Paul Reickhoff’s Grand Misrepresentation – A Soldier's Perspective

This is certainly a delicate case and I don't know all the details, etc -- though I have read about this situation a few times. There are tons of really wonderful people who work at IAVA and the organization does do a lot of good for veterans, not just in political activism but also with employment help, etc. -- at least in my opinion. This can be debated, I guess, but that's how I see it. Now, about the situation laid out in this article -- the primary thing here that raises my eyebrows is that he made a decision to wear a Special Forces unit patch on his left shoulder, when it appears he had no basis to do so. I think he's since then gone back and clarified/apologized for this mistake. In my opinion, the reason someone would do this is because Special Forces are the tip of the spear of the Army and seen as the Army's BAMFs along with folks in the Ranger Regiment (rivalries aside). I wasn't either of these things myself while I was in the Army, but to decide to sew a Special Forces patch on your dress uniform, which you wear while you're out in public, to me just shows a desire to get special attention, etc. from folks. When I was in the Army and used to see actual SF people from time to time, my reaction was "They went through horrible stuff to get qualified and selected etc. and my hat's off to them, it takes a special person to do all that." -- if a person was pretending to have those credentials, that's what rubs me the wrong way, and I don't think it's fair to just call that an "oops" mistake.

The guy who writes the blog "This Ain't Hell" seems like he would be a great guy to have for a live RallyPoint Q&A. Who has his contact info?