Vietnam War books by/on fakes and phonies
mya...@my-deja.com
Burkett and Glenna Whitley. All the books below were written by and on
wannabes, fakes, and phonies, mostly Special Forces of the U.S. Army.
Let me know of any corrections, additions or anything else.
(page numbers are reference to Stolen Valor)
Baker, Mark. "Nam.
Baker, Mark. Nam: the Vietnam war in the words of the men and women who
fought there.
New York: Quill, 1982
p. 388-389. Many stories are untrue.
Barnes, Scott. Bohica.
Canton, Ohio: Bohica Corp., 1987.
p. 423-424 Barnes was never an Army MP, a Navy SEAL, a Green
Beret, a CIA assassin, or a DEA agent. Never served in Vietnam. Was in
the Army from August 21, 1973 at Ft. Lewis and was discharged on
December 19, 1974 for 'failure to meet acceptable standards for
continued military service.
Bergerud, Eric. Red Thunder, Tropic Lighting.
Bergerud, Eric M. Red thunder, tropic lightning: the world of a combat
division in Vietnam.
Boulder: Westview Press, 1993.
p. 389-390. One of the characters, C.W. Bowman was in Vietnam at 20
years old, not 18 years old and he never got the Purple Heart. When
Burkett called Bergerud about the skepticism, Bergerud reacted with
belligerence and asked if Burkett was trying to impugn his integrity. A
joke.
Billac, Pete. The last medal of honor.
New York: Swan Pub., 1990.
p. 417. While the story of MSgt. Roy Benavidex is true, Pete
Billac was not a Naval Seal or a Green Beret in Vietnam. He was in the
Navy as a seaman for 6 years and was an enlisted man in the Army for
less than 2 years.
Block, Mickey. Before the dawn.
Canton, Ohio: Daring Books, 1988.
p. 399-400. Block was never a Navy SEAL, only as a crewmember of a PBR
river patrol boat in Vietnam.
Brinkley, Dannion. Saved by the light: the true story of a man who
died twice and the profound revelations he received.
New York: Villard Books, 1994.
p. 385-387. Was a Marine truck driver and never served overseas,
including Vietnam. Never was a Marine sniper.
Cincinnatus. Self-destruction, the disintegration and decay of the
United States Army during the Vietnam era.
New York: Norton, 1981.
p. 388. The writer, 'a senior field-grade officer', was found to be
Cecil Currey, a chaplain in the U.S. National Guard who never served in
Vietnam.
Cramer, Lenox. Slow dance on the killing ground.
Medina, Ohio, USA: Alpha Publications of Ohio, 1990. (to Avon Books,
later)
p. 418-420. Real name is Michael Erik Cramer. Cramer was not a
Green Beret nor involved in covert ops. Was an Army clerk-typist. Was
in Kentucky State Prison for murder. Now in jail in Florida.
Dux, Frank. The secret man: an American warrior's uncensored story. New
York: ReganBooks, 1996.
p. 411-417. Dux was a Marine, but never served in Vietnam nor
was a SEAL. His martial art background is suspicious and no such thing
like Bloodsport took place.
Hutchins, Joel. Swimmers among the trees: SEALs in the Vietnam War.
Novato, CA: Presidio, 1996.
p. 400. Hutchins was never a Navy SEAL, but a Navy Hospital
corpsman at Da Nang, Vietnam.
Katakis, Michael. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
New York: Crown, 1988.
p. 585-685. One of the characters in the book, Sgt. Major
Charles 'Chuck' Eatley was never a Green Beret, but an infantryman in
Vietnam. And Eatley was not Special Forces tab or did he have CIBs or
Purple Hearts.
Kimball, William R. Vietnam --the other side of glory.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1988, 1987.
p. 406-407. There was no Vietnam veteran named Captain David
Shaffer in the Special Forces or the U.S. Army in any military records.
Lee, Eric. Saigon to Jerusalem: conversations with U.S. veterans of the
Vietnam War who emigrated to Israel.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1992.
p. 393-395. William Northrop never graduated from the Citadel,
nor was an Army officer, and was never in the Special Forces.
