NO reason why these posers couldn't easily be shut down

[johnjohnson1957]

There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data released by VA to The Associated Press.

A similar discrepancy arises with Vietnam POWs. Only 661 officially recognized prisoners returned from that war alive — and about 100 of those have since died, according to Defense figures. But 966 purported Vietnam POWs are getting disability payments, the VA told AP.

Full Story at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sns-ap ... 3904.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jim]

Here is the POW Network site:

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/list_of_names.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rangerguru]

So let me get this straight. The VA knows about it, and yet they are still paying these lying douchbags.

[boscounderfoot]

Can we make sure that this scum sucking piece of shit is never allowed on this site and is blacklisted from the Ranger community completely? This fucking pisses me off, and the fact that he is a retired CSM really upsets me!!!!

Take the case of retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Barr Cayton.

For years, the Texan told stories about how he and another member of his Ranger squad were taken prisoner during a January 1971 firefight in Vietnam. Cayton told of regaining consciousness and finding his arms tied to a branch across his shoulders, and of being marched from village to village with a leash around his neck as a propaganda tool. "They did degrading, inhumane things to us," he told a Texas newspaper, adding that finally, after 20 days in captivity, he managed to escape. It was all a lie. Records from the National Archives show that Cayton was accounted for during the entire period he cited — Jan. 1-21 — and that no one from his unit was ever taken prisoner. In fact, Cayton received a Silver Star medal for an action that occurred on Jan. 10, 1971, midway through his alleged captivity. A falsified copy of an official form was placed in his file at the St. Louis repository, the source to which all other agencies turn for documentation of a veteran's service. "'PRISONER OF WAR, CO G, 75TH INF (ABN RGR), VIETNAM, 710101-710121,'" the forged document says. After years of prodding by P.O.W. Network members, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command looked into Cayton's case. In the end, Cayton was placed in a federal pretrial diversion program and ordered to correct his records in St. Louis. However, when the AP filed a Freedom of Information Act request recently for Cayton's file, the documents that came back appeared unchanged — still reflecting 20 days in captivity. Cayton did not respond to AP calls seeking comment, but in a letter to the Schantags, he apologized "if my statements and representations have misled or offended any of my fellow service members, past and present." The VA refused to comment on the case. But in response to the Army's inquiry, the agency maintained that Cayton, as a combat veteran, "would have received the same amount of compensation without claiming he was a POW, and accordingly there was no loss to the U.S. Government." Veterans who served with Cayton have their own views. He was a "glory seeker" who exaggerated other exploits, too, says then-Capt. Mark Hansen, who regrets recommending Cayton for the Silver Star. Chuck Ford, who was in Cayton's unit and says there was no enemy contact on the day for which Cayton received that decoration, says, "It infuriates me. And he's drawing MONEY for this? He's stealing from other soldiers?"

This fucker needs to be hung for this!!

[RetPara]

I forwarded the article last week to the head of Comp and Pen for the VA (part of the Health Administration side) and my local hospital. Now, the VA is actually divided into three sub-departments. The Benefits Administration hands off the medical claims part to the Health Administration. The third part of the VA runs the Cemetery and Memorials. (There is a super secret fourth department that comes up with all the stupid rules and regs. ) The Benefits Admin is REALLY screwed up. The VA IG has found bags of unprocessed doc's and shredded docs at the Benefits Admin office in Michigan. The VBA is the one who should be validating POW claims.