Ex-Fla. policeman’s military honors in doubt - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Ex-Fla. policeman’s military honors in doubt

The National Guard says it has no records for three war medals claimed by a former Cape Coral, Fla., police officer who recently resigned when it was learned he faked his GED.

In a 2009 interview, Stephen Chase told The News-Press he had received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, among the nation’s highest combat decorations, during tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The National Guard, however, said no documentation exists for the three medals or of Chase being deployed to Iraq.

Under the Stolen Valor Act, passed in 2006, falsely claiming war medals is a federal misdemeanor. Falsely claiming a Purple Heart could result in up to a year in prison, while pretending to have a Bronze Star is punishable by up to six months.

Reached at home and on Facebook, Chase declined comment after being provided a copy of the 2009 story as well as information provided by the National Guard.

Some local veterans said if Chase embellished his record, they would like to see him prosecuted.

“It’s unforgiveable,” said Jeff Rousey, who was deployed three times to Iraq and was awarded the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars. “It cheapens the awards and takes away from those who did what they needed to do.”

There are many service members who died in combat, Rousey said, who deserve awards such as the Purple Heart who will never receive them in person.

“Those are the people who deserve the recognition,” he said. “This guy sounds like he’s a glory seeker.”

Roger Mason, who did two tours in Vietnam and retired after 22 years in the Army, said he also feels Chase should be criminally charged if he was untruthful.

“It gives me a bad taste in my mouth,” Mason said. “It’s wrong, very wrong.”

In the story published in April 2009, Chase told a reporter he was involved in a rollover crash in May 2004 in Afghanistan.

He said a flatbed truck carrying 16 people, including Chase, rolled over. He said he desperately helped dig out his fellow soldiers from underneath the truck, but that it was too late for his high school friend, 19-year-old Army Pfc. Brandon Wadman, who he said was pronounced dead at the scene.

Chase said he broke two ribs and his nose during the incident. For his efforts that day, he said he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Soon after, according to Chase, he was on patrol on a village street in Afghanistan when a donkey cart blocked his path and the cart driver pulled out a gun and shot him, hitting his bulletproof vest. The shot cracked a rib, he said.

Then, Chase said, months later while standing in a chow line, a sniper firing from the mountains hit him again in his bulletproof vest, breaking another rib.

But Ron Tittle, a public affairs adviser with the Florida Army and Air National Guard, said there is no evidence that Chase sustained any injuries or was awarded a Purple Heart.

Tittle said one of Chase’s commanding officers recalls the crash that killed Wadman, but that Chase did not receive a Bronze Star for his actions.

Furthermore, Tittle said, there is no evidence Chase deployed to Iraq. He said the National Guard would not be looking any further into the matter.

A discharge document included in Chase’s application to the Cape Coral Police Department also does not list any medals, but does indicate he served in Afghanistan from 2004-05.

Chase resigned from the department in September after he applied to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and a background check there discovered Chase was claiming a GED that belongs to another Stephen B. Chase with a different date of birth and Social Security Number.

David Couvertier, a spokesman in the FBI’s Tampa office, said although falsely claiming medals is illegal, the bureau would likely not launch an investigation unless someone files a complaint.

“Basically, if he’s victimized anyone, that would be something we’d have to assess and contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at that point,” Couvertier said.

He also pointed out the law is under review. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review the law in the spring to see whether it violates protections for free speech.

Bill Carter, a spokesman in the FBI’s national office, said the bureau typically receives about 40 to 50 tips about potential violations of the Stolen Valor Act each month and is investigating 15 to 30 at any given time. Carter said no numbers on total arrests under the act are available, but said the problem seems to be growing.

“There’s been a significant increase in the number of people who have reported alleged misrepresentation of military service,” he said.

Arne Suominen, who served in the Army from 1964 67 and was deployed to Vietnam, said he remembers an Army veteran who began showing up at the VFW post on Southeast 11th Avenue about a decade ago with a bevy of medals pinned to his chest.

When another veteran realized some of the medals were from other branches of the military, the organization confronted him and asked him to leave, he said.

As for Chase, Suominen said if he was dishonest about his record, he doesn’t believe he should be arrested, but that the truth should be revealed.

“It should come out publicly to set the record straight,” he said. “It’s just not right.”