Longtime New Hampshire State Senator Lou D’Allesandro has come under fire recently, accused of stolen valor. What’s that? A person who claims they have served in the military or embellish their rank or status.
Or, one who,
“fraudulently claim(s) having received a valor award specified in the Act, with the intention of obtaining money, property, or other tangible benefits by convincing another that he or she received the award.”
Based on this definition, it appears as if New Hampshire Democrat State Senator Lou D’Allesndro has benefitted from the embellishment of his service or “rank.”
You can get into the weeds here.
Lou is identified in numerous places across time and space as a Veteran and Retired which is entirely a result of his own bio or press. In other words, third parties made the assumption based on Lou’s word. But according to the researchers at Military Phony.com Lou’s “service” does not rise to meet any of the qualifications he has claimed.
As stated in the FOIA results – the NPRC summary sheet states that D’Allesandro’s records show no active duty service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Had he gone to boot camp prior to going into the reserves, that would have been recorded as active duty.
There is no Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) recorded either.
It appears that he was discharged from the program. It would not be correct to characterize this as “retired.”
I’m not familiar with the fine points but they conclude that he is not entitled to refer to himself as either a veteran or retired from the US Marines.
Again, please feel free to review the evidence accumulated here. It outlines all the references to his “service” or status as a veteran or retired. Details that lead the investigators to come to this summary conclusion. “One is not considered a Marine if they never graduated boot camp or OCS.”
No, being a nice guy or meaning well or having the interests of veterans at heart do not make that okay. I have the veteran’s interests at heart, and while my Dad served in WWII and was a veteran, and my Grandfather served in WWI and was a veteran, I could never make any such claim.
Unless new information becomes available Lou, who only recently recovered from a gambling-legislation addiction, needs to clarify his bio and correct the record, apologize for any misunderstandings, and he should probably “retire” from the State Senate.
Image Credit: Military Phony.com