Liberal mental patient posing as Marine war veteran facing federal warrant

[Lost Soul]

Phony Marine due for arrest
Coloradan who posed as wounded Iraq veteran being prosecuted under Stolen Valor Act
By Nancy Lofholm

Rick Glen Strandlof, a former mental patient who posed as a wounded Marine captain to found a statewide veterans group and campaign for political candidates, is being prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act for making claims he received a Purple Heart.

A federal arrest warrant was issued Thursday evening for Strandlof, who used the alias Rick Duncan when he was acting as a spokesman for veterans issues.

Strandlof will be charged with one count of making false claims about receipt of military decorations or medals, a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Strandlof, 32, had not been arrested as of Friday evening.

Jeffrey Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, would not say whether authorities know his whereabouts. Dorschner said only that Strandlof will be brought to Denver to appear before a federal magistrate after he is arrested.

Phony Marine due for arrest - The Denver Post

Rick Strandlof, executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance and the man most colleagues knew as Rick Duncan, was front and center during the 2008 political campaigns in Colorado.

He spoke at a Barack Obama veterans rally in front of the Capitol in July, co-hosted several events with then- congressional candidate Jared Polis and attacked Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer in a TV ad paid for by the national group Votevets.org.

And the mostly Democratic candidates he supported — looking for credibility on veterans issues and the war — lapped it up appreciatively.

Now, politicians are dealing with news that the man they believed to be a former Marine and war veteran wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb, in fact, never served in the military — but did spend time in a mental hospital.

Many of the candidates he supported won their elections handily and now say they were defrauded as much as anyone else. [Denver Post]

The group that Rick Duncan Strandlof founded the Colorado Veterans Alliance has decided to disband:

But on Thursday the Colorado Veterans Alliance, the organization he founded, announced that it was disbanding, having discovered that his entire story was a sham.

As it turns out, the group said, Rick Duncan is not even Rick Duncan but instead a man named Richard Glen Strandlof.

And Mr. Strandlof, who contrary to his claims never graduated from the Naval Academy or served in the military, is a 32-year-old drifter with a history of at least one criminal conviction, for car theft in Nevada. As a condition of his probation in that case, he was ordered to appear in a mental health court. [New York Times]

Besides being a member of the Colorado Veterans Alliance he was also a member of VoteVets and Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW).

For those that don’t know VoteVets is not really a veterans group. It is a really a liberal advocacy group that claims to speak for the military. The VoteVets.org site, just like the Amnesty International fraud Appeal for Redress group was formed before the 2006 Congressional elections. This site was backed by former Democratic Presidential Candidate General Wesley Clark and the group of retired generals that made headlines before the 2006 Congressional elections by running ads funded by the site speaking out against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well as a change in strategy in Iraq by sending in more troops.

Interestingly enough even though Rumsfeld had been removed and the new surge strategy in Iraq brought an increase in troops there, VoteVets was still not satisfied. Instead of this site recognizing the changes it had advocated for, it instead become an anti-war site calling for the removal of US troops in Iraq. Since then none of the retired generals has been heard from, but the person we have continued to hear a lot from (for no good reasons) is VoteVets President Jon Soltz who was one of the people willfully fulled by Strandlof. Incredibly the media still calls this group a grassroots movement despite its George Soros connections.

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

 

[Lost Soul]

 

[American Horse]

Phony Marine due for arrest

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

Sadly but predictably this sort of fraud is all too common,and takes place in every area of our political debate. It also happens at "Tea Party" events and at Town Hall meetings.

 

[Lost Soul]

Phony Marine due for arrest

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

Sadly but predictably this sort of fraud is all too common,and takes place in every area of our political debate. It also happens at "Tea Party" events and at Town Hall meetings.

Really? Show me where one fraud has been arrested at a town hall meeting posing as a veteran.

 

[American Horse]

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

Sadly but predictably this sort of fraud is all too common, and takes place in every area of our political debate. It also happens at "Tea Party" events and at Town Hall meetings.

Really? Show me where one fraud has been arrested at a town hall meeting posing as a veteran.

