A Fake Warrior and the Wall That Heals, the UPDATE!
October 13, 2009 by Larry Stimeling · 38 Comments
By Larry Stimeling, Staff Writer
Here is an update on last month’s story about James Richard Lyons, the driver of the truck that carries the Wall That Heals from one location to another.
James, as you may recall, has claimed to be a gunny in the Marines who enlisted in the Navy and served 4 tours in Vietnam from 64 to 68 even though he was in high school in 66. Here, as Paul Harvey would say is the rest of the story.
James Richard Lyons no longer works for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
After the story ran on VeterasToday.com "A Fake Warrior and the Wall that Heals" James was relieved of duty and Cary Dees replaced him.
Cary was the driver for many years and was replaced by Lyons at the begining of this tour schedule.
Jan Skruggs and the VVMF did not hesitate to replace Lyons. I hope that when it comes time to find another driver, they do an extensive background check to make sure they do not hire another wannabe.
As for Mr Lyons, he should be prosecuted for his actions under the Stolen Valor Act. No one should be allowed to claim he was awarded a Purple Heart or a Silver Star they did not earn! ‘Nuff said!
Read More: "A Fake Warrior and the Wall that Heals"
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Hang the SOB
It sure would stop this kind of behavior. I am shocked at the statistics. I had no idea. These people need to be exposed and pay a heavy penalty for this kind of behavior, as well as ridiculed in pubic – as openly and wide-spread as possible. That’s my opinion, stated in the most polite way that I can right now. THANK YOU!
Good Afternoon Duff,
None of this quick drop stuff either, have him stand in the back of an M-37 with a tight rope around his neck and a real Vietnam Veteran drive away. Watch him gag and twist for awhile, cut him down, revive him, cut off his balls and throw them in a fire, open him up ripe out his beating heart and let him see it, the dram and quarter him.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
Nice job, Larry!
Please forward the Veterans’ Today articles to the FBI.
With best regards,
Luis
The FBI is far too busy pimping little kids to politicians, shipping in and distributing illicit drugs, and harassing dissidents or people that those in power simply do not like to actually stop any crime.
James I would personally love to kick your ass you f – - – - — coward, I personally like to cut your balls off and shove them down your throat.
sia or China,
there will always be some sick wannabes when they get exposed we need to expose them more airborne always at 69years old
I have been running in to this sort for the last thirty years. Before that I was still being called a baby killer and a murder (usually by folks who are pro abortion) No one wanted to know me if they found out I was in VN, Now it seems to be in style to be a veteran of that war. And through it all everyone wants to know why I have trouble adjusting to the world. Go Figure.
Rick I know what you mean. I ran into a fake who was homeless. Had a sign saying homeless VIetnam Vet need food. I was going to give him a couple of bucks, but first I asked him what unit he was with in Nam. He told he was with the 5th Infantry Divison. I asked him where he was stationed in Nam, he told me Saigon. I looked at this guy told him he was f’in lyer, and he was no Vietnam Vet. Anyone who has been to Vietnam (Army) knows that the 5th Mech was up by the DMZ. I felt like ripping the sign out of his hands. He quickly turned away and left the freeway exit. Pissed me off. I thought I was going to help a brother who had fallen onto hard times. Instead I find a fake.
Brother If you asked me this question I may have not been able to answer it either. I served with the “Big Red One” We had base camps in Lai Kai and a camp in Dian.. I do carry a 214 that has my combat medics badge listed but names and places in vietnam I blanked . dont wrongly accuse a vet until you know for sure. a lot of us forgot ,like we were told by the people in this country on arrivsal back in the states!” Get on with it son You havent seen shit”
Charles Lilly;
I don’t know where you got your DD214 but I will tell you this,
Over the last 17+ years I had read thousands and thousands of 214’s. In the neighborhood of 8,000 or more.
Now sorry there bud but there is never a place shown on a DD214 that shows what Division you served with in Nam or Where you Served.
Your medals are shown and it shows where you were discharged from. But that’s it!!!! Roger that?
So who is the wanna be here?
It sure ain’t Robert, It couldn’t be you or maybe you had better get another copy of your 214 that has not been blanked out by yourself, you will then see what I have said is true.
I do believe you owe Robert Ryan a apology because you have no idea what you are talking about.
For all of you Vets look at your 214, You will see that they do not say what Division or unit you served with.
What he is not is a Nam Vet with a 214 reading as he claims.
They don’t make em that way Bro!!!!
