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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In the Army now with all the technology we have and things still fall off our records all the time. I have known people personally that this happened, the Army did not have a record of the AAM of course because things are not kept forever by units. Years ago during his time in the Army I am sure this was much harder. I would say the only questionable one is the "V" I would think there would be more of a record of an heroic event. The others he earned the badge he may have earned the additional ones or he may have just lost count of what he did earn. I think it would be a different situation if he was just adding several random awards that he never earned.
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First He sure didn't have to pad the awards, He had plenty of them. Second, record does miss things from time to time, that is why there is a process for Correction of Military Records and they can be corrected provided there is supporting documentation that can be provided. once the documentation is provided the records are corrected and You are provided a copy of that documentation and issued the ribbons and hanging medals that are due You. If You have these already listed on Your DD Form 214 and have the issue documents and the issued medals seems that should be enough anyway. If Your missing items that can be corrected as I mentioned before but its not automatic, You have to pursue that or if a veteran is deceased a family member can follow up.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
I did help My late Father in law while He was still alive get all the decorations He was entitled to in WWII issued, that include the documentation, the hanging medals and also the ribbon for each award. He had gone ashore of three Japanese held islands via landing craft to include Guam and Okinawa. I was pretty proud of him and this is a picture of him when He returned from WWII. My own father was also a WWII veteran of the US Navy also serving in the Asiatic/Pacific theater of operations. My father is now 91 and still in good health.
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Saw this article and couldn't help but sympathize with him to a degree thinking what he is doing is perhaps symptomatic of some sort of aging condition like ALS, Parkinson's, or such which results in mental impairments. Hard to believe that he would knowing do such a thing or that his his family is letting him get away with it under any circumstances. Hopefully the Army can resolve this peacefully and let the CSM complete his twilight tour.
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Does everyone realize that the highest levels at Fort Benning have seen fit to investigate this? I image they did so based on the evidence - the records. Maybe they don't automatically default to saying the records are all messed up. This guy Siddal and whatever his motives might have been becomes irrelevant. So does the movie and the book. No one is happy with this situation but if you want to help, don't waste your time complaining - you should start looking for supporting evidence such as the CSM's name on jump logs and morning reports. Let it be a lesson to all that if you wear the medals, check your records for evidence. This especially goes for the EXTREMELY rare combo of a CIB (3rd award) and Master Parachutist Badge with 5 combat jump Star. I am just amazed this whole thing did not get brought up earlier.
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Some people got too much time on their hands. Is anyone out there seriously doubting this guy's intrepidity? I would say if he was wearing them, he earned them. Anyone who served on active duty from WWII through Viet Nam can attest to the fact that military record keeping in all branches of service was haphazard at best. My own records were poorly maintained, and I retired in 1996. They are constantly awarding medals to service men 30 to 40 years after the fact. Who on earth has a job as a military researcher anyway? I'm with Captain Waddell on this one...going after a dead hero who can't defend himself is typical of the bullshit that goes on today. Someone needs to tell Brian Siddell to go home and take up line dancing if he has that much time on his hands. BTW, what branch of service did he serve in?
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what about st louis was there a fire or water problem that destoyed thousandes of records
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Has anyone seen an actual discharge paper from WWII era? It's a soup sandwich at best. Here is my grandfather's discharge paper. It wasn't a DD214 it was WD AGO form 100. WD is War Department. If you can't read the form in the photo it reads very poorly. They were hastily typed and the grammar on most are horrible. I've been researching his unit for a news piece I've been working on and even the Patton Museum and Eisenhower museum have little to no information for some units disbanded after WWII. Note: if your worried about my grandfathers PII on the form don't worry he's passed away many years back.
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dude was an butt kicker. St.Louis had a fire. Pretty sure he stopped counting what he received. Hell there was a point that I stopped caring and I wasn't a butt kicker like him.
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