Lopes, Sal. The Wall: images and offerings from the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial.
New York: Collins, 1987.
p. 584-585. Gary Gene Wright Jr. was not a Vietnam veteran and
he never served at all in the military, although his father was a MIA
pilot in Vietnam.
Marvicsin, Dennis J. Maverick: the personal war of a Vietnam Cobra
pilot.
New York: Putnam, 1990.
p. 398-399. While Dennis Marvicsin was an Army helicopter pilot in
Vietnam, he was never a POW.
Matsakis, Aphrodite. Vietnam wives: facing the challenges of life with
veterans suffering post-traumatic stress.
Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press, 1996.
p. 482-484. Not a single POW in Vietnam reported sexual abuse.
No freed POWs were ever returned to duty in the war zone.
Maurer, Harry. Strange ground: an oral history of Americans in
Vietnam, 1945-1975.
New York: Avon Books, 1990, 1989.
p. 409-411. Yoshia K. Chee There never served in Vietnam nor was in
Special Forces and never in the U.S. military.
Mustain. Gene and Jerry Capeci. Murder machine: a true story of murder,
madness, and the Mafia.
New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Dutton, 1992, Onyx, 1993.
p. 424-430. Dominick Montiglio was not in Special Forces, nor
ever in the U.S. military.
Norton, Major Bruce. One Tough Marine: the autobiography of First
Sergeant Donald N. Hamblen, USMC.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1993.
p. 404-406. Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Donald Hamblen never went into North
Vietnam with MACV-SOG or with the Marine Corps, said Hamblen's former
commanding officers, Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor and Major Pat Carothers.
Reeves, James. Meking! The Authentic Novel of Naval Special Forces in
Vietnam.
NY: Ballantine Books, 1984.
p. 402. No SEAL by the name of James Taylor.
Sanders, James D. Soldiers of misfortune: Washington's secret betrayal
of America's POWs in the Soviet Union.
Washington, D.C.: National Press Books, 1992.
p. 508. Larry Pistilli was an U.S. Army communication clerk, but never
in Special Forces and he was not a POW.
Everything we had: an oral history of the Vietnam War by thirty-three
American soldiers who fought it.
Al Santoli.
New York: Random House, 1981.
p. 390. Of the 33 Americans soldiers interviewed, Mike Beamon
was never a SEAL or in the U.S. military. Thomas Bird was an Army
soldier, but never a POW.
Shay, Jonathan. Achilles in Vietnam: combat trauma and the undoing of
character.
Canada ; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.
p. 283-285. Most of the psychiatrist's characters are fakes.
Shilts, Randy. Conduct unbecoming: gays and lesbians in the U.S.
military.
Ballantine books ed. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1994.
p.443-450. Donald Winns is not gay which is something Randy
Shilts try to prove.
Smith, Warner. Covert Warrior: fighting the CIA's secret war in
Southeast Asia and China, 1965-1967.
Presidio Press.
p. 400-402. Warner Smith was a Navy aviation maintenance officer and he
was not a CIA/SOG/SEAL covert operator in Vietnam. His only overseas
tour was in Luzon.
Spencer, Duncan. Facing the wall: Americans at the Vietnam veterans
memorial.
New York: Macmillan; London: Collier Macmillan, 1986.
p.586. Bill Callahan was never in the Special Forces, but a
carpenter in Vietnam. Anatol Kononenko (misspelled as Konenenko) was an
infantryman but go no Purple Heart and his only injury noted was a
dislocated elbow, not his paralyzed legs.
Taylor, James and James Reeves. Covert Actions.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1987.
p. 402-403. James Taylor was a Navy mechanic. he was not a SEAL, never
serve in Vietnam or off the coast of Vietnam.
Bloods, an oral history of the Vietnam War by Black veterans.
Wallace Terry.
New York: Random House, 1984.
p. 452-465. Many false and steortype about blacks in the Vietnam War.
Many blacks served with pride and success in Vietnam.
Valentine, Douglas. The Phoenix program.