I did not intend to imply veteran identity fraud at town hall meetings, but other types of identy fraud, like pretending to be bona-fide protesters with reversed role identy for instance. And veteran identity fraud has happened before. This is just another more recent case of that.

And, LS, thank you for allowing me the chance to correct and clarify.

 

[bodecea]

Phony Marine due for arrest
Coloradan who posed as wounded Iraq veteran being prosecuted under Stolen Valor Act
By Nancy Lofholm

Rick Glen Strandlof, a former mental patient who posed as a wounded Marine captain to found a statewide veterans group and campaign for political candidates, is being prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act for making claims he received a Purple Heart.

A federal arrest warrant was issued Thursday evening for Strandlof, who used the alias Rick Duncan when he was acting as a spokesman for veterans issues.

Strandlof will be charged with one count of making false claims about receipt of military decorations or medals, a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Strandlof, 32, had not been arrested as of Friday evening.

Jeffrey Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, would not say whether authorities know his whereabouts. Dorschner said only that Strandlof will be brought to Denver to appear before a federal magistrate after he is arrested.

Phony Marine due for arrest - The Denver Post

Rick Strandlof, executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance and the man most colleagues knew as Rick Duncan, was front and center during the 2008 political campaigns in Colorado.

He spoke at a Barack Obama veterans rally in front of the Capitol in July, co-hosted several events with then- congressional candidate Jared Polis and attacked Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer in a TV ad paid for by the national group Votevets.org.

And the mostly Democratic candidates he supported — looking for credibility on veterans issues and the war — lapped it up appreciatively.

Now, politicians are dealing with news that the man they believed to be a former Marine and war veteran wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb, in fact, never served in the military — but did spend time in a mental hospital.

Many of the candidates he supported won their elections handily and now say they were defrauded as much as anyone else. [Denver Post]

The group that Rick Duncan Strandlof founded the Colorado Veterans Alliance has decided to disband:

But on Thursday the Colorado Veterans Alliance, the organization he founded, announced that it was disbanding, having discovered that his entire story was a sham.

As it turns out, the group said, Rick Duncan is not even Rick Duncan but instead a man named Richard Glen Strandlof.

And Mr. Strandlof, who contrary to his claims never graduated from the Naval Academy or served in the military, is a 32-year-old drifter with a history of at least one criminal conviction, for car theft in Nevada. As a condition of his probation in that case, he was ordered to appear in a mental health court. [New York Times]

Besides being a member of the Colorado Veterans Alliance he was also a member of VoteVets and Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW).

For those that don’t know VoteVets is not really a veterans group. It is a really a liberal advocacy group that claims to speak for the military. The VoteVets.org site, just like the Amnesty International fraud Appeal for Redress group was formed before the 2006 Congressional elections. This site was backed by former Democratic Presidential Candidate General Wesley Clark and the group of retired generals that made headlines before the 2006 Congressional elections by running ads funded by the site speaking out against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well as a change in strategy in Iraq by sending in more troops.

Interestingly enough even though Rumsfeld had been removed and the new surge strategy in Iraq brought an increase in troops there, VoteVets was still not satisfied. Instead of this site recognizing the changes it had advocated for, it instead become an anti-war site calling for the removal of US troops in Iraq. Since then none of the retired generals has been heard from, but the person we have continued to hear a lot from (for no good reasons) is VoteVets President Jon Soltz who was one of the people willfully fulled by Strandlof. Incredibly the media still calls this group a grassroots movement despite its George Soros connections.

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

You blame all the left for this group?

 

[Lost Soul]

Phony Marine due for arrest
Coloradan who posed as wounded Iraq veteran being prosecuted under Stolen Valor Act
By Nancy Lofholm

Rick Glen Strandlof, a former mental patient who posed as a wounded Marine captain to found a statewide veterans group and campaign for political candidates, is being prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act for making claims he received a Purple Heart.

A federal arrest warrant was issued Thursday evening for Strandlof, who used the alias Rick Duncan when he was acting as a spokesman for veterans issues.

Strandlof will be charged with one count of making false claims about receipt of military decorations or medals, a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Strandlof, 32, had not been arrested as of Friday evening.

