Family disputes vet’s story of war injury - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Family disputes vet’s story of war injury

DENVER (AP) — The father and brother of an Army veteran who told lawmakers that he lost his legs in combat are saying that he underwent a double amputation after a motorcycle accident in Southern California as a civilian.

Kevin Grimsinger was testifying against a medical marijuana-related ban this spring when he told state lawmakers that his legs were blown off by a land mine in Afghanistan. He was not testifying under oath at the time.

But his father, Walt Grimsinger of Casper, Wyo., and brother, David Grimsinger of San Diego, told The Associated Press this week that his legs were amputated as the result of the accident in 1992.

Denver Post writer Susan Greene first reported the allegations on Sunday in a column quoting Grimsinger as saying he lied about being on one tour of service: "I wasn't in Kandahar. I didn't trigger a land mine." His aunt, Linda DeBruyn, told the newspaper that "it's not right that he's living his life pretending to be some kind of war hero."

Kevin Grimsinger told the AP on Tuesday that his attorney advised him not to comment. DeBruyn also declined to speak to the AP.

The military confirmed Grimsinger entered the Army in 1988, but no other information was immediately available. An Army spokeswoman said it would take at least two weeks to respond to the AP's request for more details on Grimsinger's record, including any combat injuries and deployments.

State Sen. Morgan Carroll said it is "critical for the institution" that witnesses before the Legislature be truthful, but she said it's unlikely that Grimsinger would face any action by lawmakers if his account of a war injury is disproved, citing First Amendment rights.

Grimsinger, like almost all others who testify before the Legislature, was not under oath on May 3 when he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, depicting himself has a veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Carroll chairs the committee.

Grimsinger also testified before lawmakers about medical marijuana in March, but it's unclear whether he said then that he lost his legs to a land mine.

Grimsinger serves on Denver's Commission for People With Disabilities. City officials said they had no evidence that he claimed to be a wounded combat veteran to get a seat on the commission.

Grimsinger is the second Coloradan whose claims about military service have been called into question in 16 months. Rick Strandlof was charged last year under the federal Stolen Valor Act with falsely claiming to have received Purple Heart and Silver Star medals.

A federal district judge in Denver ruled the law was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech. The 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals has also declared the law unconstitutional in a similar, but unrelated, case in California.

Prosecutors haven't said whether they will appeal either ruling.

Officials at the Denver district attorney's office and the U.S. attorneys office said Tuesday they knew of no criminal investigations of Grimsinger.