New York: Morrow, 1990.
p. 420-422. Elton Manzione, John Laboon, Eddie Swtz, and Kenneth Van
Lester were in the Navy, but none was a SEAL. Valentine's response was
a postcard. "What's the color of horseshit? What's the color of
cowshit? What's the color of bullshit? Brown! Brown! Brown! to Cmdr.
F.C. Brown who took Valentine to task on the historical inaccuracies.
Valentine doesn't take well to bad reviews or other criticism. A better
book is Dale Andrade's Ashes to Ashes: the Phoenix program and the
Vietnam War (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990.)
Van Devanter, Lynda. Home before morning: the story of an army nurse
in Vietnam.
New York: Warner Books, 1983. Beaufort Books, 1983.
p. 471-475. Nurses' lives are full of inaccuracies.
The Wall: a day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Peter Meyer and the editors of Life.
New York; Avenel, NJ: Wings Books, 1996.
p. 584. pictures of phonies who dressed in jungle fatigues.
Finally, there is a chapter on Shelby Stanton. He was a
Special Forces officer in Thailand, and not in Vietnam nor
with SOG as he claimed.
Mike
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Alex Melomed
hands... Do you search your shit for fiber?.. Don't answer that...
I found this funny...
Barnes, Scott. Bohica.
Canton, Ohio: Bohica Corp., 1987.
Bend
Over
Here
It
Comes
Again
--
PFC MELOMED
Alex Melomed
another thing entirely? You're not using listening skills.
I can write a book about how i was a general somewhere or somesuch crap.
Would you say that it is or is not fiction? FICTION yes. True? NO
But it could be a great story. You never know...
BTW, did you read all of those books you mentioned?
Read W.E.B. Griffin He writes EXCELENT military books. As far as i know ALL
of them are fiction.
--
PFC MELOMED
<mya...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:84vut9$5ph$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Alex, it does matter if a book is true. Most of the authors lied about
> their background when they wrote the non-fiction books.
> It is important if the authors were there.
> A good story would be when fakes, wannabees, and phonies are shipped to
> Cuba or Vietnam.
> PFC Alex, you sure got a long way to ...
>
> Mike
>
> <It doesnt really matter if it is truth or fiction if it is written
> good. I have read many fiction/sci-fi books, that are written very
> well. It's not whether the author "WAS THERE" but if they write good or
> not..>
> <Anyway.. i love a good story..>
>
> velo...@aol.com.CanDo (V-Man) wrote:
>
> > Or when the author claims experiences that never happened? As
> MYARED tried
> > to outline...
> >
> > V-Man
Alex Melomed
on Amazon.com if i wanted to.
I'm not against or for the books unless I've read them.
It doesnt really matter if it is truth or fiction if it is written good.
I have read many fiction/sci-fi books, that are written very well. It's not
whether the author "WAS THERE" but if they write good or not..
Now when it's advertised as non-fiction, but is... then thats an entirely
different matter.
Anyway.. i love a good story..
--
PFC MELOMED
"V-Man" <velo...@aol.com.CanDo> wrote in message
news:20000104215333...@ng-bh1.aol.com...
> >I didnt care for that entire list..
>
> Alex, those books are real. Do you realise that?
>
> >I found this funny...
> >Barnes, Scott. Bohica.
> >Canton, Ohio: Bohica Corp., 1987.
>
> Look in any back issue of Soldier of Fortune, it's advertised there.
>
>
> V-Man
> =/\= A Knight is sworn to Valor
> (-o-) His Heart knows only Vitrue, His Blade defends the Weak
> <*> His Word speaks only Truth , His Wrath undoes the Wicked
ARNG76
a little unsettling at times.
- Wayne
V-Man
mya...@my-deja.com
their background when they wrote the non-fiction books.
It is important if the authors were there.
A good story would be when fakes, wannabees, and phonies are shipped to
Cuba or Vietnam.
PFC Alex, you sure got a long way to ...
