Posted on 11/12/2009 1:18:32 PM PST by csvset
MARTINEZ -- A Martinez high school graduate will appear in federal court today on charges that he masqueraded as a decorated military veteran after being photographed wearing a host of fake medals, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, authorities said. Steven Douglas Burton, 39, of Palm Springs was charged last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, a misdemeanor. Burton has never served in the military, authorities say. They say he works at a bank in Palm Springs. He is expected to enter a not-guilty plea today in a Riverside courtroom. An attorney for Burton was not immediately available for comment. Burton was caught with the help of Colleen Salonga, a fellow former classmate at Alhambra High School in Martinez who is an actual Navy commander, authorities said. Salonga saw Burton at their 20th high-school reunion last fall wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, authorities said. The uniform displayed the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart and other medals, federal prosecutors said. Suspicious, Salonga went up to Burton and asked to take a picture with him. She turned over the photo to the FBI, authorities said. Investigators confirmed that Burton "had not been a member of any branch of the military or of any armed force and had not been awarded any such decorations, service medals or badges, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart," court papers said. "Mr. Burton was blogging on a Web site and claiming to have done multiple tours of duty in the Middle East, both in Afghanistan and Iraq," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Akrotirianakis said today. "He also claimed to have fought in Fallujah."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Shhhh.... Don’t call him a phony soldier or the Soros steno pool, Media Matters, will smear you.
LMAO...
I guess if you’re going to go for it, go full tilt. Man, oh, man.
What possesses people to do such things?
Chicks dig uniforms! Every UPS driver knows it.
Regret, envy, self-loathing... heck, I don’t know.
“He can’t decide if he’s enlisted or officer”
Pardon my ignorance but would it be possible for you to point out the discrepancies that are evident on the pictures?
Damn...the guy should've given me a call. I was awarded an MSM a month before I left the service, but I've never displayed it, as I did not wear my Class A's prior to the end of my service.
Of course, I would've notified the proper authorities after he took delivery.
I see stripes in the beach picture, and the article stated “wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel” in the second picture. I’m Army, so I don’t know Marine uniforms, though... (and I could be completely delirious, also...
In the top photo he is wearing enlisted dress blue uniform with the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant, worn on the sleeve. The enlisted dress blue uniform has red piping on it.
The bottom photo he is wearing officer dress blue uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (per the article), worn on the shoulder epaulets. The officer dress blue uniform does not have red piping.
on first look, he is a Master Gunnery Sargent in the top one, and a Capt or a Col (cant make it out on the laptop) in the bottom one
you cant be enlisted AND officer
He’s wearing dress blues. Its despicable that someone would impersonate any member of the military and adorn themselves with medals but if this clown had done his homework he’d have known Marines don’t go around in dress blues all the time.
That would make a kick-ass halloween costume.
Hmm..on second thought, you might run into a real Marine. Scratch that.
Just go as a run-of-the-mill knight.
“In the top photo he is wearing enlisted dress blue uniform with the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant, worn on the sleeve. The enlisted dress blue uniform has red piping on it.
The bottom photo he is wearing officer dress blue uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (per the article), worn on the shoulder epaulets. The officer dress blue uniform does not have red piping”
Thanks for the education! You too frankenMonkey.
Marines cant define your uniforms, either, but your eyesight is just fine. :)
Notice that inhis MGySgt pic on top, his medals lack centered Navy Cross, while his fruit salad has a extra row.
I think he looked it up, I cant make out most of them, most look like “I was there” ribbons, a few atta boys, but to wear the Navy Cross, that is a sin.
I forgot what the army equivalent is, but whatever is just below MOH
He started out as a MGYSgt, then finished college, got his degree, then got his commission, then got promoted to LtCol all in 20 years. He's a mustang.
Looks like he’s also wearing a Presidential Service Badge on his right breast pocket (implying he once worked at the White House) and an Office of the SECDEF Badge on his left breast pocket (implying he once worked for the Secretary of Defense).
The man has been all over the place!
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