Info request on probable phony
April 24th, 2012
Mary at POW Network is asking if there’s anyone out there who has served in one of the following units in 2009;
1/4 Cav Iraq
1/9 Cav
27th Cav
Bulldog Company
Black Jack Command Team
Deuce Four Legionaires
Artic Wolves Brigade of the 1st Stryker Btigade Combat Team
25th INF Div
The person she’s looking at also claims that his Stryker vehicle was hit by RPG March 7 2009 – injuring all 5 “of his squad.” He “returned to American for medical treatment.”
He also claims that he went on 66 foot patrols. If you served in one of those units, you’d remember the guy even if you don’t remember his name – he’s 82 years old. Yeah, I know.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:16 am
He was 79 when he did 66 foot patrols? Do you really have to research this one? Anyway, per regulations 62 is the oldest you can be and still serve and that is with a waiver, otherwise it is 60.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:25 am
And you’ve got to really love the names of those units. Bulldog Company, Black Jack Command Team, and the best one…Deuce Four Legionnaires.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:31 am
Crap, I just googled it and the Deuce Four Legionnaires are for real. My apologies to anyone who is or was in that unit. But Legionnaires????
April 24th, 2012 at 7:33 am
There is a thread running between some of the units: B co, 1/24 Infantry is unofficially “Bulldog Company, and assigned to the 25th ID in Alaska.
1st Cav’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, is Blackjack, and there are a couple of PAO articles referencing the “Blackjack Command Team”, which is nothing more than the BDE command group.
The old bastard could have been in the 27th Cav, which deactivated in 1944.
But he quite obviously was never in Iraq.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:36 am
CI–doubtful–he would have been 14.
How powerful a battery does that Hoveround have to have in order to do 66 patrols, man? The ones at WalMart never seem to make it further than one aisle carring that fat chick.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:38 am
Just want to toss this out for the group here,….if the guys 82 years old, is there any room for something like “so old he is loosing his faculties” kinda defense? I NEVER condone stealing the valor of those who have gone and done, but I’m just wondering where douche baggery ends, and “Grandpa shit himself, get another diaper” begins. Curiosity here, not trying to make the case for it being ok here.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:40 am
Sparky…yeah, I definetly didn’t do the math, but good visual on the combat Hoveround! Does that come uparmored?
April 24th, 2012 at 7:46 am
Dang it all! And here I thought I was old when we went to Desert Storm. Got nothing on this guy.
April 24th, 2012 at 8:19 am
CI: yeah, it does. And that’s why the battery life sucks. (smile)
April 24th, 2012 at 9:55 am
@#5, Sparky, the uparmored ones at the Wal Mart the wife works at will make it twice around the store, with a teenager driving on a Friday night. Otherwise, two aisles max with the typical rider.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Crap, a deployable version of the Hoveround? Now I’m going to spend months dealing with operational needs statements from general officers looking for the new capability before their deployments.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:09 am
I was attached to 1/5 INF 25th ID in Baqubah Iraq in 2008 and 2009. B Co was known as the Bull Dogs and operated out of a COP in Baqubah until the SOFA went into effect and they moved to Warhorse. If I remember right they were in an old school in the city. Either that or an old nightclub, though that might have been Alpha Company before they went to Mosul.
We did a metric assload of foot patrols with them in the city, prior to them coming to Warhorse. So 66 foot patrols wouldn’t suprise me.
That said I don’t remember anyone that old, or even approaching that age. There was a guy they called Grandpa but he was only in his 40′s.
Duce Four Field Artillery (also out of Warhorse) had a guy they called the Governor who was older, but I think he was the First Sergeant and couldn’t have been much over his mid-forties (we only did a couple of patrols with them and they were all mounted).
April 24th, 2012 at 10:17 am
@12 – I was in B Co, 1/5 when they were still at Lewis…..we had the sorry moniker of “Deathmasters”…glad to see it changed; Bulldogs aren’t quite as bad.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Shamus62: could be the case. Dementia sufferers often start telling rather wild tales that they fully believe to be true. Hard to tell if that could be it without talking to the individual for a while or seeing him on video, though.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:32 am
@13 I thought I heard a couple of those guys call themselves the “Deathdealers” which I though went with the Ace of Spades tattoos some of them had. Was that before they reflagged?
April 24th, 2012 at 10:39 am
I think Shamus62 hit the nail on the head here. I think the old guy’s meds need to be adjusted.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:45 am
@15 – Yes; 1/5 and 1/25 were at Lewis until after their Iraq deployment (2005-ish). I left 1/5 in 2002, just before they fully tranistioned to Strykers.
April 24th, 2012 at 11:21 am
The oldest I’ve ever met downrange is COL Eldon Bell, MD. He was a flight surgeon at Arifjan in 2004-2005. See here for an article that mentions him: http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/07/foreign-service.html He was 68 years old when he demobilized.
This 74-year-old LTC/doctor deployed through Benning CRC in 2009: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29189177/ns/us_news-military/t/army-doc-ready-deploy-afghanistan/#.T5bEJ9U2fFk
The oldest ever deployed since OEF/OIF/OND is probably this 75-year-old COL/surgeon: http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/2616
Notice that they are all AMEDD.
April 24th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
I served in 4-1 CAV which has a 1-9 CAV as part of the BCT before then and might still know some of the folks who were in the unit at that time. Ill see if anyone I know is still over in the unit and try to get a good POC.
April 24th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Damn! I got exited for a second there, I was in 1/9 Cav but in 2004 not 2009. I was hoping to actually have some useful information for the POW network.
I must say, it is still a little sad to see “Mary at POW network” and not Chuck and Mary”–RIP Chuck Schantag
April 24th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Just talked to one of the NCOs I served with over in 4-1 CAV and the suggestion I was given was for Mary to contact the PAO for 4-1 CAV. Unfortunately I dont have a number for them but they shouldnt be too hard to find in the FT Hood directory. Hope this helps.
April 24th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I flew out of Afghanistan on my 56th birthday and there was one guy in our unit six weeks older than me.
I did see a few E-4s there that looked like they were pushing 80.
April 26th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I was on FOB Warhorse from 8-08 until 11-08 as a civilian contractor attached to both 2SCR and 1/25 SBCT. Based on the age of this guy, it could possibly have been one of my coworkers. Our team was scheduled to be there from 8-08 till 5-09 (I left early cause I got hurt). We were part of a Human Terrain Team and assigned as part of the commander’s Special Staff at the BDE HQ. The guy I am thinking about was around 70+ and was our Social Scientist. We went outside the wire occasionally usually with a platoon of grunts as escorts or as part of the command staff’s entourage. I know of at least two occasions where our team was exposed to contact, but it was handled by the grunts. Maybe the guy thinks these were combat patrols? Hope this helps.
April 26th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
I was there too from 2008-2009 in pad 11.
November 21st, 2012 at 9:57 pm
black jack command team belongs to first cav… bulldog company is a common name for “B” companies all across the army ( i was a “bulldog” in basic training in 2006) Deuce Four is another name for the 2-4 battallion, and “Legionaires” would only be the nickname for the battallion, such as some of mine have been “Lancers”, or “Bobcats”. I agree, this old fool was most likely full of shit, but do your homework before you start bashing the proud names of these legitimate companies and battallions.
December 24th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
I am the man that “Mary @ POW Network” contacted you about in regard to alledged “stolen honor”.
I would have no relucance in revealing how and why I served in Iraq at the age of 83 (I turned 83 in a Blackhawk Helicopter flying from the Mayson Marshlands up to Baquaba. This reply is addressed to Mary and the following missguided speculatorss:
1. cakmakli
2. CI
3. NHSparky
4. Shamus62
5. OWB
6. Anonymous
7. UpNorth
8. Bobo
9. Hodo
10. Sgt Kaane
11. Bem
12. Aroberts
13. John 11b
14. KP
15. Marvin
16. Sporkmasteer
17. alex goodman
I was about 7 years old when I opened a package of bubble gum with a trading card in it. The card was a picture of a grinning Japanese soldier with an upright rifle. On its bayonet was a small Chinese baby. I could not understand why no “civilized” country intervened in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Nobody seemed to care. . only me.
When I was about 11, I was dying of an incurable heart disease and our milkman collect a bunch of used books from his customers and gave me them. One 600 year old story made an impact on me that would shape my entire life. The book was Don Quixote, about an old senile Spanish farmer who set out to re-establish the Age of Chivalry.
Miraculously after one year of bed confinement, the doctor pronounced me free and clear of this ailment. I went out into a raging snowstorm and drove the point of a homemade wooden sword into the ground. I placed my forehead against the hilt of the sword and swore a Knight-Errant’s oath:
I PLEDGE MY FEALTY TO GOD, MY COUNTRY, AND TO MY RIGHTOUS SOVERIGN; TO RESCUE MAIDENS IN DISTRESS ANYWHERE; TO SLAY DRAGONS EVERYWHERE; AND TO FAVOR THE POOR AND OPPRESSED.”
This is the oath I have lived by all my life.
Too young to serve when WW-2 broke out, I became a blood donor when only 15 (giving a pint of blood every 3 weeks. At 16 I joined the Civil Air Patrol Parachute Squadron & perfomed at numerous Bond Rallys and Recruiting Drives.
At 17 I inlisted in the Army Specialized Reserve Training Program to become an Army Air Cadet. By early 1945 it was obvious we would be victorious & I wouldn’t have contributed my personal contribution. I asked for a 3-Months Leave Of Absence joined the Merchant Marines. I spent over 4-months in the So. Pacific dodging Japanese torpedo planes and submarines delivering Northrup P-63′s and Loakheed P-38s to Biak, New Guinea.
I will not bore you with all my exploits but I have 5 Honorable Discharges from the Army, Army Air Force and Coast Guard. Following my Airforce discharge I went to Africa to help overthrow the Colonial Portuguese Regime. (I spent several months in a South African Prison for this.) I was shanghied on a ship to China and volunteered to fight for chang-Kai Shek. Arrested as a spy, I was placed before a firing squad. I went to Israel and flew with the Israeli Air Force and later trained and commanded the 1st Israeli Airborne Brigade. My plane was shot down over Albania and I walked away without a scratch. (No neither my wife nor I are Jewish.) It was a Knight-Errant’s obligations. Except for the American service, I never receive one cent for my services!
When I turned 82 I wanted to perform at least one more service for my own country before I became too old, so I arranged my embedding in Iraq. The way I accumulated so many patrols was that whenever possible, if I arrive back from a morning patrol in time, I also went out on the afternoon paatrol. I went on 12 mile patrols where kids 1/4th my age had to drop out and rest. I think I served with at least half the units in Iraq and was scheduled to go to Afghanistan to join the 10th Mountain Division on April 1, 2009. But, an RKPG ended my warrior career. A list of my injuries would take another dozen pages.