Mike
<It doesnt really matter if it is truth or fiction if it is written
good. I have read many fiction/sci-fi books, that are written very
well. It's not whether the author "WAS THERE" but if they write good or
not..>
<Anyway.. i love a good story..>
velo...@aol.com.CanDo (V-Man) wrote:
mya...@my-deja.com
were exaggerated. A good book, though. Every history professor should
read it as well as the left-wing media.
Mike
V-Man
>whether the author "WAS THERE" but if they write good or not..
>
Or when the author claims experiences that never happened? As MYARED tried
to outline...
V-Man
Alex Melomed
I read fiction and non-fiction.. sometimes either one or the other is
good...
--
PFC MELOMED
<mya...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:852qr2$a3p$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> What kind of question is that? The books I listed were all non-fictions.
> Any old-timers would know it. If I wrote James Webb's Field of Fire,
> most will know it as fiction.
> I read some of the books and LOL at them.
> Yes, Griffin wrote good books because he visited the places and done a
> lot of research. Is his real name Butterworth?
>
> Mike
mya...@my-deja.com
Any old-timers would know it. If I wrote James Webb's Field of Fire,
most will know it as fiction.
I read some of the books and LOL at them.
Yes, Griffin wrote good books because he visited the places and done a
lot of research. Is his real name Butterworth?
Mike
"Alex Melomed" <amel...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Didn't i say that if it was fiction, but posed as NON-FICTION, then
that is
> another thing entirely? You're not using listening skills.
>
> I can write a book about how i was a general somewhere or somesuch
crap.
> Would you say that it is or is not fiction? FICTION yes. True? NO
>
> But it could be a great story. You never know...
>
> BTW, did you read all of those books you mentioned?
>
> Read W.E.B. Griffin He writes EXCELENT military books. As far as i
know ALL
> of them are fiction.
>
> --
> PFC MELOMED
> <mya...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:84vut9$5ph$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > Alex, it does matter if a book is true. Most of the authors lied
about
> > their background when they wrote the non-fiction books.
> > It is important if the authors were there.
> > A good story would be when fakes, wannabees, and phonies are shipped
to
> > Cuba or Vietnam.
> > PFC Alex, you sure got a long way to ...
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > <It doesnt really matter if it is truth or fiction if it is written
> > good. I have read many fiction/sci-fi books, that are written very
> > well. It's not whether the author "WAS THERE" but if they write good
or
> > not..>
> > <Anyway.. i love a good story..>
> >
> > velo...@aol.com.CanDo (V-Man) wrote:
> >
> > > Or when the author claims experiences that never happened? As
> > MYARED tried
> > > to outline...
> > >
> > > V-Man
> >
> >
mya...@my-deja.com
The point wasn't just that the authors weren't Seals or Special Forces,
but that they claimed they were and weren't. There is a lot of Vietnam
War writting, written by folks claiming knowledge, status, and
experience, that they don't have. I don't believe most authors claimed
to be something they weren't when they wrote.
Mike
"Alex Melomed" <amel...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Exactly. DOWN WITH THE FAKERS! =)
>
> I read fiction and non-fiction.. sometimes either one or the other is
> good...
>
> --
> PFC MELOMED
> <mya...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:852qr2$a3p$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > What kind of question is that? The books I listed were all
non-fictions.
> > Any old-timers would know it. If I wrote James Webb's Field of Fire,
> > most will know it as fiction.
> > I read some of the books and LOL at them.
> > Yes, Griffin wrote good books because he visited the places and done
a
> > lot of research. Is his real name Butterworth?
> >
> > Mike
>
>
Donald Begs
> I complied the following books from the book, Stolen Valor by B.G.
> Burkett and Glenna Whitley. All the books below were written by and on
> wannabes, fakes, and phonies, mostly Special Forces of the U.S. Army.
> Medina, Ohio, USA: Alpha Publications of Ohio, 1990. (to Avon Books,
> later)
> p. 418-420. Real name is Michael Erik Cramer. Cramer was not a
> Green Beret nor involved in covert ops. Was an Army clerk-typist. Was
> in Kentucky State Prison for murder. Now in jail in Florida.
So, his real name is Lenox and that is the name in his prison records. Michael Erik Cramer was actually the fake name.
Don