Jeffrey Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, would not say whether authorities know his whereabouts. Dorschner said only that Strandlof will be brought to Denver to appear before a federal magistrate after he is arrested.

Phony Marine due for arrest - The Denver Post

Rick Strandlof, executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance and the man most colleagues knew as Rick Duncan, was front and center during the 2008 political campaigns in Colorado.

He spoke at a Barack Obama veterans rally in front of the Capitol in July, co-hosted several events with then- congressional candidate Jared Polis and attacked Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer in a TV ad paid for by the national group Votevets.org.

And the mostly Democratic candidates he supported — looking for credibility on veterans issues and the war — lapped it up appreciatively.

Now, politicians are dealing with news that the man they believed to be a former Marine and war veteran wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb, in fact, never served in the military — but did spend time in a mental hospital.

Many of the candidates he supported won their elections handily and now say they were defrauded as much as anyone else. [Denver Post]

The group that Rick Duncan Strandlof founded the Colorado Veterans Alliance has decided to disband:

But on Thursday the Colorado Veterans Alliance, the organization he founded, announced that it was disbanding, having discovered that his entire story was a sham.

As it turns out, the group said, Rick Duncan is not even Rick Duncan but instead a man named Richard Glen Strandlof.

And Mr. Strandlof, who contrary to his claims never graduated from the Naval Academy or served in the military, is a 32-year-old drifter with a history of at least one criminal conviction, for car theft in Nevada. As a condition of his probation in that case, he was ordered to appear in a mental health court. [New York Times]

Besides being a member of the Colorado Veterans Alliance he was also a member of VoteVets and Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW).

For those that don’t know VoteVets is not really a veterans group. It is a really a liberal advocacy group that claims to speak for the military. The VoteVets.org site, just like the Amnesty International fraud Appeal for Redress group was formed before the 2006 Congressional elections. This site was backed by former Democratic Presidential Candidate General Wesley Clark and the group of retired generals that made headlines before the 2006 Congressional elections by running ads funded by the site speaking out against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well as a change in strategy in Iraq by sending in more troops.

Interestingly enough even though Rumsfeld had been removed and the new surge strategy in Iraq brought an increase in troops there, VoteVets was still not satisfied. Instead of this site recognizing the changes it had advocated for, it instead become an anti-war site calling for the removal of US troops in Iraq. Since then none of the retired generals has been heard from, but the person we have continued to hear a lot from (for no good reasons) is VoteVets President Jon Soltz who was one of the people willfully fulled by Strandlof. Incredibly the media still calls this group a grassroots movement despite its George Soros connections.

Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

You blame all the left for this group?

Well the majority of the left is anti war and has used these fake veterans as a means to attack the Iraq war.

I realize this poser has fooled even some of the left leaning politicans along with a good deal of those on the left. So to answer your question. Yes and no.

 

[Toome]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

 

[ba1614]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

Do you not think it a good practice to know who you are using as a spokesman at rallys and in tv ads?

 

[Lost Soul]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

No matter what he committed a Federal crime. And to start this group and fool as many people as he did he has to be crazy but the funny thing is that so many were fooled and believed this man. Then you have to wonder why we make fun of the liberals for supporting Obama. The liberals are to easy to be fooled.

 

[Toome]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

Do you not think it a good practice to know who you are using as a spokesman at rallys and in tv ads?

Absolutely! But this is the internet age. No one does real research any more. A couple clicks with the mouse is all it takes.

That's not my point. I don't see this as a vast leftist conspiracy. I see it as nothing more than sloppiness. I think the Obama crowd is equally as chagrined about this.

 

[Toome]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

No matter what he committed a Federal crime. And to start this group and fool as many people as he did he has to be crazy but the funny thing is that so many were fooled and believed this man. Then you have to wonder why we make fun of the liberals for supporting Obama. The liberals are to easy to be fooled.

Yes, he committed a crime. No, this isn't exclusively a liberal thing. It's pretty common in both camps, and it's an old American political tradition. I would argue that many conservatives are easily fooled, too. Sew on a couple "yeah-I-been-there" patches, and people are in awe of a self-proclaimed war hero.

