SEATTLE A 71-year-old man who claimed to be a decorated Korean War veteran pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to lying about his military service to get benefits and to wearing military medals he did not earn.
Roy J. Scott of Port Angeles pleaded guilty to using an altered military discharge certificate to obtain Veterans Administration compensation and medical benefits and to unlawfully wearing the military medals.
According to his plea agreement, in August 1999, Scott used a falsified military discharge form to get benefits. The form claimed that he had served in the Marine Corps in Korea, and that he was wounded in combat there. The form also claimed that Scott had been awarded several medals, including a Purple Heart. He also said he was honorably discharged.
Prosecutors say Scott never earned those medals, never served in Korea or any foreign country and was court-martialed. They add that he did not receive an honorable discharge and was not entitled to benefits. Between 2000 and 2007, he received $21,960 in VA medical benefits that he did not deserve, the U.S. attorney's office said.
As part of his plea agreement Scott agreed to repay that money.
In 2006, Scott appeared at public events in Port Angeles, wearing the uniform of a Marine Corps major and medals and ribbons indicating he had been awarded the decorations he claimed, including the Bronze Star and Combat Action Ribbon. The Bronze Star is awarded to soldiers deemed to have made an extraordinary contribution to the national defense. The Combat Action Ribbon is awarded to soldiers who participated in actual combat.
He will be sentenced Nov. 30 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler.
Use of an altered military discharge certificate to obtain benefits carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and $100,000 fine. Unlawful wearing of U.S. military medals carries a maximum six months and a $5,000 fine.
#1
(The main article posted is the background information. Here it today's follow-up)
A 71-year-old Port Angeles man who falsely posed as a decorated Korean War veteran has been sentenced to four months of electronically monitored home confinement.
In a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Roy J. Scott admitted he posed as a Marine major and used a bogus military discharge certificate to receive $21,960 worth of veteran's benefits.
Before his sentencing today, Scott broke down in tears before Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler and asked that she allow him to continue his job on an oil platform off the coast of Africa. The judge, however, stuck to the recommendations of prosecutors by ordering the home confinement and two years' probation.
Several real veterans attended the sentencing in U.S. District Court in Seattle. One of them, Harry Findley -- who said his father was a Marine officer who died at Guadalcanal during World War II -- called the sentence a "travesty of justice" and said Scott should have had to do time behind bars.
#2
HEROES OR VILLAINS ?? The listed individuals have been reported as having made statements about being captured, captured but never reporting it, held in captivity, tortured, escaping captivity, being rescued or the unique report noted below.
Based on the P.O.W. NETWORK's access to POW/MIA documentation, contact with former POWs, NAM-POWS Inc, American Ax-POWs, SEALS, Special Forces, MACVSOG, Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, Medal of Honor recipients and basing our work on the DPMO's list (PMSEA) -- NO documentation exists to back up their statements. In our FIFTEEN YEARS of working with the data - NOT ONE CASE has shown the PMSEA and the corroborating documents to be wrong. The names listed make up a combined list of individuals reported to the P.O.W. NETWORK. In some instances the individual was reported to one of the other above named organizations and sent to us for further investigation. For many, military records are IN HAND providing actual military service details that do NOT confirm alleged POW status.
KEY WEST, Fla. -- A landscaping crew about to grind a tree stump stumbled across 30 World War II mortar shells buried in the ground on property once owned by the U.S. Navy. A worker hit and broke one of the live shells Friday, but it did not detonate. The mortars could have done serious damage had they exploded, Sgt. Bobby Randolph of the Monroe County Sheriff's office said.
As a precaution, about a dozen homes were evacuated and all cars were cleared from the immediate area when a bomb squad removed the explosives.
"People get really excited about bombs, as well they should," sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said. Herrin said authorities would contact Naval officials to "see if they want to destroy them. If not, we will."
Some bombs and shells used in World Wars I and II are loaded with phosphorous and can easily burst into flame on exposure to the atmosphere.
A FERAL cat has survived for 19 days with a peanut butter jar stuck on its head. Peanut butter is bad for you, kitteh.
The Cain family of Bartlett, Tennessee, have fed the cat, which they call Wild Oats, for several years. They saw the cat several times with the jar on its head and tried in vain to catch it. But after not seeing the cat for a week, the Cains feared the worst. "I thought she was going to die with that jar on her head," said Tabitha Cain, 25.
They found the once chubby cat on Wednesday, too thin and weak to flee, and used some oil to get the jar off her head. They gave her water and treated her wounds and yesterday she began to eat again. The family are now thinking of changing the cat's name to Survivor. Should name her Jarhead.
#1
heartbreaking and completely unnecessary. Notice how one of the comments already managed to blame Bush because the country has no oil? Riiiight... they don't want us to fight in Iraq or Iran, but it is Bush's fault that socialism is, once again, a murderous failure.