Hello again Charles.
I forgot to add that I to served in the Big Red One 1967/68 in III Corps
I was with the 1st/4th Calvary B Troop.
We traveled on our APC’s and Tanks from Dian to Phu Loi, Lai Khe , all the way to Tay Ning on the Cambodian border by the Black Virgin Mountain and of course in the Iron Triangle
In fact even served in the first Tet in 68,
But not a word of this info is on my 214 or anyone elses either.
Like someone below mentioned it’s easy to forge a 214. But they just don’t contain the info you claim.
It’s a shame, we have these people…..but they have to live with their lies.
I am sure proud I served as I am sure most who read this are,
I have no use for these phonies but I feel you have to be very careful before you lay a label on a mail as being a wannbe,
Larry did great research in his full feature article above proving that we had a skunk in the wood pile above, But he nailed the guy down before he simply accused him with no support into.
Welcome Home to all.
I am the son of a U.S. Navy Pacific Theatre combat veteran and a U.S. Army Physical Therapist. My respect and concern for our Nation’s servicemen and women is in my blood and bone deep.
My question is this: how do I, a civilian, tell if the person seeking money or help is (or is not) really a veteran? Is there a question that even a naive citizen can ask any claimant of Veteran status that proves or disproves the truthfulness of their claim?
Thank you for your service and God Bless You All.
Sir: If you’re inclined to, ask for their DD-214 form which is a seperation document that provides all the information pertaining to his service; medals, occupation, service/dates served overseas, etc.. I am the Commander of District 6, Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars and suggest to all my posts (23) that they demand proof of service with THAT form. We have wannabes stop by our post and ask for assistance and /or money…….usually the story is: “I belong to so and so post in Texas, Ark, name your own state and am traveling home to/from a funeral and I need gas/food/lodging money.” We will comply only after they have provided I.D. in the form of Drivers License, VA I.D., Post Membership card, etc.. and photocopy it in addition to photographing the person………most of the time all these criteria will run them off and sometimes we even ask if they mind if we verify their identity through our local Police Department………..all of these are great deterents and seem to have drastically cut the flow of these characters…..if I can help you further, please contact me at jakeandjake2001@yahoo.com . Thanks for chiming in, Richard
Same thing here where we live. Fake Marine getting disability. All he had to do was reimburse the VA.
I think he should have had to go to all of the service organizations and apologize to the real Veterans. He should be humiliated for what he has done.
A little slap on the wrist is all he got.
venay how the hell did the va do this what about a 214?? did they ask
Don’t these people realize that once they leave this earth their family, wife, sons or daughter or whatever, are going to find out the truth. Proof of the various medals is not the medal in itself, documentation must be show that you indeed did receive it. Anybody can buy most medals off the internet or ebay. Any veteran that led his family to believe he received the PH, Silver star, Legion of Merit or whatever knows that someday he or she will be found out and the story will then be shown and then does this phony realize that his family will have to live with his/her lies from then on.T Some even show their phony stuff with some motorcycle units and around the Vietnam Wall are some phonies also. There were some motorcycles around my VFW this past summer and I asked one some questions and he sure stepped all over himself. I told him you were never in the Gulf and he excused himself and went and got a drink.
Kinda reminds me of Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES.
Boy how things change back in 1968 we changed so people wouldn’t throw stuff at us. Now everyone wants to be us. Thank you to all my brothers for being a true Vietnam Vet before being a Vietnam was cool.
Amen Greg..you said it all
“Vietnam… remembered by those who should forget, forgotten by those who should remember”
http://vietnam-veterans.us/wannabes/
Time for REAL veterans to not just “out” a phony, but REPORT them to the authorities so that they will be prosecuted under the “Stolen Valor Act”.
Its one thing to brag about being a war “hero” and quite another to file for VA Benefits and get big money from legitimate organizations under false pretenses.
Its all about the paperwork. The more research people attempt, the easier it will be to get these scam/sham artists incarcerated. The “mentally unstable” defense should not dissuade legitimate veterans from taking on these criminals, some of them may be authentically “reality challenged”, but too many use it as an excuse to get away with fraud and misrepresentation.
When I think of all the Veterans I have seen at the VA with missing arms and legs, and sometimes facially disfigured, I get very angry with the fakers. I’m not sure why it is so common, especially for someone to claim to have been in the Marine Corps, or a Navy Seal. I believe in stolen valor, and I would hope that these individuals would receive prison time for their actions. No excuse for this!!!