I also boast 2 Honorary Citations: “SERVICE ABOVE & BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY” and “HEROISM AND COURAGE WITHOUT HESITATION”.
My credentials are here in my home and are available for anyone to validate providing they are not made public to the press.
Robert X. Leeds
December 24th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Embedded for what? We don’t embed people “just because”
December 24th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
I was in the 25th ID, but left in 08.
I do not remember Jack the Juiceman.
December 24th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
To:
O-4E
You are absolutely correct! They don’t embed people “just because.”
My background includes training with the Czech Special Forces in Espionage, Sabotage,Guerlla Warfare, Counter Terrorism and Paratroop command tactics. This is in addition to four wars.
Unfortunately, I have certain obligations and if you want more information I suggest you visit with me or better yet, call David (Petraeus).
Also, I don’t believe I ever claimed to have gone on 66 FOOT patrols. I have claimed to have gone on about 66 PATROLS. Most of our patrols involved leaving the vehicles and checking out the territory. There may have been some patrols where we did not get out of the vehicles. I was in the lead Stryker when we pulled into the area where an Iraqi Police Station was located. The terrorist who rocketed our vehicle was in a tall grassed field next to the police station just waiting for us !
Also, I believe the most seriously injured man was our turret gunner who had a portion of his body exposed. I believe his name was John Knotts and was from either Washington state or Alaska. He sustained a neck and a thigh penetration and was in Walter Reed Army Hospital the next day (March 8th). I tried to go back on patrol 3 days later but just couldn’t make it. I did go on a few more patrols, but I was totally deaf and didn’t want to be a hazard to the rest of the squad. All the other squad members were taken to the hospital and I could never find out what happened to them. I had never been briefed on HE (high energy) explosions and didn’t realize what was going to happen to me.
Regards,
Robert X. Leeds
1-702-871-7263
December 25th, 2012 at 1:36 am
Wow…that boy’s cheese done slid off his cracker.
December 25th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
To NHSparky and all the other doubters.
Let’s put some cheese on the cracker:
I will pay a reward of $50,000.00 to anyone who can prove that I was not embedded in Iraq from approximately January 1, 2009 until about April 1, 2009, and was not injured when on patrol to Baquba when my Stryker vehicle was hit by an RKPG (or RPG) on March 7, 2009, when I was 83 years old. In the same offer, if I prove to a jury of our peers that I was embedded with front line patrols during that time, the accuser will pay me $100.00 within 30-days.
My proof will consist of correspondence with the commanding general of the MNFI (Multi National Force Iraq), Travel orders, and about a hundred photographs. I will also offer the names and ranks of the officers I served with and for.
Your money will help me publish my biography titled “THE LAST KNIGHT-ERRANT” .
Robert X. Leeds ASN: 16163082
rxl711@gmail.com
December 25th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Okay, we’ve now gone into batshit crazy at warp speed:
http://robertxleedsforcongress.com/image-gallery/
BTW–how’d that go, Bobby? You got what, 0.7 percent of the vote?
Also, you might want to rethink the title of your book. Already taken.
Finally, a simple scanned copy of your 2-1 or 214 with PII redacted and sent to Jonn will do quite nicely, mkay?
Up your dosage. Society thanks you in advance.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
http://www.lvrj.com/news/gop-candidates-make-military-records-available-158052565.html
http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?i=37104&p=30
More interesting reading. First one is Las Vegas paper showing problems with his life story.
Second one is Wayne State alumni mag, shows Leeds with 1 Cav tanks and vehicle, as well as ACUs with a weapon.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Oh, and also found a LVRJ article from June with this and another phony assclown featured prominently. Will post as long as there are no legal/copyright issues concerning LVRJ, etc.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
Weak.
Jack the Juiceman, not.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
From Virtual Insanity’s link;
For example, Leeds, 85, was discharged from the Army as a private on Nov. 1, 1945, at Chanute Field, Ill., after serving four months and six days. His discharge paper, then called War Department Form 53-55, shows he was a basic soldier who served in no battles or campaigns.
The name on his “Honorable Discharge Enlisted Record and Report of Separation” is “Leeds Robert X,” yet the name is typed in a different font than the rest of the document, and his name at the time was Maurice Levy.
“You’re looking at him,” he said Monday, when asked about the two names that turn up for his Social Security number.
He said his name was legally changed in 1949. Over the years, he has used both names interchangeably.
His campaign literature states, “He was the only Air Cadet to go through basic training wearing the American Theater and Pacific Theater battle ribbons.”
Yet, his separation document lists neither ribbon. His explanation: “A second lieutenant who was discharging me took away all ribbons and my Good Conduct Medal.”
That makes all the rest so believable.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
@26- Please point out what it is that you think I speculated.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Okay Leeds, you crazy old coot. I’ll bite.
iCasualties.org. You might want to look up your name there. What? It ain’t there? No shit!
I’ll take that $50K in $20′s and $100′s, thanks very much.
December 25th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I’ll go you one better, Cooter.
Name ONE of the people you were supposedly injured with. Just one.
December 25th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
If this gentleman’s story is even 50% real…it would make into a movie that would make Forrest Gump look tame by comparison…
As it stands, real or not, it would make a pretty kick ass movie
December 25th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
@26- …and Shamus62 was actually trying to defend you.
December 25th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Do believe I am gonna sit back and charge $5 for a bag of hot, salted peanuts and $7 for a stadium sized(16 oz)beer. This here looks like it just might get real interesting!
December 25th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Jonn–kudos to the LVRJ reporter who approached with a healthy dose of skepticism, though. We don’t see much of that, do we?
And, Leeds, this was a pretty dead thread before you resurrected it. The Streisand Effect just kicked in.
Hope you’re not full of it, but your story sounds a bit farfetched. You might imagine we would be unlikely to swallow it without further evidence.
December 25th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
John Lilyea,
Let’s get the facts straight. You are referring to the “VOTERS GUIDE” published by the “Military Correspondent” from the Las Vegas Review Journal when I ran for Congress. This same reporter was every bit as skeptical as you. When I was discharged at Chanute Field, there were rows and rows of typists. Each row type in certain information. This same reporter saw my 5 honorable discharges I(American Army (2), American Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard! This reporter would not even look at Citations or other documents and deliberately did not include the fact that I had served over 4 months in the South Pacific prior to going on active duty as an Air Cadet! I was 17 years old and worked in the Engine Room on the S.S. General Meigs. I also manned a 20 MM Oerlikon cannon when dodging Japanese torpedo planes and submarines. For your edification, the Merchan Marines suffered the highest number of fatalities of any American service. . Even more than the Marine Corp! You can check this out by checking with the U.S. Coast Guard. My ASN is: 16163082.
As for my various names, I used different names depending on the occasion. Many countries require you to swear allegance to them. I would would do that. I had only one country I was most loyal to, America. This was the ultimate reason I resigned as commander of the 1st Israeli Airborn Brigade in 1948
When I was discharged from the Merchant Marines, I was awarded the American Theater and Pacific Theater ribbons. Because I did this while on leave from the USAF Air Cadet Program the Air Force also awarded me the American and Pcific theater ribbons when I went on active duty at
Keesler Air Field.I wore these ribbons properly up until that shavetail Lieutenant ruled I didn’t deserve the Army’s two theater ribbons and crossed them off my record. I recently found the Merchant Marine’s ribbon award but not the America Theater award (For taking the SS General Meigs out of Panama City, Florida, through the Panama Canal, and upto Oakland Army Base.
The deliberate omission of my service in the South Pacific and the snide remark that I “served in no battles or campaigns” is an example of how the press can distort things.
I again make the delared statement that I am the individual my claims are made for and my reward of $50,000.00 still stands. (Regardless of what name I used at the time.)
I have submitted photos & documents to the POW Network.
Robert X. Leeds
ASN: 16163082
rxl711@gmail.com
December 25th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Not only was this thread dead, I didn’t even put his name in the post. This is obviously an attempt to attract some attention to himself. Who knows what kind of Google-Fu he used to find this place.
December 25th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Leeds? Scooter? Your stories (plural) are as probable as the jackwagon who claimed to have shot down Yamamoto with a plane that didn’t even exist, and claimed more than DOUBLE the number of kills as the highest verified WWII ace, Major Richard I. Bong.
IOW, you’re fuller of shit than a Christmas turkey, and twice as nutty as that re-gifted fruitcake.
Oh, and if you underwent a legal name change, you’d have no problem presenting the paperwork for that, now wouldn’t you? And you claim going back and forth between names since, but isn’t using your previous name in any legally binding transaction illegal? Just curious.
December 25th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
There’s always a kernel of truth in tall tales. The problem is finding the kernel or two. The tale tellers usually put the emphasis on the few items that are legit, hoping that others then accept the rest, which is malarky. It doesn’t work out for them here, however, where the closest embellishers come to forgiveness is “That’s a shame but you’re still a #@@@!!!!&&^^^%!.”
December 25th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Israel was founded in 1948. Which would make Mr. Leeds 21-22 years old at the time.
The Israeli Airborne was founded in 1955 by none other than Ariel Sharon.
But for sake of argument lets say Israel had some fledgling Airborne Brigade not recorded in the history books in 1948. That would make Mr. Leeds a 21-22 year old Colonel and Brigade Commander. We ain’t buying it.
Sharon didn’t make Colonel until 1956 at 28 years old. Which is phenomenal.
December 25th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
NH SPARKY
I’M AFRAID YOU LOSE. I HAVE THE DOCTORS REPORT FROM IRAQ TESTIFYING TO MY INJURIES. AND, LET’S CLEAR UP SOMETHING ELSE HERE! I WAS NOT ENLISTED IN THE MILITARY. I AGREED TO SERVE ON FROMT LINE MISSIONS IN ANY CAPACITY AVAILABLE. I MADE A MISTAKE BY NOT GOING TO THE HOSPITAL WITH THE OTHERS BUT I HAD SUFFERED TEMPROARY HEARING LOSS SEVERAL TIMES AND THOUGHT MY HEARING WOULD COME BACK.
THE MILITARY IS ALWAYS BEING SUED BY SOMEONE AND FOR SOMETHING SO THEY ARE VERY CAREFUL IN HOW THEY HANDLE ANYONE WHO IS NOT AN ENLISTED PARTY. IN ORDER TO GET EMBEDDED I SIGNED DOCUMENTS FREEING THE GOVERNMENT OF ANY LIABILITY (INJURY OR DEATH).
THE DOCTOR NEVER TOOK AN XRAY OR MADE ANY THOROUGH EXAMINATION OTHER THAN TO TELL ME MY HORRIBLE TOOTHACHES WERE DUE TO THE BLAST MOVING MY TEETH AND I WAS SUFFERING FROM HORIZONTAL VERTIGO. I ALSO HAD LOST ALL OF MY SHORT
TERM MEMORY FOR EVER.I LOST 24 POUNDS IN 3 WEEKS.
I WAS 83 YEARS OLD AND HAD MOVED AROUND THE WORLD FOR 65 YEARS AND HAD NO IDEA WHERE MY DD214 WAS. I HAD MY INSURANCE BILLS FROM WWII AND EVEN TRAVEL ORDERS, BUT THE VETERAN’S ADMINISTRATION WOULD NOT ACCEPT THEM. TO TOP IT OFF, WHEN I ASKED FOR NEW RECORDS THEY REPLIED THAT ALL MY RECORDS WERE BURNED UP IN A ST. LOUIS FIRE IN 1963! AFTER 2½ YEARS THEY FOUND ENOUGH PIECES TO GIVE ME MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE DOCTOR IN IRAQ WAS CORRECT, MY TEETH HAD MOVED. TROUBLE WAS THE ROOTS DIDN’T MOVE AND HAD BROKEN OFF. I RECENTLY SPENT 6½ HOURS HAVING JUST 2 MOLARS REMOVED. THERE WERE NO MIRRORS AVAILABLE AT FOB BAQUBA SO I WASN’T AWARE THAT ALL MY LOWER FRONT TEETH WERE BURNED BLACK AND BROKEN OFF REQUIRING REMOVAL. AFTER SUFFERING FOR 2½ YEARS THEY PERFORMED AN MRI OF MY SKULL AND FOUND TWO TBI’S (TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES). AN XRAY OF MY LOWER JAW SHOWED A JAW FULL OF SHRAPNAL WHICH WILL NOT BE SURGICALLY REMOVED.
I WILL NOT DESCRIBE ALL THE INJURIES I INCURRED.
I DID NOT SEEK THIS PLATFORM. I AM ONLY REPLYING TO YOU AND OTHERS.
EXCEPT FOR SOME VETERAN’S MEDICAL CARE, I HAVE NEVER SOUGHT PUBLICITY, COMPENSATION, MEDALS OR NOTORIETY. YOU CAN MOCK MY BRAIN INJURIES BUT YOU WOULD BE SORE PUT TO PUBLICLY VANQUISH MY INTEGRITY OR INTELLIGENCE.
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.
Respectfully,
Robert X. Leeds
President
Epic Publishing Company
rxl@epicpublishing.com
December 25th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
@49. Maybe you would like to repost that w/o the caps. It is VERY difficult to hear what you are saying when you are shouting.
December 25th, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Hey Critics,
I did receive an Email reply from James Rawlinson, Public Affairs Officeer at Special Opeerations Command-Africa in which he states:
“Robert,
I had the pleasure of you embedding with us when I was the PAO for 2/1 Cav in Kirkuk. I also have the DVDs you sent me of Orson Welles narrating the Christmas story about the dog. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Scott”
I received this in Linkedin. You should contact Rawlinson for verification of my embedding.
Robert X. Leeds
December 25th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
I followed the link attached to Mr. Leeds’ name, epic publishing, and it seems he is not only looking for attention, but also for sales of his books, too.
How about that? And on Christmas Day, too.
I can only say “Gee whiz, if I had known I could re-up after the age of 60, I’d have gone downtown and raised my right hand.”
He was born in 1926, which made him 14 when WWII broke out. He claims he had five discharges. So how did he get back in?
In reference to his shipboard story, the coasties are not the Merchant Marine. The USS General M. C. Meigs (AP-116) was a General John Pope class troop transport of the P2-S2-R2 type. She was a fast troop ship that transported troops for the United States during World War II and the Korean War. The ship was named after General Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, the Quartermaster General of the United States Army during the United States Civil War.
General M. C. Meigs was launched on 13 March 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of Kearny, New Jersey; she was acquired by the Navy on 2 June 1944, and commissioned at Bayonne, New Jersey the next day with Captain George W. McKean, USCG, in command. A fast troop carrier, she was capable of 21 knots (24 mph; 39 km/h) with 5200 troops on board. She was one of several of this class of transports that was manned by United States Coast Guard personnel.
After two round-trip, troop-carrying voyages between Newport News, Virginia, and Naples, Italy General Meigs departed for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she was visited by Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas, and embarked 5,200 troops of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, the first Brazilian troops to be carried by an American transport. She carried these troops to Italy, where they participated in the Italian campaign. At Naples, she embarked troops, civilians, and 460 German prisoners of war for transportation to the United States, collecting additional troops at Bizerte, Tunisia, and at Oran, French Morocco.
General Meigs made two similar round-trip voyages from the United States to Italy and North Africa via Brazil, carrying thousands of American and Brazilian troops to Europe for the remaining drive against Nazi Germany, and returning several thousand others to the United States and Brazil. She later deployed troops to Panama and Puerto Rico and to Le Havre, France. From Le Havre, Naples, Marseilles, Karachi, and Nagoya, she made six more trips carrying homebound troops for New York and Brazil.
On 4 March 1946, she was decommissioned at San Francisco for transfer to the American President Lines as a passenger ship in the Pacific.
Nope, no runs in any part of the Pacific for the USS General S. C. Meigs during WWII.
For the Korean War, after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in 1950, General Meigs was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service. Manned by a civilian crew, she made 19 cruises to the Far East carrying thousands of American troops from the West Coast to ports in Japan and South Korea. Following the uncertain armistice on 27 July 1953, she continued to support American readiness in the Far East with troop-rotation cruises during the remainder of 1953 and through 1954.
Meigs Field in Chicago was named after General Meigs. It looks like the only time the Meigs was in the Pacific was the 1950s.
In regard to an airborne command for Israel, there is only the IDF’s reference:
The IDF Paratroopers Brigade, Hativat HaTzanhanim, also known as the 35th Brigade, was created in the mid-1950s when commando Unit 101 was merged with the 890th Battalion. If you speak Hebrew (you don’t have to, though) you can probably connect with them.
http://www.zanhanim.org.il/
Notable commanders include Ariel Sharon, Rafael Eitan, and Moshe Ya’alon.
I saw nothing about a 1st Israeli Airborn brigade. I’m sure the IDF could confirm his story. They keep excellent records.
December 25th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
And here’s the Navy’s archival information about the Meigs, including the ship’s citations:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22116.htm
December 25th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
“I was 17 years old and worked in the Engine Room on the S.S. General Meigs. I also manned a 20 MM Oerlikon cannon when dodging Japanese torpedo planes and submarines. For your edification, the Merchan Marines suffered the highest number of fatalities of any American service. . Even more than the Marine Corp! You can check this out by checking with the U.S. Coast Guard. My ASN is: 16163082.”
The kernel of truth? I can’t find it. As Ex-PH2 points out, during WWII, the USS General Meigs was operated by the Coast Guard and was never in the Pacific. As for the Merchant Marines suffering “the highest number of fatalities of any American service” during WWII, that is flat-out wrong. The assertion stems from the proportionality casualty figures that are themselves greatly disputed and claimed ONLY by some Merchant seamen who made some comparatively good money for their service.
December 25th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
So, okay, the guy is full of crud and may have been a civilian in Iraq. That’s easy enough to establish. He would have to have nad a meaningful prpose there and he would have had to sign a gazillion documents. Fax machines work. Oh, I also could not find an American Theatre ribbon that was issued by the Merchant Marine during WWII.
December 25th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
“As for my various names, I used different names depending on the occasion.” Bwahahahahahahahaha.
December 25th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Huh.
–”Records burned”
–Isreali 1st airborne thing doesn’t quite jibe
–SS Meigs thing doesn’t jibe.
Again, see why we may not be totally on board with the story so far, Mr. Leeds?
December 25th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Yes, and you see, Navy ships are never referred to as S.S. anything. The reference is USS, which means United States Ship, or more properly USNS.
The Titanic was RMS Titanic. Royal Mail Steamer/Ship.
And then there is the NSB designation, which stands for Titanic-class Space Naval Starbase.
S.S. is a steamship designation, as in the S.S. Blowhard.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:07 pm
And while I’m at it, what was his rate when he was in the engine room? Was he a soldier or a sailor? You don’t just go down to the engine room on a ship and start monkeying around, now do you?
So what was he? END? ENG, maybe? That took training and experience, even in WWII, and I don’t believe the Navy would put some 17YO kid in the engine room with no training.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
As for a recording by Orson Welles of a Christmas story about a dog, the only Christmas story he ever recorded was “A Christmas Carol” which was edited together in 1980 from several broadcasts he made in the 1930s, by Mark 56 Records. No mention anywhere of a recording of a story about a dog.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
@59. The ships for troop transport, I read, all had a Coast Guard contingent that included the captain and those who manned the guns. And the USS General Meigs was a troop transport. Like I said earlier, there’s always a kernel of truth from which the stalk of BS grows. It’s there somewhere.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
WHEN I ASKED FOR NEW RECORDS THEY REPLIED THAT ALL MY RECORDS WERE BURNED UP IN A ST. LOUIS FIRE IN 1963!
I always thought that the fire was in 1973. It must have been a slow burning fire, smoldering until it burst into massive flames ten years later.
And as previously stated, with this guy making appearances at every major military event in the last 67 years, he is the Forrest Gump of the Armed Forces.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Leeds,
Know this man?
Carl John Pequignot?
Serve together?
December 25th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
That cap assault in cmt 49 was rough. If he didn’t close with proper lettering, I would have guessed he just forgot the Caps Lock button was on. But, he didn’t. He was shouting all over the place. Caught a little spittle on my monitor and didn’t like it at all.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
@62. The fictional Forrest Gump was an honest man.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
AirCav, that infamous fire was in 1972, not 1963.
This guy just makes it too easy. He doesn’t even refer to SOCAFRICA correctly. Does he think no one will contact SOCAFRICA to follow-up on his story?
So lame.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
From his website:
“Having all the information is important in making a decision on who you will chose to represent you. Please use the articles below to become better acquainted with Robert X. Leeds and how he plans on helping not only the residents of Nevada’s District 4, but all Americans.”
And below the statement, zero articles. Maybe the articles were written in invisible ink.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Ex-PH2@66, wikipedia says the fire was July 12, 1973. If it’s on the internet, it has to be true.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Hack, the fire was either 1972 or 1973. I forget which year, but it was definitely NOT in 1963.
@61, yes, they were troop transports that were all manned by the Coast Guard, but for some reaons Leeds thinks that the coasties were the Merchant Marine. And he says he WORKED in the engine room. I doubt that seriously, if he was a soldier.
