Stolen Valor

Do you have any idea how many lowlifes there are running around impersonating military personnel? And did you know it's a crime? As it should be.

So along with the good folks over at the Burn Pit, the American Legion's new blog, I'm wondering: Why won’t the US Attorney for CO prosecute Stolen Valor Act cases?

Rick Duncan was a Marine with a compelling story to tell, and tell it he did, to anyone who would listen. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Rick had been in the Pentagon when the plane hit on September 11, 2001. Volunteering for duty in Iraq, Duncan rose to the rank of Captain, and although openly gay, was assigned to lead a Marine Battalion in the battle of Fallujah. During the house to house battles there he had a finger shot off and suffered a severe head injury that required a plate be put in his head. He returned to the states disillusioned with the war and became executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance.

Partisan, MoveOn.com-ally VoteVets asked Duncan to be a blogger for them where he wrote under the handle of “USMCinCO.” The radical anti-war group “Iraq Veterans Against the War” (which does not require service in Iraq) asked Capt. Duncan to appear at several of their events to talk about his experiences. Various candidates for state and Federal offices in Colorado during the last election cycle asked Duncan to appear in their political commercials.

Just one little problem with this "Marine" sharing his "experiences" and "expert" opinions.

...Rick Duncan never existed. He was in fact Rick Strandlof, a man wanted on an outstanding warrant. In March and April of this year his story started to fall apart, with military bloggers chronicling every facet of his downfall. VoteVets and IVAW quickly scrubbed the internet of his presence, and the campaign ads featuring him speaking were removed from YouTube. Anderson Cooper of CNN delivered the coup de grace…

Read the whole sordid story. I can't decide what angers me more - the impersonators or those who aren't upholding the law.