My initial reaction is a bit of anger but after thinking on it for a minute I can’t help but feel sorry for people who do this. Not the ones that defraud VA and other such services but the ones that just don’t feel they have anything to be proud of. Its a cold world, I can’t help but think maybe their looking for something more than unearned glory. My two cents.
i have two t-shirts i wear weekly. one is from my regimental assoc (35th inf reg), the other simply sez “we were winning when i left”. phonies drive me crazy.
I am in agreement with most of what you brothers feel on these WANABES,,I use to frequent an organization called LZ Friendly up in Nawth Jawja,we had one guy thats been blackballed cause he was one.Claimed he was a combat medic but could not come up with a 214 .With this information network of today ,anyone with a little knowledge of a computer can be a WANABE and damn near make everyone believe he was there.I ,like most of yall have dated photos that prove my existance in the Nam,along with several friends I have found on the web that I worked and partied with.I was with the Navy,yea, the Navy had ground troups there,most of whom didn’t earn a Combat Action Ribbon,but worked like a dog 18 to 24 hours a day in support of the Bush Babbies tryin to keep them supplied with a few things to assist them in their endevors.My point,if you talk to the dude long enuff ,he’ll slip up and give himself away..but till then he will get the respect we deserve from one another.Thats the pisser….it’s like stealing from all of us…and the shit we had to put up with when we got back to the world…Sam
Feel free to talk to Richard anytime, call 251-227-9366 he will confirm what you need to know.
The DD214 is the most forged, frauded and faked document in the veteran’s arena right now. It is WORTHLESS PAPER and useful ONLY to get a name, date of birth and service/social from, to request actual records from the NPRC. In some instances, even “too good to be true” records MUST be investigated for fraud!
Any organization can START to make a difference by enacting new membership criteria that simply states:
The membership application and DD214 MUST be accompanied by a SIGNED F180 (request for military records) that includes a full name, date of birth, service and social security number. The request will be filed by the appropriate officer of the organization should questions on eligibility, awards and decorations, rank, or other service related inconsistencies arise.
Just like this site which is a ( PHONY ) democrat front webb site
If it is akin to a Democratic point of view , it is better than that cowardly laden Republican administration of 2000-2008 who did more damage than Al Quaeda ever thought about
If this guy comes here to calif. and he is behind the wheel of the trcuk that is driving the WALL here, he is in for a BIG surprize?
WE Vietnam Veterans of Ventura County, Inc. have a big surprize guest for him?
We vets take this crap very serious, and I have total respect and salute Larry for putting this up on the site.
Too bad you don’t know the truth. John Devitt assaulted Richard at the Broken Spoke, and his friend, Larry Steimiling, twisted the truth on the net. I have the police, and court reports to proove it. Just ask, and I will provide the evidence.
the greatest fraud of all is the va!
Remember The VFW wouldn’t even accept us when we got back. They thought we were wanna-bes verterans of foreign war. I never even heard of wanna-bes till recently. Then it clicked, I went to a Memorial Day service in Fort Bend County, Texas. I ran across other old Marines displaying an old duece and a half. I’m always glad to meet old Marines. These guys gave me the cold shoulder. I heard one of them say “I don’t think I can stomach this, and a couple of other things. I turned around and they were looking at me.I thought surely he’s not talking about me. There were family with their kids all around us and the police. I walked away thinking this guy is looking from trouble. It wasn’t till I read these articles about fake Vets did I relize that’s what they were talking about me. I hope you (the one talking) are reading this because I’m coming back to see you.
If you have any faith, then call me 214-227-9366
Scruggs and the others should have checked out the new driver in depth instead of just taking his word. Scruggs fired him immediately because he knew he made a bad mistake which insulted the men and women on the Wall and all of us that carry the label, Vietnam Veteran. They should fire Scruggs, he has been in Washington, DC so long he is starting to act like a politican!
Are you a moron? First of all, being a Vietnam vet is not a requirement for the job. 2nd Scruggs is a good man, and the VVMF is a non profit org, and can’t be fired, he is the Prez.
Richard Lyons was attacked by John Devitt at the Broken Spoken campground in Sturgis S.D. I have the police and court reports to proove it. John Devitt pled guilty and his friend decided to post a bunch of lies on the net. If you want the truth, just ask and I will send it to you.
I have posted several comments here, and have not gotten 1 response. Why is that? Maybe no one cares anymore about your lies.