And I’ve been to Chanute. It was up near Rantoul, closed up in 1993. It was rather small, about the size that NAS Glenview used to be. There were only nine hangars on the base. There were no ‘rows and rows of typists’ there. Even if there was more than one clerical worker doing discharges and other paper work, the typewriters the military used were bought in bulk, all from one manufacturer per contract, and all had the same type fonts and sizes on the striker keys. My best guess on typewriters was either Remington, Royal Underwood, or Smith Corona.
Gee, and I thought I had an over-active imagination.
There are more holes in this than a whack-a-mole board.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Hack, I had to go dig up my journal about the St.Louis fire. It was 1973, you’re right. Sorry about that.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Leeds, it’s not up to any of us to prove you weren’t somewhere. It’s up to you to prove that you were there. You are the one making extraordinary claims, not any of us. When you are in a hole, stop digging. Your head is so far up your ass right now it doubles for a rectal thermometer.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Total USMS KIA for WWII are estimated @ 9,300. Mr Leeds, please answer the following questions to the best of your knowledge.
#1- Where did you take gunnery training?
#2- Home port of your ship?
#3- Did you serve in the Pacific AND Atlantic war zones? Which class (Liberty or Victory)and ships name?
#4- Were you awarded the following: A)Pacific Theater Ribbon? B)Honorable Service Button? C)Merchant Marine Service Emblem?
#5- Which US Army medals were you awarded?
December 26th, 2012 at 1:23 am
CRITICS:
It was the S.S. General Meigs that was berthed in Panama City, Florida to be outfitted with its guns. We had one 3 inch and one 5 inch cannons and I think there were 2 20mm Oerlikon cannons on each side of the ship. I am quite sure that only the 3″ and 5″ cannons were manned by Coast Guard or Navy personnel! I know because they trained the civilian crew to load and fire the Oerlikons. I worked as a “wiper” in the Engine Room, although I had worked on SS Put-In-Bay excurshion boat during the previous summer and had ratings for “Coal Passer, Oiler, Bar Keeper” plus a Maritime Passport. The SS General Meigs was a special Liberty ship and was built with a very broad beam to accomodate carrying aircraft. We carried P-38′s and cargo below deck and P-63 Blackwidows on deck. On our trial run, the 5 incher broke loose and we had to return to Panama City where they re-installed it.
The Merchant Marines did not issue “theater ribbons.” Our theater ribbons were issued by the War Shipping Administration. I was awarded the American War Zone Bar for taking the Meigs from Panama City, Fla. down through the Panama Canal, and up to Oakland Army Base where they loaded the cargo and planes. Our Chief Engineer’s name was Delcamp. We rendezvoused with a huge invasion fleet at Eniwetok or Okinawa)abut were ordered to take our cargo to Biak, New Guinea
December 26th, 2012 at 1:42 am
This is the actual gun armament of the USS General M. C. Meigs AP-116:
Armament:
four single 5″/38 dual purpose gun mounts
sixteen 1.1″ guns replaced by twenty single 20mm AA gun mounts
December 26th, 2012 at 2:10 am
CRITICS:
I accidentally interrupted the above answer. I understand that after our trip, the SS General Meigs was converted to a troop carrier and manned by the Navy. That would have been about August, 1945.
I apologize placing the St. Louis fire in 1963 instead of 1973. The results were the same. It took 2½ years for the military to peice together bits of my service record so I could obtain medical treatment.
STREETSWEEPER:
The War shipping administration awarded me the American War Zone Bar and the Pacific War Zone Bar. When I returned from the South Pacific, I was about a month past my 3-months Leave of Absence and was ordered to Ft. Sheridan in Illinois where they decided that because I had been in the Reserves, I was awarded the Army American Theater and Pacific Theater ribbons. I was sent to Keesler Air Field in Mississipi. From there I was transferred to Chanute Air Field. Because they didn’t need any more pilots, everyone in my squadron was given a choice of a discharge (and being drafted) or reenlisting. I took the discharge, and went out in the world to slay dragons. Thousands of men were being discharged “For convenience of the government”. I believe the discharging was done in a huge hanger with several rows of typists. Each row typed in certain information. My final review was by a 2nd Lieutenent who said my two awards issued for service overseas while in the Army Airforce Reserves was not valid and he just crossed the awards out (I believe he also took away my good conduct medal and sharpshooters medal. I was young and at that time they didn’t mean that much to me so I never complaineda. (He did let me keep the Vicory Medal.)
Get one thing straight, I have not served in 2 branches of the military, the Marines and the Navy. Of all my associations with the military, I hold the Marines in my highest esteem. I tried to embed with the 10th Mountain Division but they were still stateside, so I went with the 1/4 Cavalry. I possess documents showing I was to be transferred to the 10th Mountain Division on April 1st. I was blown up on March 7th whild serving with the Artic Wolves of the 1st Stryker Brigade. Contact the commanding officer, Col. Bataglio for confirmation.
If all youu critics could get together and give me a mailing address, I would be happy to send you copies of my embedding and travel orders plus a hundred photographs of me on patrol in Iraq while I was still a “young” 83 years old!
(By the way, the Commanding General of the MNFI (Multi National Force Iraq) ran a complete background check on my claims and approved my embedding. What is the TRUE motivation of this gutter enquiry?
Robert X. Leeds
1405 Ten Palms Court
Las Vegas, NV 89117
rxl711@gmail.com (That’s rxl(seven eleven)@gmail.com
December 26th, 2012 at 2:17 am
GREENTHUMB:
I do not recall meeting a Carl John Pequignot. The rocket explosion wiped out my entire short-term memory so I have to rely on any notes I salvaged. I may hor may not have met him.
Robert X. Leeds
December 26th, 2012 at 6:46 am
“What is the TRUE motivation of this gutter enquiry?”
Allow me to take the liberty of answering. An overwhelming majorityof the participants are military veterans. Some had some very distinguished careers. Others, such as myself (22 years in the marine Corps as a comm guy), had what would be considered boring careers. Regardless of the character of our service, we answered the call and served our country. One of the leadership traits in the Marine Corps is INTEGRITY. Integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. This is an open forum, welcoming all, to include non-veterans. The only rule is NBSP, the No Bull Shit Policy. If you lie, you get called out. People that lie about their military service, whether through embellishment, or complete fabrication, are insult to those that have served, and more so the memory of those who have died in service to America. The motivaion for “stolen valor” usually falls under gaining money under false pretenses, to impress women, political gain, and/or mental imbalance. I suspect that you fall under the last two catgories.
As for your story, we find it incredible. By incredible, we mean that it is beyond belief. I’m no military expert, and i know that the military is ometimes cumbersome, but I find it extremely hard to believe that your discharge paperwork would be passed down the line for multiple administrative personnel to make multiple entries. As for your embedding in Iraq, exactly why were you embedded? Were you a reporter? A special envoy for the State Department. Despite the plots to low budget movies, people don’t just “show up’ in Iraq. Where and when was your pr-embedding screening/training performed? I ask, since I have seen multiple news segments of reporters being embedded having to go through military training prior to being embedded. And don’t give me any line about you already being qualified from WWII. If I were to embed (not going to happen), I would have to go through some remedial training, as a majority of the equipment that I used on active duty has all been upgraded.
So, if you can provide some intel to this board of how and why you were embedded, and where you received your pre-deployment training, that should remove the heat from you.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:17 am
Comment 44–”When I was discharged from the Merchant Marines, I was awarded the American Theater and Pacific Theater ribbons.”
Comment 73–”The Merchant Marines did not issue “theater ribbons.” Our theater ribbons were issued by the War Shipping Administration.”
Okay, I did my Googling exercise and I found no such ribbons. The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was created as an emergency (war) agency by Executive Order of FDR to oversee all aspects of merchant shipping EXCEPT shipbuilding. The WSA was disbanded in 1946 and the duties assumed by it during war were returned to the pre-war US Maritime Commission operating under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.
There was no “American Theatre” ribbon. There was, however, an authorized Merchant Marine Atlantic War Zone Medal but this Leeds does not claim. What he does claim didn’t exist.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:21 am
Leeds has some service of some sort but exactly what I can’t tell. I do believe it is likely that he served in the Merchant Marines. When the BS comes, the kernel of truth usually gets hit hard and repeated ad nauseum. Everything else remains dubious.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:44 am
IOW, until an FOIA comes back on him (under whatever name he used then) pretty much everything he’s claiming is pure unadulterated 24 karat bullshit.
December 26th, 2012 at 8:40 am
I think that he may have been embedded with “LtCol” Warryck-Reagan lee Wolf, AKA The Lesbian Pirate. They both seem to have stellar careers as teenagers, which segued into distinguished military careers.
As an aside, I apologize for spellinhg errors in post #77, particularly spelling Marine in lower case. Hack Stone Publishing, Inc. regrets the error.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:46 am
The ship was the USS General M. C. Meigs AP-116, NOT the SS General Meigs. She was built by Federal Shipping and Dry Dock Company at Kearney, NJ. Ship classification is General John Pope type, P2-S2-R2 troop transport. Commissioned June 3, 1944. The Coast Guard’s record of the Meigs clearly shows nothing but round trip passages from the United States to Europe, Africa, and South America, embarcking (pickin up) and deploying troops.
The Meigs was never used as a cargo ship, was not a liberty ship and was decommissioned in 1946. There is nothing in the ship’s record about carrying airplanes of any kind above or delow decks, nor is there room on the topside decks to carry even one plane.
Considering that the wingspan of one twin-twail Lockheed P38 Lightning fighter is 52 feet and the beam (deck) width of the Pope class transport ships was 75ft 6 inches at its widest point, this is a ridiculous claim.
The Bell P-63 was called Kingcobra, not Blackwidow. It was a single engine small fighter, mostly used by the Soviet Union.
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was a large, twin-tailed multi-engine fighter like the Lightning, almost as large as a medium-sized bomber, and was specifically designed for night fighting. As with the Lockheed design, Northrop’s design gave this plane too wide a wingspan for a troop transport ship.
There is, in fact, no liberty ship or aircraft carrier or box transport ship listed at any of the shipyards building said ships under the name General M. C. Meigs, who was the Quartermaster of the Navy during the Civil War. Nothing. Nada.
The only ship named for General M. C. Meigs is the troop transport of the same name.
I think this guy is quoting his own book. I don’t know where else he could be getting this stuff,
Gee whiz, fellas — if I’m going to write an historical novel involving specific items and/or events, I do at least go to the trouble of doing my research to be accurate. And if I produce fiction, I specify that it’s fiction.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:50 am
I couldn’t even find a liberty or box transpor ship with a name that vaguely resembles Meigs.
The thing is, if you tell yourself these stories long enough, you start to believe them. They loom large in your legend. Gollum thought the Ring was his Precious-s-s-s-s (gollum!gollum!) because he ‘found’ it on his birthday. It was his birthday present and Deagol wouldn’t just give it to him, would he? Precious-s-s-s-s!
