thedrifter
12-02-03, 10:13 AM
Texas man who exposed fake Vietnam records honored by Army
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:02 a.m. December 2, 2003
DALLAS – A financial adviser who exposed more than 1,200 people trying to capitalize on bogus or inflated Vietnam war records has been saluted with a military honor.
B.G. "Jug" Burkett received the military branch's Distinguished Civilian Service Award on Monday from former President George H.W. Bush at the Bush Library in College Station.
"He exposed a mass distortion of history that cost taxpayers billions of dollars" in undeserved veteran benefits, said John W. Nicholson, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "He returned to the Vietnam veterans their good name."
In the 1980s, Burkett began researching to find out who fought in Vietnam and debunk some of the myths about veterans. In a latter book, he and a co-author showed that 75 percent of those killed were volunteers, not draftees.
"I'm happy because it brings the focus back to the message," said Burkett, who served in Vietnam in the late 1960s. "And the message basically is that the people who served in Vietnam are the finest troops we ever produced."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031202-0202-brf-fakewarrecords.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:02 a.m. December 2, 2003
DALLAS – A financial adviser who exposed more than 1,200 people trying to capitalize on bogus or inflated Vietnam war records has been saluted with a military honor.
B.G. "Jug" Burkett received the military branch's Distinguished Civilian Service Award on Monday from former President George H.W. Bush at the Bush Library in College Station.
"He exposed a mass distortion of history that cost taxpayers billions of dollars" in undeserved veteran benefits, said John W. Nicholson, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "He returned to the Vietnam veterans their good name."
In the 1980s, Burkett began researching to find out who fought in Vietnam and debunk some of the myths about veterans. In a latter book, he and a co-author showed that 75 percent of those killed were volunteers, not draftees.
"I'm happy because it brings the focus back to the message," said Burkett, who served in Vietnam in the late 1960s. "And the message basically is that the people who served in Vietnam are the finest troops we ever produced."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031202-0202-brf-fakewarrecords.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: