Posted on May 17, 2016
Did CSM Basil Plumley steal valor by wearing unauthorized awards?
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"The U.S. Army is investigating allegations by a military researcher that the late Command Sgt. Major Basil Plumley -- a legend in the airborne and infantry communities -- wore unauthorized combat and valor awards that exaggerated the wartime achievements that made him famous.
"Among the many documents Siddall provides in his research is an Oct. 2, 2015, letter from Army Lt. Col Wil Neubauer, chief of Awards and Decorations Branch, confirming that Plumley was authorized to wear one CIB and states that "we are unable to verify" the Combat Infantry Badge with "one star" listed on Plumley's DD Form 214.
"In that same photo, Plumley wore valor awards he did not earn, Siddall wrote. Plumley wore a Silver Star with a bronze oak leaf cluster, which indicates a second Silver Star. Plumley also wore a Bronze Star with a V device for valor and one bronze oak leaf cluster for two awards.
"The October 2015 letter from the Army states Plumley was authorized only one Silver Star and the Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster, not two OLCs. The letter also states that Plumley was not authorized to wear the V device with his Bronze Star medals."
Please read the article before commenting.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/05/17/army-investigating-we-were-soldiers-legend-for-inflating-award.html
"Among the many documents Siddall provides in his research is an Oct. 2, 2015, letter from Army Lt. Col Wil Neubauer, chief of Awards and Decorations Branch, confirming that Plumley was authorized to wear one CIB and states that "we are unable to verify" the Combat Infantry Badge with "one star" listed on Plumley's DD Form 214.
"In that same photo, Plumley wore valor awards he did not earn, Siddall wrote. Plumley wore a Silver Star with a bronze oak leaf cluster, which indicates a second Silver Star. Plumley also wore a Bronze Star with a V device for valor and one bronze oak leaf cluster for two awards.
"The October 2015 letter from the Army states Plumley was authorized only one Silver Star and the Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster, not two OLCs. The letter also states that Plumley was not authorized to wear the V device with his Bronze Star medals."
Please read the article before commenting.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/05/17/army-investigating-we-were-soldiers-legend-for-inflating-award.html
Stolen Valor
Vietnam War
Awards
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 139
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I'm just going to have to side with my battle buddy, a former CSM of 1-7. Seems this Siddell character has had a 10-year grudge with CSM Plumley, LTG Moore and Joe Galloway -- even the folks at Stolen Valor were interviewed for this piece yet their evidence refuting the story was not included --
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From I've read the "investigator" has an axe to grind. CSM Plumley, regardless of the validity of the allegations, is a man I would call a hero. What good does tearing him down do at this point?
This reminds me of the witch-hunt over COL Hackworth's Ranger tab. The man retired with 10 silver stars, 8 bronze stars, and 8 purple hearts. Needless to say he didn't have anything to prove. As it turned out, the discrepancy was the Army's fault.
This reminds me of the witch-hunt over COL Hackworth's Ranger tab. The man retired with 10 silver stars, 8 bronze stars, and 8 purple hearts. Needless to say he didn't have anything to prove. As it turned out, the discrepancy was the Army's fault.
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Most anyone that has served even today knows paperwork gets lost, thrown out or misfiled, so WWII time frame would have been much worse and Korea the same. It is the piss poor character of the idiot investigating this that he waited until CSM Plumley had passed to stir the shit. I have seen it with my records and more recently before I retired I took over a 1SG position and did an inventory of the file cabinets and found a MSG's retirement MSM award from ten years earlier. I searched for his last good address and sent it to his family, he had died 5 years earlier. The investigator is a scumbag plain and simple.
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I don't know, but I do know that that your records can be screwed up by some admin clerk, and it's your fault for not keeping it straight. Perhaps that it all he is guilty of. As far as his WWII service, he very well could have had an Infantryman MOS assigned as a scout to an Arty Bn. As a scout, he very well could have made the jumps with the Pathfinders, ahead of the glider artillery. For Korea, the 187th ARCT was based in Japan, made its first jump in Oct 1950 and second in March '51. According to the story, he was at Ft. Campbell in 1951. He could have very well made the first jump in 1950. Given his status as a jumpmaster with combat jump experience (presumably), he could have been TDY with the 187th for the jump. Not sure if back then Paratroopers kept accurate jump logs, or even cared about it. I also find it hard to believe that an officer of the caliber of Hal Moore would not have vetted his CSM and his service record, let alone vouch for it. I would have to give the benefit of the doubt on this one.
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SFC J Fullerton
Couple of things to add about the story- He has documented proof of graduating Division Airborne training on 11 March '43. The 82nd jumped into Sicily and Salerno in July and Sept of '43, making him qualified for those jumps. The story cites that the 320th Glider Arty only participated in Normandy and Holland. Even though he may been assigned to a Arty BN, he would have been doing an Infantry job as a scout. It would make no sense for Airborne qualified scouts to go in with the main artillery element in gliders. We have no idea of what the 320th's OPORD for the D-Day and Market Garden jumps were, but it is plausible that the scouts would have jumped in ahead with the Pathfinders. I have no idea what his unit of assignment was in 1950, but it is plausible that he could have joined the 187th ARCT in a TDY status as an attachment, given his qualifications as a Jumpmaster. Especially if he volunteered. It is not unheard of, even in today's operations, that somebody with special qualifications joins a unit for an operation in a TDY status, then returns to the home unit after the action.
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theres gotta be a good reason behind this. as big of a name as he was and as in the public eye as he was. theres no way he would've worn unauthorized awards knowingly. maybe its a lot of little things. who knows.
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A DD214 should only be considered accurate for a period of active service. Too many times, orders for awards are either late or get lost. I got an award during Desert Storm that never made to my records. Found the orders and citation when I went back Saudi Arabia in 1994. They were in a stack with other documents that had never left 22nd SUPCOM.
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Frankly, I have more faith in the late CSM than I do the military's ability to keep correct records. Someone like him has no reason to inflate his service; he was already a hero to every person who ever wore the uniform after him. What reason would he have to wear an extra device or two? Pretty sure the military fucked up here not the CSM.
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I'm certainly no fan of John Kerry but there is no way he could approve his own award. More likely some incompetent above him signed off on it without reading the citation.
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