December 26th, 2012 at 10:06 am
…but…but…the USS General M. C. Meigs (SS General Meigs) was RECONFIGURED (yeah, that’s it…) RECONFIGURED… both below and above deck to accomodate the transport of the airplanes. This information has been omitted because it was CLASSIFIED!
And I’m married to Morgan Fairchild.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:13 am
@84 – Yeah, and I was shooting rounds with the Jyrines in Saigon during Tet.
This is a link to the WWII awards issue by the U.S. Merchant Marine commission:
http://www.usmm.org/medals.html
There’s a list of how many were actually awarded. There is also a list of USMM ships who were designated Gallant Ships, which is a specific honorific for wartime action.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:25 am
I remember you!!! We were both stationed at the Navy base in “Big Lai”.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:57 am
Wow… this has to be one that gets into the next “Ballduster” tournament – with a first round bye….
December 26th, 2012 at 11:01 am
Jonn–e-mailed you @admin.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:06 am
@87 — Precious-s-s-s-s-s-ssssss!
December 26th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Virtual Insanity emailed LTC Rawlinson and got this response;
From: Rawlinson, James S LTC USARMY (US)
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2012 4:53 AM
To: XXXXXXX
Subject: Re: checking bona fides (UNCLASSIFIED)
Kevin,
Thanks. It’s absolutely true. His vehicle was hit by an IED and it damaged his hearing, but he insisted on remaining embedded with us. Real tough guy. Hope this helps.
Scott
Sent from my Blackberry
December 26th, 2012 at 11:25 am
To be clear, I only asked Rawlinson to verify Leeds’ stories of being embedded and injured in Iraq as an 83-year-old.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:26 am
@51
I just emailed LTC James Rawlinson to see what he has to say.
@75
There is no “Col. Bataglio” in the entire DoD database.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:43 am
I don’t know where you get your information from, but fools know the wings are removed from the planes when shipped by boat. The bodies and wings are covered with a black plastic (I believe it was called cosmoline?). In May, 1945 we docked in Manila Harbor on our return trip from Biak, New Guinea and received the news that Gerany had surrendered about that time. My ship WAS the SS General Meigs and except for the Navy or Coast Guard men that manned the 3″” & 5″ cannons, the Captain, Chief Engineer and every other crewman was a civilian. I still have the large, decorated Equator Crossing certificated signed by every member of the crew. Please don’t tell me the ship never went to the South Pacific. My name, as a crew member of this journey was verified by the United States Coasst Guard when they issued me an official Military Discharge. For verification I suggest you write to: COMMANDING OFFICER, USCG-National Maritime Center (NMC-421), ATTN: Correspondence Section, 100 Forbges Drive, Martinsburg, WV 25404 (Megan Stewart, Archives Technician (2F).
December 26th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Okay, if all of this checks out, somebody has to call Hollywood. Also, we’ll need to get in touch with Dos Equis and let them know that their most interesting man in the world is a punk.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Sure it carried airplanes – model airplanes maybe?
Are we certain that this is not part of yet another online scam? After all, with referances to things like the “American Air Force,” ya just gotta wonder.
But thanks ever so much for including me in your list of whatever that was in your silly post above which was an obvious attempt to bring attention upon yourself. No actual factual material, just the old “look at me” delusional behavior. Good for a laugh but little else.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Where is Gerany? Is that in the Caucusus?
Ships built by J. A. Jones Construction Company, Panama City, Florida Z-EC2-S-C5 Type For Boxed Aircraft
Nowhere on any of the lists of ships built in Panama City, Florida does the name General Meigs appear.
In October 1945 the transport joined the “Magic Carpet” fleet and during the next four months brought combat veterans back to the United States from France, India and Japan. Arriving in San Francisco in late January 1946, General M. C. Meigs was decommissioned there in early March and transferred to the War Shipping Administration.
My source is the US Navy’s historical records.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/092211617.jpg
This is an aerial shot of the USS General M. C. Meigs, taken in 1944. It clearly shows there is no deck space for any kind of airplane, winged or unwinged. Whatever ship you were on, it was NOT the Meigs.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
And for your information, Operation Magic Carpet did NOT start until October 1945.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Please explain how you had aquired 3 months leave as a cadet? Normal is30days per year. Joe
December 26th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Well he certainly is prolific….
http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/leeds.html
http://books.google.com/books/about/Christmas_Tails.html?id=g8mtwAD8GfMC
http://votesmart.org/candidate/131440/robert-leeds#.UNscxTviImk
http://thinkers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=574
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/robert-x-leeds
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Robert%20X.%20Leeds
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=154793
December 26th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Info from Wikipedia and the USCG historical websites on the USS General M. C. Megis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_General_M._C._Meigs_%28AP-116%29
http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/G_Meigs.pdf
FYI – the Megis was at sea in the Atlantic when Germany surrendered in May 1945. Her only cruise to the Pacific in WWII was in December 1945, arriving in Nagoya in January 1946. She was built as a General Pope Class transport (AP) – ships originally designed as passenger liners, but could be converted to troop ships if needed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_John_Pope_class_transport#Generals
December 26th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Here’s another shot of the USS General M. C. Meigs, off the coast of Virginia after leaving Hampton Roads, shot in July, 1944:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/092211618.jpg
December 26th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
A boat is defined as a water-borne vessel that is small enough to be placed in a ship. The only boats the Navy and Coast Guard have ever used are tugboats, skiffs, and other, similar small craft.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Hondo — re: your comment @14, I tell stories, too, but that does not mean I have dementa. I clearly state that they are stories. If this keeps up, I’m sending my picture of me and LT Uhura to Jonn.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
BTW – there was a USAT Megis (sometimes referred to as USS Megis) – she was sunk in Feb 1942 and is resting in Darwin Harbor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAT_Meigs
December 26th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
This is the source link for the Navy/Coast Guard archive on the Meigs, which I posted above at #53:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22116.htm
@86 – USMC8 – Precioussssssssss!!!
December 26th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
@104 – That was originally named the USS West Lewark, later renamed the USAT Meigs, built in California in 1919.
And Leeds’ claim is that he was on the Meigs in 1945, so if he was actually on a ship by that name, it may have been the Meigs commissioned in 1944 in New Jersey. However, his entire story is so full of WTH??? stuff, I find it difficult to believe any of it.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I found the revolting pic of the Jap soldier with a baby impaled on his rifle’s bayonet that Leeds referred to as his motivation. I cannot find anything regarding war atrocity trading cards, however.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
His Coast Guard papers indicate he was on the Dudley Thomas (which was an aircraft freighter in WW2) from Feb. 21 to May 31, 1945 (Feb 21 was the delivery date of the Dudley Thomas), he was also apparently enlisted in the Army at the same time but did not enter active duty until June of 1945. Apparently after leaving the command position for the Israeli First Airborne in 1948 (a unit which did not exist at the time) he was accidentally re-enlisted as an Air Force Reservist a year later….
The plot thickens certainly, I am just not clear on what the thickening agent being used is at this time….
December 26th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Aircraft Dispatched to the Army Air Forces Overseas by Sea Crated and Uncrated: Jan. 1942 To July 1945
Total Aircraft shipped by Sea: 47,851
by Aircraft Transports (ZEC’s):
Assembled: 1,943
Crated: 128
Total shipped: 2,071
Source is http://www.USMM.org/army/cargo
December 26th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Oh, piffle, that link doesn’t work. Here’s a better one:
http://www.usmm.org/armycargo.html
December 26th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
@108 VOV: I am just not clear on what the thickening agent being used –
Maybe flour? Oatmeal? Instant potatoes?
December 26th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
@111 I think its bullsh1t, that’s why it smells so foul at the moment….
December 26th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Regarding the message recieved in Post#90, in what capacity was he embedded as an 83 year old civilian? Was he a journalist, contractor, special envoy, USO entertainer, won a trip on The Price Is Right, fantasy military camp participant, looking for the Lost Ark?
December 26th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
@113 Hack
This is what I sent LTC Rawlinson
“Sorry Sir. It seems that someone has already inquired about this with you. Our question is WHY was he embedded? Doing what? He dances around that. We can’t understand what an 83 year old man was doing as an embed. If it is none of our business I understand that.
Mr. Leed’s story is so amazing (his whole “bio”); if half of it were true it makes Forest Gump look lame by comparison.
Thanks for your time Sir.”
Waiting on a reply. I also sent the LTC the link to this post.
December 26th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
IMO, he wanted to write books that might be interesting to people who like adventure stories, but he wrote it in the first person and maybe just got into it too much.
Anything’s possible. But since he’s got most of his information wrong or 180-out, most of what he says is suspect. If he served in WWII, fine. The Merchant Marine service was in as much danger transporting cargo for the troops as any other surface vessel group. I provided a link to a list of USMM ships that took fire and received a Gallant Ship designation. But he’s got everything so tangled up, it’s hard to sort out the truth from the fiction.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Hey, there’s another reason he’s full of shit. The 56th Stryker Brigade of the PAARNG was in Iraq from January-September of 2009. Our entire brigade had finished right-seat/left-seating it with the outgoing unit by March, and so far as I know, were the only Stryker game in town between FOBs Taji and Liberty, with only one battalion at Liberty.
Is he claiming to have been with the Guard Stryker brigade?
December 26th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
We also had no 80-year-olds in any of our Strykers. Period.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Oh, okay, there was some overlap with the 25th out of Wainwright, but they were at Warhorse, which is about right since he mentioned Baquba. But if I could find that via Google, I imagine even an 80+ year old could as well.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Oh, heavens, he is so full of shit it’s not even funny, when I do some reading. I have a feeling this man is lawsuit/harassment baiting with publishing his full address, either that or he’s crazy.
“When war broke out, he began flying with the Israeli Airforce and in July, 1948, he was sent to Czechoslovakia to study airborne command tactics and to train a group of young refugees into a Paratroop Brigade. (His plane was shot down over Albania and crash landed in Czechoslovakia.) He returned to Israel and established a paratroop training school in Haifa. At 21 years of age, Leeds trained and commanded the First Israeli Airborne Brigade. ”
This crap might work with the uninformed, and even then, I doubt it, but unless Leeds is a pseudonym for either Yoel Palgi or Yehudah Harari, this is pure horseshit. As we say in Yiddish, “a ligner darf hoben a guten zechron,” though I’d say “a ligner darf hoben a guten Google.” The history of the Paratrooper Unit, is well known inside and outside of Israel, and it’s highly curious that the name Robert X. Leeds appears nowhere in any of it. Mickey Marcus you ain’t, pal, and a fictional shadow ain’t giant.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Hey BK are you in the 56th right now? If so you have a shot out from another PAARNG guy right here haha but I’m 55th.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I got out last summer. Miss it though!