#2
Do we have any idea where ol' Bob keeps the boodle banked? Sure would be nice to empty those accounts and give it to the AMERICAN Red Cross or somethin'...
Just as he drove his pickup truck north over the U.S. border, Indian community leader Julian Rivas heard the rasp of automatic weapons fire, then three bullets ripped into the cab and tailgate. "I just carried on driving ... and I didn't go back to my village in Mexico," he said.
Rivas, a member of the Tohono O'odham tribe, whose ancestral lands straddle the Arizona-Mexico border, is among tribe members from villages in Mexico who say they are being driven out by an influx of violent Mexican smugglers. The tribe, whose name means "Desert People," numbers around 24,000 people. Their lands extend from Casa Grande, south of Phoenix, to an area of remote desert north of Hermosillo, the capital of Mexico's Sonora state, and members cross back and forth through informal "gates" in the border.
In recent years, members in Arizona have increasingly been caught up in the fallout from drug and human trafficking through the sovereign Tohono O'odham nation, which lies on one of the most active smuggling corridors on the U.S.-Mexico border. South of the line, in Mexico, tribe members have long been squeezed by a lack of jobs and services, and the number of villages has dropped to nine from 45 in the mid 19th century. Remaining residents complain they are now being harassed by heavily armed Mexican smugglers who have muscled into the area.
Continued on Page 49
#6
The Tohono O'odham are a sovereign people, right? Well, they just need to defend themselves.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/03/2007 11:29 Comments ||
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#7
The Tohono O'odham have been armed patrolling their reservation for years now, looking for illegals and smugglers. And, I might add, some of their trackers are subcontracting to the US military in, *ahem*, far away places.
I wouldn't have a problem providing them with a few ma deuces mounted on pickups. The Mexicans would learn to keep off their territory.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Several thousand rowdy soccer fans turned up at Al-Shaab stadium in Baghdad Saturday as premier league football got into full swing in the capital more than 18 months after mortars brought it to a halt.
Beating drums, waving flags, whistling and chanting, around 3,000 supporters ignored the presence of heavily armed troops and police to noisily cheer on Police College and Baghdad's most popular team, Al-Zawra, as they battled it out on a threadbare pitch.
Adults and children, many of them dressed in the green shirts of the Iraqi national team, arrived at the stadium by bus, on foot, in taxis and by car for the second match of the season, which proceeded without incident. The stadium was protected by Iraqi tanks and armoured vehicles and patrolled periodically by the US military Humvees, while traders set up small stalls at the entrance selling soft drinks, cakes and sunflower seeds.
Saturday's turnout contrasted with the debut match of the season a week ago, when only a few hundred fronted up to watch Electricity and Air Force play the first football in Baghdad since early last year when mortar attacks forced soccer authorities to move the game out of the capital.
Those enjoying this week's match were confident that crowds would swell by the week as Baghdadis grew more confident that it is safe to venture back to the stadium in the capital's central Zayuna district. "Soon we will see large crowds again. Iraqis love football. Fans will return," said Khalid Mahmud, 25, who runs a sports shop in central Baghdad. "We feel quite safe now, but we need the stadium to be renovated," he added, pointing to the filthy plastic seats in the main stand, many of them broken.
He said had not felt safe to attend any matches in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003. "This is the first time I have come here to watch football since 2003," Mahmud said. "It is great to be back and the atmosphere is as exciting as I remember it."
Policeman Mohammed Rasheed, 38, sitting with his three young children, said he had travelled from neighbouring Diyala province for the match. "I never miss a match in Baghdad," he said. "Last year I was unhappy because there were no games. I will not miss any this year," he added happily, as his team Al-Zawra fought back from a first-half deficit to snatch a 1-1 draw against Police College.
Ten-year-old Sajad, sporting a green shirt emblazoned with the name of Iraqi national team captain Yunis Mahmoud, said he and his friends planned to attend all premier league matches at the stadium this year. "We are glad football is back. We were all excited when Iraq won the Asian Cup (in July) and now we can see some good soccer in Baghdad again."
"This crowd comprises Sunni and Shiites and the players are from all over Iraq," said Jaafar Abdul Hussein, one of those crowded onto the main stand at Al-Shaab stadium Saturday. "Football, if nothing else, still unites Iraqis," said Hussein, a former premier league player.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
I see only men in the pic accompanying the article. Are women allowed to watch?
#2
Except in times of "patriotic" fever (eg when country is organizing world cup) even in Europe and nowadays the number of women who go to soccer matches is quite small. In trhe sixties attendance women attendance was near zero (the wife of the president of the club) and I am talking about Europe.
#5
"We feel quite safe now, but we need the stadium to be renovated," he added, pointing to the filthy plastic seats in the main stand, many of them broken.
Granted, he's not the club owner, but THAT has got to be among the most universal sentiments in sports.
