 9/11. The overwhelming feeling of sadness would be enough to crush a normal person. Instead, General Kelly kept a commitment to speak in St. Louis in honor of the day of remembrance. This speech is becoming viral, and for all the right reasons. It exemplifies the spirit and honor of the Marine Corps, and of a terrible sacrifice.

Following the speech is a copy of the statement General Kelly put out regarding the loss of his son, as well as links to some of his other speeches that are worth every moment to read.
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