December 26th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
@BK, yes, and I added the link to the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade up above. If you speak Hebrew (you don’t have to, though) you can probably connect with them. Here it is again:
http://www.zanhanim.org.il/
This guy has such a convoluted story that he doesn’t realize the Battle of Manila Harbor went on during the month of May 1945, with a lot of human casualties and ships damaged or sunk. He can’t even get that part of his story straight.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
BK— agreed, I find it interesting he commanded a unit that didn’t exist until 5-6 years after he claimed to lead it….and that some of the men involved in the early formation have names we all know like Moshe Dayan, and Ariel Sharon….you would think a stakeholder in the unit would be noted somewhere in the history…but perhaps he was so busy doing the work no one remembered who he was….because that always happens to the commanders of elite, well documented units….
December 26th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
@Ex-PH2 – My wife and I are both fluent in Hebrew.
Chanah Shenesh and Palgi’s WWII exploits were partly an influence on joining our Army with an airborne contract. I love Israel and all, but I was born and raised a Pennsylvania boy. I love how the Brits name phonies like this “Walter Mitty.” The article about his candidacy in Nevada outlined other contradictory time-periods with his “service”, including a framed discharge paper from the Air Force Reserve for a period of May 1949 to 1952.
That’s some amazing international multitasking, the double life of “paratroop brigade commander” and his duties as a Basic Airman in the AF Reserve. And the humility that would call for in his role as an enlisted Air Force guy, knowing in just days he’d be training and leading battle-hardened Israelis.
I see he takes the “prove that I’m not” approach above, daring folks to call him directly. I wish we still had a viable Stolen Valor law.
December 26th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
I think he’s going to be singing quite the different tune when the SVA is passed again. YMMV.
Personally, I’ll go half liar, half dementia.
December 26th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
TO: O-4E & Hack Stone:
O-4E: I regret that I did not give you the correct spelling. The name of one of my commanding officers in Iraq is: Lt. Col.Philip Battaglia, 4th BCT Commander. You should also contact Major Chad Carroll and tell him about my “phony claims” of embedding at 83.
Hack Stone:
When we finish this wild goose chase,you may choose to apologize. You are one of the saner contributors to this inquest and I hope you will allow me to end it.
I have given everyone my home address, my phone number, all my different Email addresses and web sites, and have asked everyone for an address where I can send substaniating documents. Not one critic has responded with a phone call or a mailin address. I do not have a functioning scanner, so I can only send out copy machine products.
You speak of integrity.
I suspect you are unacquainted with Knight-Errantry. I chose to become a Knight-Errant when I was only about twelve years old. Basically it is a dedication to DECENCY. Decency is a life that is built on four support piers: COURAGE, COMPASSION, LOYALTY, AND INTEGRITY.
I have lived my entire life by this code. No one has ever heard me use a profanity. I have edited and written several books without one word of profanity. Am I “insane” for being
Courageous? Am I “insane” for being Compassionate? Am I “insane” for being Loyal to God and my country? Am I “insane” for protecting my Integrity? I am a warrior only because I choose rightousness over peace! On a number of occasions I have been called a HERO and I have ALWAYS denied that accreditaion. A person can become a HERO by one single act. A person who is COURAGEOUS is always willing to encounter any infringment of rightiousness.
I have asked all my doubting critics to furnish me a postal address where I can mail them copies of my travel orders and MNFI documents (including the name of the Commanding Officer of the Multi National Force Iraq! I can furnish them a hundred photographs of me on various patrols. However, I cannot and will not reveal the nature of my embedding and it is nobody elses business! If General Petraeus wants to give it out, so be it.
Since you seem to be one of the milder (albeit also incorrect) critics, please send my a mailing address where I can mail you my supporing documents which include numerous military contacts in Iraq!
Respectfully,
Robert X. Leeds
(702) 871-7263
1405 Ten Palms Court
Las Vegas, NV 89117-1404
http://www.rxl711@gmail.com
P.S. Please note that the archives provided by one critic lists the USS General M.C. Meigs as having served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theaters. All those who insist the SS General Meigs never served in the Far East should insist that the “idiots” who compiled this resource make a correction that would support their own version!
December 26th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Robert embedded with my brigade while we were in Kirkuk in 2009. He came to me on his third of four embeds with 25th ID and was properly vetted by CENTCOM. At the time, he was approved to embed because he was writing a book on modern military culture. Before he came to me, he’d been injured by an IED while on a patrol in the east. At his request, I sent him out on at least four operations to assist him in gathering material. Furthermore, even at his advanced age, he insisted on carrying all of his own equipment, which was quite heavy. Mr. Leeds was well-regarded by the units he embedded with, and I’ve seen people 1/3 his age with far less stamina.
December 26th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
@127
Thanks Sir. That is the WHY we were all looking for. That Mr. Leeds tap dances around. As in WHY he was embedeed. That he refused to answer and even alluded to “his Czech Special Forces Israeli Paratrooper Commander” background as the reason for embedding.
That part of the puzzle is verified and closed.
December 26th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
@126 – Mr. Leeds
Now that your embed claims have been verified I must say you are to be admired for doing a deployment at 83. You have to admit that is highly unbeleivable and amazing story. Made more so by refusing to answer WHY and WHAT you were embedded for. Why not simply say you were writing a book and nip that in the bud?
Instead you allude to some other special purpose based on your past experiences (which have also been questioned)
December 26th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
From The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships:
USS General M. C. Meigs (AP-116) was launched 13 March 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Henry R. Arnold; acquired by the Navy 2 June 1944; and commissioned at Bayonne, N.J., 3 June 1944, Captain George W. McKean, USCG, in command.
After two round-trip, troop-carrying voyages between Newport News, Va., and Naples, Italy, from 10 July 1944 to 1 September 1944, General M. C. Meigs departed 5 September 1944 for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Arriving 18 September 1944, she was visited by Brazilian President Getulio Vargas and embarked 5,200 troops of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, the first Brazilian troops to be carried by an American transport. She sailed 22 September 1944 for the Mediterranean; arrived Naples 6 October 1944; and there embarked troops, civilians, and 460 German prisoners of war for transportation to the United States. Departing Naples 10 October, she embarked additional troops at Bizerte, Tunisia, and at Oran, French Morocco, before returning to New York 22 October 1944.
Between 7 November 1944 and 8 March 1945 General M. C. Meigs made two similar round-trip voyages from the United States to Italy and North Africa via Brazil, carrying thousands of American and Brazilian troops to Europe for the remaining drive against Nazi Germany and returning several thousand others to the United States and Brazil.
General M. C. Meigs deployed troops to Panama and Puerto Rico from 25 March 1945 to 7 April 1945 before departing New York 16 April 1945 to carry troops to Le Havre, France. There she embarked homebound troops 28 April, sailed for the United States 30 April 1945 via Southampton, England, and reached Newport News 14 May 1945 . Between 22 May 1945 and 14 June 1945 she steamed to Naples and returned to Newport News with 5,100 veterans. Sailing again 23 June 1945, she transported occupation troops to Naples, where she then embarked Brazilian troops 4 July 1945 and sailed on the 6th for Rio de Janeiro. She reached Brazil 18 July 1945 and steamed to Baia [sic; Bahia] and Recife, Brazil, before arriving Newport News 12 August 1945. Between 23 August 1945 and 17 September 1945, she cruised to Naples and returned additional troops to Brazil.
Departing Rio de Janeiro 20 September 1945, General M. C. Meigs steamed via Recife to Marseilles, France, where she arrived 2 October 1945 to begin duty with the “Magic-Carpet” fleet. She cruised to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Far East and contributed significantly to the giant task of returning to the United States the veterans of the long, bitter fighting of World War II. After returning to Newport News from Marseilles 12 October 1945, between 21 October 1945 and 3 December 1945, she steamed from Norfolk to Naples and Karachi, India, to return troops to New York. On 8 December 1945 she departed New York for the Far East. Steaming via the Philippines, she arrived Nagoya, Japan, 10 January 1946; embarked full load of troops, then sailed on the 14th for the United States. She reached San Francisco 24 January 1946, decommissioned there 4 March 1946 and was turned over to WSA for transfer to the American President Lines, Ltd., as a passenger ship in the Pacific.
The ship is the USS General M. C. Meig, NOT the SS General Meigs. She did not serve as a part of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. Her entire service record until she was decommissioned is posted above. She was recommissioned in 1950 to serve again as a troop transport for the Korean War. She was NEVER involved in the Battle of Manila Bay or in any field of combat in the Pacific. There were many transport and other ships that were in that combat zone, but the General Meigs was NOT one of them.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
O-4E
I don’t believe anyone other than General Petraeus knows the real reason I was embedded. It was necessary to use the “author” cover to get my embedding through. You will not find my claim to being the oldest man to serve with the U.S. Army in Iraq anywhere! I didn’t need nor want the noteriety. I did not have nor do I now seek any movie glory or book deal.
I apologize for referring to the SS General Meigs. I found some records that show it was the S.S. Dudley H. Thomas. Built in Panama City, Florida Jan.5, 1945 and launched Feb. 8,1945 It was manned by all civilian crew except for the 3″a & 5″ cannons. Everything else in the prior “General Meigs” blog stands. We were in the South Pacific about four months. I was awarded the American Theater & Pacific Theater ribbons by the War Shipping Administration! I do believe the SS General Meigs became one of the American President Company’s flag ships after the war and I worked on it as a Electrician.
Now the Israeli bit. When I arrived home from China, I was approached by an agent of the Jewish underground who begged me to go to Israel to set up a training school for parachute packers. I did so. However, on my first day they asked me to go out in their Primo squadron as a Bombardier. I taught parachute packing during the day and flew with the Israeli Air Force every night. Some harrowing tales (all true) will be related in my forthcoming book. In July, 1945, I was asked to assess the feasability of a parachute brigade. I did and I even had a target in mind (Lydda Airbase). On (or about) July 7th, I and 5 other candidates took off in Israel’s only Lockheed Constellation. We had our hydraulic system shot while violating Albanian air space and crash landed in Czechoslovokia. Of all the candidates only Ben Foreman & I completed the training and also trained a group of Jewish concentration camp youngsters into Israel’s first paratroop “Brigade.” We returned to Israel and set up a training base on Mt. Carmel. I have photographs of our 1st jump which are stamped TOP SECRET s& dated by the Israeli army. In December, 1948, the Israelis persisted in my swearing allegence to Israel. This I would not do and ultimately asked to return to America. I would never swear allegence to any country than my own, America! Things went from bad to worse. But, there was another Brigade jump a few weeks later in which one man was hung on the tail wheel and died. I have all the documents to prove the above. You’ll have to wait for the book to get THIS amazing segment of my life! During my command years the only rank I had was OFFICER. I didn’t even know they had other ranks.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Hey,
What ever happened to “Marie” who started this whold thing. Isn’t it odd that she never once made another comment?