 

[Lost Soul]

No offense to the OP, but this is kind of silly. If the guy was a mental patient, then how can we really hold him accountable for posing as a wounded war veteran if it's established that this may have been the result of some mental condition? This means that he didn't have the same type of inhibitors that would prevent a mentally stable person from doing the same thing. Or it could be that this was some sort of desperate grab for attention that a more sane person wouldn't resort to.

Then there's the whole liberal vs. conservative nonsense. I would argue that, if anything, there's more of a tendency of posers leaning towards the right than the left because military service means more to the right than it does to the left when it comes to political gamemanship.

Or, as a good friend of mine once put it: "2,000 qualified SEALs in the Navy, you come across about 5,000 of them online."

No matter what he committed a Federal crime. And to start this group and fool as many people as he did he has to be crazy but the funny thing is that so many were fooled and believed this man. Then you have to wonder why we make fun of the liberals for supporting Obama. The liberals are to easy to be fooled.

Yes, he committed a crime. No, this isn't exclusively a liberal thing. It's pretty common in both camps, and it's an old American political tradition. I would argue that many conservatives are easily fooled, too. Sew on a couple "yeah-I-been-there" patches, and people are in awe of a self-proclaimed war hero.

I agree its not limited to one party for sure. I think the whole damn lot of them should be kicked out of DC. If it was up to me, DC would be a ghost town for a few months. Then afterwards, we turn the govt back over to the states and have a federal govt the way the forefathers founded it.

As for a few patches, the only stories I have seen on this subject have been liberals being exposed. But then again, their are enough of us on the internet that expose the phony ones pretty easily. I cannot count the times I have asked a internet commando some very easy questions any vet should know but are hard to find the answers by googling. And to be honest, most of the time they are so called vets that are anti war liberals.

 

[brewerboy]

I have trouble seeing this as a "left vs. right" issue.

Its an issue of a very fucked up person pulling shit he shouldnt have. Period.

I think both sides of the political spectrum can frown on this and say "How Awful!"

 

[Xenophon]

Another ranger Jessie.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Phony Marine due for arrest - The Denver Post



Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

You blame all the left for this group?

Well the majority of the left is anti war and has used these fake veterans as a means to attack the Iraq war.

I realize this poser has fooled even some of the left leaning politicans along with a good deal of those on the left. So to answer your question. Yes and no.

Lets not forget our history either, Kerry was head of an organization after Vietnam that was run by numerous frauds. They even testified before Congress.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

He is not a mental patient. He was ordered before a mental health Judge once, which absent any evidence appears to have turned him loose. And the left has a long distinguished history of this kind of stupidity, Any one remember Kerry and his fraud groups at the end of the Vietnam War?

 

[bodecea]

Phony Marine due for arrest - The Denver Post



Once again the left are exposed for the frauds they support.

You blame all the left for this group?

Well the majority of the left is anti war and has used these fake veterans as a means to attack the Iraq war.

I realize this poser has fooled even some of the left leaning politicans along with a good deal of those on the left. So to answer your question. Yes and no.

Anti-war. That's a pretty horrible thing to be, don't you think?

But...how about those of us on the Left who are real veterans?

 

[Modbert]

People like Lost Soul are stupid beyond belief sometimes. If you tend to use one person to represent a whole party, then the Left could use Dubya to represent the Right. I mean, at least that one is more justified considering you guys did vote him in twice.

 

[PatekPhilippe]

I have trouble seeing this as a "left vs. right" issue.

Its an issue of a very fucked up person pulling shit he shouldnt have. Period.

I think both sides of the political spectrum can frown on this and say "How Awful!"

You're right...it isn't a left versus right issue.

BUT every single fake Vet has been from the left....EVERY SINGLE ONE to this point. Why? Because the left wants to lend legitimacy to their anti war stance at any cost. After all...this did get them elected. Most of the genuine war vets who are left leaning know better than to speak out about their brothers they served with in combat. Fake ass clown vets like this douche bag should be drawn and quartered.