#1
The map gives a reasonably correct depiction of the west coast of South America. But according to history, Vasco Nunez de Balboa did not reach the Pacific by land until 1513, and Ferdinand Magellan did not round the southern tip of the continent until 1520.
"So this is a rather compelling map to say, 'How did they come to that conclusion,'" Hebert said.
#2
Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?
#3
An old Biblical Archaeology Review article tells of The Paraibo Inscription, supposedly by Hiram, King of Tyre's, lost seafaring Phoenicians. The inscription purports to be a lost sailing vessel from around the time of Solomon (ca. 1500 BC), blown off course as they sailed around the land of Ham (Africa). The prevailing winds & ocean currents mean it is theoretically possible but most dismissed it as fraud. Their ancient seafaring capabilities, however,are vastly underestimated my most people. Also, the authors of The Hiram Key say the Knights Templar had their own fleet of ships and were armed with an ancient ME prophecy regarding following a western star called 'Merica' to a new Promised Land, contending they founded the New World before Columbus, too. It is quite possible a German monk had Templar maps.
#4
It is IMO a certainty that sailors besides the Norse from Europe, Asia and the Middle East made landfall in the Westrn Hemisphere before Columbus. But Cris gets the credit because with him it stuck. His voyage was a true watershed in World History. A lot of the other voyages were probably accidents and the voyagers might not of made it home. But the riddle of the maps (there's more tahn this one) is somethong else.
Like those that caused an Egyptian female mummy from time of New Kingdom to contain generous amount of cocaine (and also traces of nicotine). Which proves two things,
1. Getting doped is as old as mankind itself.
2. Since coca does grow only in South America, there had to be supply lines.
The routes were likely known only to Phoenician traders which undoubtedly guarded the knowledge as secret, but information fragments found their way into Alexandria library and Ptolemaios then compiled it, which likely served as a basis for later maps. Pity that the library was destroyed by fire and 400,000 scrolls in it went up in smoke, too. Several thousand of scolls were saved, though.
#7
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Banks -
Several navigators, including Basque fishermen, are known to have fished these waters in the 15th century. In the 15th century some texts refer to a land called Bacalao, the land of the codfish, which is possibly Newfoundland. However, it was not until John Cabot reached the New World in 1497 that the existence of these fishing grounds became generally known in Europe
What Columbus achieved was not 'being first' but being the one who made it 'public' and kept his standing. Of course Galileo and Copernicus also went 'public' with their discoveries and didn't keep their standing.
#8
Daniell mentioned Tyre. Scripturally, the ships of Tyre are described as being better built better than the ships Columbus navigated. Even the sails were colored purple, which gives one the hint of how much work went into the fleets of the mighty world wide trading center of Tyre.
As 500 or so teens gyrated at the Lake Oswego High School homecoming dance, administrators noticed what one described as a change in "the atmosphere." The football players had won the game, changed back into their street clothes and gone straight to the dance. No showers.
But they aren't the only ones to blame for the malodorous environment in schools. It's a rare student who showers after sports or gym classes these days. A quick dab of deodorant and a dousing of cologne or perfume, and it's on to the next class.
Communal showers -- the awkward rite of passage into puberty -- are a thing of the past. In fact, Oregon schools haven't required showers for at least a decade. The same is true nationally.
Students say they don't have time to shower. Psychologists and educators say kids also are more sensitive about body image partly because they live in a world saturated by the media's idea of perfection.
For some athletes, such as wrestlers, showers are mandatory because of the threat of skin infections. But for most students, toweling off at the sink after P.E. is the closest they come. "The only person I saw take a shower this year was a Canadian kid that moved here," said Jack Taylor, a Wilsonville High sophomore.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/03/2007 14:10 Comments ||
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#2
In that case France and Amezrica have swpped places.
FRench have come a long way about showers since 1944. Hint: demographic stagnation had led to most housing being from 19th century and these had no showers: you had to go to public baths and showers.
#3
Seems to me that the real story is that the kiddies aren't taking showers after a PE game, but that they are afraid to shower in front of other kids. If true (and I have my doubts)that is an interesting twist. I would have thought they would be less shy. They don't seem to have any hesitation in stripping for sex.
#5
The trailing daughters have never showered after gym. As far as I know their schools -- public, all buildings put up within the last two decades -- were built without locker rooms or showers. They've always changed for gym in the regular bathrooms. It's a budget thing, the parents were told; we could have locker rooms or classrooms, but with everyone wanting their taxes reduced, the district wasn't even going to try to ask for both. And given that for a while the levies weren't passing, so that for a number of subjects at the high school there was only the classroom set of textbooks, not one for each student to take home -- the parents weren't about to make a fuss over a bit of soap and water.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Several thousand rowdy soccer fans turned up at Al-Shaab stadium in Baghdad Saturday as premier league football got into full swing in the capital more than 18 months after mortars brought it to a halt.