I think you guys were being used.
Robert X. Leeds
December 26th, 2012 at 7:53 pm
I was in 1-24, 1/25 SBCT during the 08-09 deployment.
December 26th, 2012 at 8:04 pm
I’d also like to add that I don’t seem to remember one of our Strykers getting hit where 5 people where injured.
December 26th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
“Some harrowing tales (all true) will be related in my forthcoming book.”
The worm is turning.
2341 – Dudley H. Thomas – USAT; YAGR 14 Interpreter AGR 14
Ships built by J. A. Jones Construction Company, Panama City, Florida
EC2-S-C1 Type
WSAT stands for War Shipping Administration Transport; the number in parentheses shows the number of troops the ship could hold.
USAT stands for Army Transportation Service, and indicates the ship was chartered or operated by ATS.
Link to history of WWII Liberty ships: http://skylighters.org/troopships/libertyships.html
Interpreter (AGR-14) was launched as Liberty Ship SS Dudley H. Thomas by J. A. Jones Construction Co., Inc., Panama City, Florida, 8 February 1945; sponsored by Miss Carrie Corbitt; and delivered 21 February 1945 to Merchants and Miners Transportation Co., Boston, Massachusetts.
World War II-related service: The ship served as an aircraft freighter during the war and later as a cargo ship for various companies. She was in the National Defense Reserve Fleet 1947-1951 and from 25 August 1953 until acquired by the Navy 5 June 1957.
Renamed Interpreter, the ship was converted to Navy use at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and commissioned there 29 September 1958, Comdr. J. S. Craft in command.
One of a class of sixteen radar picket ships, Interpreter conducted shakedown exercises in the Caribbean before departing Guantanamo Bay 1 February 1959 for her new home port, San Francisco, California.
Equipped with the most advanced long range radar and communications gear, Interpreter jointed the Continental Air Defense Command as part of America’s vital early warning system. Operating with search aircraft for periods of 3 to 4 weeks at sea, the ship reported and tracked aircraft at great distances and controlled interceptors in the event of enemy air attack.
Interpreter continued regular patrols in the Contiguous Radar Barrier, for 6 years, providing a vital link in the air defense of her country.
Struck 1 July 1965, Interpreter was turned over to the Maritime Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California, where she remained until sold for scrapping 4 November 1974.
Source is Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
An image of Interpreter/Dudley H. Thomas can be found on Wikipedia.
December 26th, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Listing of Lockheed Constellation crashes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Lockheed_Constellation
El Al Flight 402 crash:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al_Flight_402
Flight was shot down by two Bulgarian MiG 15 fighters in July 1955. “All 7 crew and 51 passengers on board the airliner were killed”
December 26th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Popcorn! Getcha fresh hot popcorn, peanuts and beer here! 5 bucks each! Going once, going twice! Is my concessionaire routine working? lol
December 26th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
History of the Paratrooper Brigade in the IDF (from http://www.zanhanim.org.il/show_item.asp?levelId=65092&itemType=0)
The Brigades Heritage
The brigade’s story begins with the jewish volunteers from palestine that dropped into nazi occupied europe in 1943 in an attempt to offer assistance to their suffering brethren. Five years later, during the war of independence then commander in chief Yaakov Dori assigned Alon Palgi (a veteran paratrooper who escaped nazi captivity) with the task of establishing Israel’s first airborne unit. Among the unit’s first recruits were native born Israeli men and women, Veterans of the british military and “palmach”, survivors from the jewish ghettos of europe and others. The 1950s saw many acts of infiltration by arab terrorists into the borders of the newly founded jewish state. As a response a voluntary reconnaissance unit was formed adopting the callsign 101. The unit conducted many raids and scouting missions behind enemy lines and gained notoriety mostly thanks to the bravery, ingenuity and commitment of its men
December 26th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Who is ‘Marie’? Nobody here by that name.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
This link is to a photo of the Interpreter/Dudley H. Thomas
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/62/09621401.jpg
The only award listed is the National Defense Service Medal. No listing of any WWII-era awards.
Source is Gene Mcmanus, Webmaster, Online Air Defense Radar Museum
December 26th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
@137. A fin for popcorn? I’ll get my own Doritos, thanks!
December 26th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
“I would have no relucance in revealing how and why I served in Iraq at the age of 83 (I turned 83 in a Blackhawk Helicopter flying from the Mayson Marshlands up to Baquaba.”
Heres the thing, you didnt serve. You were along for the ride. And regardless of how capable you were of carrying your own gear, you were still a civilian on a battlefield and a liability to the soldiers who were with you.
As for all the rest of the crap you have spread around in this thread and many other places on the internet, Ill believe it when you can prove it 100%. No bullshit about fires destroying records and all that jazz. Put up or shut up.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
He’s just here to advertise his forthcoming, self-aggrandizing book. His own words: “You’ll have to wait for the book to get THIS amazing segment of my life!” at the end of his last entry.
And this is the most asinine thing he’s said, overall: During my command years the only rank I had was OFFICER. I didn’t even know they had other ranks.
The O-ranks have NAMES. Dumber than scorpions in a wading pool.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
If popcorn goes for a fiver, I think I can pay off what I owe on my mortgage for a pair of hip waders.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
At my house, the popcorn is included with the movie. Movie choices this week include Ian McKellen’s vicious and paranoid rendition of Richard III (in Irish, it’s Richard da T’ird), Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V, and Franco Zefirelli’s Hamlet with (gag me) Mel Gibson in one of his better performances.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
And since Leeds can’t spell, the name of the village in Iraq is Baqubah.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
I think I know who he’s related to: Insipid (changes the subject, ignores facts, never answers direct questions) and Wittlessgelding (bloviating vainglorious basterd).
Must be their inbred uncle.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
The only reason I can come up with to resurrect this old post is hopes of publicity. There are now a lot of books written by those who served as Warriors. Personally, I’m not interested in one written by civilians who embedded for a few months, and suspect it will be not widely read. Could be wrong….we’ll see.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:34 pm
If you can get past the hogwash and read his glop, I don’t think he even knows where Albania is.
“His plane was shot down over Albania and crash landed in Czechoslovakia.”
Must have been a helluva long crash. Albania is on the northern border of Greece. Czechoslovakia, which is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia, is bordered by Germany and Poland on the north and Austria and Hungary on the south. In between lie places that any of you who were in the Balkans know about: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.
That is one bodacious crash landing, if the plane was shot down in Albania and somehow made it to Czechoslovakia. Sets a record for a lot of things, including how deep it’s piled up.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:35 am
I wish that Mr. Leeds would stop digging a deeper hole for himself – I give him credit for going over as an embed at his age. As for the rest of his life “story”, things just don’t add up. He was very steadfast about being on the Megis until someone pointed out that is CG paperwork had him serving on the Dudley H. Thomas – then he was quick to acknowledge that he was wrong.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:50 am
YO Streetsweeper…popcorn.
December 27th, 2012 at 2:09 am
The distance from Albania to the Czech/Slovak area is about 645 miles as the crow flies, and over rough terrain – mountains – which create updrafts, wind sheer, and downdrafts that would flatten any plane that has been disabled.
See, it’s this peculiar notion that no one could possibly find out anything about those places and events that gets me.
December 27th, 2012 at 6:52 am
Albania, Czechoslovakia. What’s the big deal? Plenty of people confuse North Dakota with South Dakota.
December 27th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Yes, but the Dakotas don’t have werewolves, Hack.
December 27th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Ex-PH2@154, haven’t you seen that Kevin Costner film, “Dances With Werewolves”?
December 27th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Hack! LMS! This is why I come here.
December 27th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Disgusting.
Throw in some Shoah survivors into the story and I imagine I’ll weep enough through the nausea induced by the evolution of your paratroop story. There was no “Brigade.” There was barely a company. Perhaps you can answer why you don’t appear in any of Bowden’s recollections of the formation of the unit, if not Palgi’s autobiography. And I note that you go from your own description of, and I paraphrase, “at age 21, commander of Israel’s First Airborne Brigade”, a brigade which didn’t exist at the time you claim, and now it’s, “I was an officer, didn’t even know my rank.” It is utterly astounding that for these exploits, you appear nowhere in any Mahal archives, AT ALL, when far more obscure non-Jewish participants do. Seriously, the only person advancing your narrative at all is YOU.
Don’t answer to the timing of your Air Force Reserve discharge with basic Airman within the same time frame. Just keep evolving your grand dookie as if it will suddenly sound truer. I’m done. This guy’s a fraud. At least for my part, I can get the word out through the JWV, which has a heavy presence in Nevada, that he’s a big fat fraud on at least this front. My daughter with her 3rd grade Zionist education could spot this as road apples from 600 meters.
December 27th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Come for the humor, stay for the posers.
December 27th, 2012 at 11:18 am
Ex-PH2, if you are a fan of the movie A Christmas Story and of Judge Judy, I posted the transcript to a very special Judge Judy episode on the IMDB page for her show.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115227/board/nest/208643925
December 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Yes, indeed.
December 27th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Regarding post 137, I think you guys should check out Mary (or “Marie” as he calls her). It’s obvious that you are all lambs to do her bidding and that she’s somehow using you to tarnish the reputation of this fine gentleman.
Or, on the flipside, Leeds could have done 30 seconds of research and figured out who Mary is and how important she is to every single regular poster on this site.
December 27th, 2012 at 11:54 am
I believe that Mr. Leed’s book will aslo address when he was embedded with PVT John Ringer when he launched a raid using an Urban Assault Vehicle into Czechoslovakia to rescue his platoon back in 1981. In the movie, he was portrayed by John Candy.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
I retire in a year…then it is all coming out boys! My book:
Title? TBD (open to suggestions)
Tag Line: “One man’s exciting 25 year journey from Infantry Private to Logistics Major and the convoluted route he took to get there”
December 27th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
O-4E@162, how about “From Here To Inventory”?
SElf correction on post @162, John Winger, not John Ringer. Hack Stone Publishing regrets the error.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
“From Here To Inventory”
LMFAO!!!! Love it
A whole chapter is dedicated to the black beret debacle and my individual efforts to get rid of it
December 27th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
#161; We didn’t “tarnish” him. We didn’t even know his name until he broadcast it here himself. The discussion was dead since April. Any tarnishing here he did himself.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
If he has tarnish, he can run down to the PX and pick up a can of Dura-Glit (sp?) Thank God for anodized brass.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
@166, that was a joke Jonn
Meant to reference post 132 (put 137 by mistake) when he’s calling out Mary.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
O-4E, much like the televison show Dragnet was based on actual events, but for the sake of artistic license they all occurred” to Joe Friday and Bill Gannon, you have our permission to use portions of our military career as composite material for your book. I’ll get you started.
I was shot down over Tokyo. Specifiaclly, it was Roppingo. July, 1985. I tried using my International Date Line, “Baby, you’re the ichi-est”, but she wasn’t buying it. No luck for Hack. The following week, I was successful, and by the end of the evening was embedded with a Japanese nursing student. Unfortunately, that story has already been published, in the Semptember 1985 issue of Leatherneck Magazine. It was in the letters too the editor section. It started out “Dear Leatherneck, I always thought these stories were made up until it happened to me. I am yound Corporal stationed with a tank company at Camp Fuji…..”
December 27th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
@169 – Yikes. Proofread before posting, Hack!!!!
December 27th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
You had Japanese girls fawning over you in Roppongi, Hack? All I could ever pull were the American/Brit girls who came over as English tutors. Might have something to do with the fact I couldn’t afford too many trips up to Tokyo because beer at 1000 yen a pop empties a wallet fast, unless you were at Gas Panic, where it was “only” 300 yen a beer until 9 PM.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
I remember Gas panic. the only time I was there was the night of my first earthquake, october 6, 1985. A week later, I met the girl who would eventually become my wife (and constantly tells me I am not that funny). I told her if we met the previous week, we could say that the earth moved when we saw each other for the first time. As for Tokyo, when i was there, the Yen was around 230-240 range, which was a bit steep, but you could still have a good time. Then they artificaaly devalued the dollar, and it dropped to about 200 Yen overnight. And it has been going south ever since.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I don’t want to ratchet up the paranoia too badly but since “Leed’s” story about being embedded at the age of 82 were allegedly verified, how do we know the “verifiers” are who they say they are? I can create a user ID on the internet and call myself General George Washington but that doesn’t mean that’s who I am.
I understand if the mods here don’t want to reveal their sources & methods but it seems to me that it’s not possible to get deployed to a combat zone these days without leaving a significant paper trail: Applications, approvals, training, acclimatization, medical documents, travel orders, releases, non-disclosure agreements, etc. In the absence of these things and a credible story behind them, I would regard any mere email – even if it comes from a .Mil address – as highly suspect (because it’s very easy to fake an email address.)
As for “Leeds” purported service in the Israeli Airborne Brigade, my question would be what qualifications did he have at the age of 18 or 19 that made the Israeli’s seek him out? By 1948 there were literally tens of thousands of recently discharged paratroopers with combat experience looking for a job and they pick a merchant marine engine wiper? Yeah, that makes sense.
Kind of reminds me of the poser stories about guys who were in their 2nd week of basic training/boot camp when they got pulled out for a “secret mission”, because everyone knows that when it comes to dangerous and complex missions, an 18 year old who’s never even held a gun is the first person you want leading it.
December 27th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
@173…because I contacted the LTC on AKO and received emails from him on his .mil email address which includes his profile
That part is legit
December 27th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@174 along with a valid scurity certificate on his email
December 27th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
The person who posted the similarity between Leeds and Wittgenfeld made a good point. There are enough similarities to make me wonder if this is coming from Wittgenfeld or one of his supporters.
Similarities:
1. The relentless braggadocio, completely uncorroborated and highly suspicious to those of us who understand how the military really works.
2. The repeated statements that he has documents that will “prove” his lies to be true – offers to send copies (but for some reason not to post them on the internet.)
3. Declaration that those who doubt his stories will apologizing once he has “proven” that they are true.
4. The victim mentality – “you guys are all ganging up on me!”
5. The blaming of Mary Schantag and POW Network and the accusation that people on this blog are being ‘used’ by Mary for some nefarious purpose.
About the only thing missing are the legal threats but everything else Wittgenfeldian is there.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
@173, and there you have it. Any time someone says something like “I caught the PTSD”, which is not a transmittable disease, you know he’s in desperate need of a visit to the nearest brick outhouse. It’s probably a PSTD, and you don’t want to drink out of the same beer bottle he’s sucking on.
All these secret squirrel children fascinate me. Why don’t they just take up writing novels? They could (maybe) make some quick change from it. Well, maybe not.
O-4E, I think “From Here to Inventory” is a great title. Go for it. Just point out to the missus that it’ll keep you busy and out of her hair.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
@177.
They have taken up writing novels.
“Ranger” Stephen Burrell.
Title” My Weekend wih Rita, I mean Rick”
December 27th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
@174, 175: Understood. Next question would be, how is it that that fact of an 82 year old embedding with a combat unit in Iraq didn’t make any news reports? You would think that at the very least the local PAO press release from the installation would have said something about it – it’s not like it’s something that happened every day.
I was in Kuwait when the then-oldest enlisted soldier in theater was there. IIRC he was an E-8 who had initially enlisted in the early 60′s and wore a combat patch from the 1st Cav in Vietnam with an Airborne tab over it (there was a short time after the 11th Airborne Division became the 1st Cav when the Cav’s TO&E had 1 “airborne” brigade.) I think he was approaching 60 (and mandatory retirement) when he was there, so you would think the news of an 82 year old going out on patrols with combat units would tickle somebody’s news radar.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
@179
Taking his comments at face value, he did not want the publicity then.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
@Martinjmpr, it’s my considered opinion that Wittlessgelding and Leeds are simply two of a kind, two blithering idiots who have the same personality disorder, and they belong to a large order of the same disorder.
The difference between them is that Leeds is busy writing, printing and trying to sell books that no one wants to read,
from his website, no less.
Wittgenflatus, on the other hand, does nothing with his time but fill the ether with spittle and bile and boisterous but incomprehensible blather.
It’s a lot of fun coming here. I have said this before, and I will say it again, that, with the exceptions of the aforementioned vainglorious basterds Lees and Wittgenfeld, I am in the company of some of the finest rogues on Earth, and the better for it.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
@178 – I forgot about him! Thanks!
December 27th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
@179
That is exactly what got me into this. We all kept asking WHY he was embedded. He tap danced around that and continues to do so EVEN after the LTC verified WHY (which is legit I guess) which was to get material for a book he was writing.
From #127: “At the time, he was approved to embed because he was writing a book on modern military culture”
Followed by by #131: “I don’t believe anyone other than General Petraeus knows the real reason I was embedded. It was necessary to use the “author” cover to get my embedding through”
Really? really?
My other question is what kind of vetting did the Army do on this guy? Apparently not much.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
O4-E,
Probably a national agency check and verification he’s an author.
Not much more to do, from a PAO standpoint, I would guess.
Might ask a few questions abouthis health, but the release forms would cover that issue regardless.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I still say he needs to contact Dos Equis. Leeds is, indeed, the most interesting man in the world.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
@184..call me crazy…but I would think such a check would try and verify the author was “credible”
A 30 second check would call into question his authorship and if I were General Patreus make me stop and question if this is the guy I want telling our story
What’s to keep my crazy neighboor who writes conspiracy theory articles from getting embedded?
December 27th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Okay, let’s all go with his story that he was on some top secret, double secret probation, mission and was using his cover as an author to mask his intent. Then why is he posting out on the internet, to include the website for his congressional run, that he was in Iraq? Then, when questioned, instead of laying the smoke screen that he was researching a book, he just stirs up some more curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen of blog, I think that we may have inadvertently revealed an intelligence source that could have dire consequences for the future of this great nation of ours. I expect you all to follow me to the Federal Courthouse tomorrow morning and turn ourselves in. I can only hope that they treat as mercifully as they would Sandy Berger, Major Nidal Hasan, or PFC Brianna Manning. May God have mercy on our souls.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Hack, you owe me box of detergent. It was a clean sweater!
December 27th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
@186, I don’t know, if anything I would think that his health and age would be more of a liability. Sure, he signed releases that prevent him from suing the government, but the reality is if he had a heart attack or other medical emergency while embedded, I’m sure the unit would not let him die in the Stryker vehicle, they would most likely get him back to the FOB or call a medevac, either one of which could derail the mission. If I were a squad leader I would not want him on my mission for that reason alone, regardless of his bonafides.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Well, if we are all looking at doiing some hard time, I call first dibs on Ex-PH 2 as my cell mate. I really like her photo in the gallery. Va-va-voom! Ex-PH 2, any chance you are attracted to someone that resembles Beaver Cleaver? They probably woouldn’t allow me to wear my baseballl cap in the brig.
December 27th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
The Fire occurred on July 2, 1973 and casused the loss of 16-18 million records… Only records affected were army and Air Force. So if as he claims he has an “Official Discharge” issued by the US Coast guard it should be avialable somewhere… because they were not involved in that fire.
December 27th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Are you hittin’ on me, Hack? Okay, fine by me.
We can share a cell so long as you don’t mind my cat Mikey, the Large and In Charge. He snores like a squeaky shoe.
And also, please remember, that picture was taken in 1969.
December 27th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
I have a picture of myself from 1969. It was my kindergarten photo. It was taken the day after my sister’s psycho cocker spanial bit me in the face, so it looks like there is a fly on my cheek, but it’s just the stitches. I still have the scar. We don’t have the dog. I was the third victim before my parents decided he had to go. I think they shipped him of to Vietnam. Maybe they dropped him in one of those tunnels. (I think that I just inpsired the subject of this thread with a new chapter).
December 27th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
One thing that we all need to remember about Mr. Leeds – he posted this at the bottom of his original post on Christmas Eve:
“My credentials are here in my home and are available for anyone to validate providing they are not made public to the press.”
Question – Why would someone that is willing to have a total stranger validate his credentials be afraid to have the press get a copy of them? Could this be the reason why he never responded to the press during the recent elections when they asked him about his military service – that he may not be totally honest about his past?
December 27th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
You keep digging that hole, HMCS(FMF) Ret, and they may never let us out. Just to let you guys know, I’ll be ratting you out to the warden for an extra twenty minutes in the exercise yard.
December 27th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Hack – just don’t go for the old “powdered soap on a rope” line in the showers…. some of the guys here have been in the hole for a long time IYKWIMAITYD.
As for me – I’m bustin’ out of this joint (Prison Orange clashes with my pasty while pale complexion)
December 27th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Hack, here is the title of your autobiography:
“My sister’s psycho cocker spaniel bit me in the face”.
December 27th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Ex-PH2, can’t use it. Too similar to Frank Zappa’s Weasels Ripped My Flesh.
December 28th, 2012 at 11:27 pm
How about Mojo Nixon then? I think I have an old copy of his “Debbie Gibson Is Having My Three-Headed Love Child” album.
And it makes more sense than that decrepit nutbag. I’ve got an official request to Jonn that if I start sounding that crazy he blocks my posts, and then the GF can just quietly put the pillow over my face later.
January 5th, 2013 at 5:51 pm
Gentlemen! Not sure how exactly my research landed me here, but this thread alone kept me fascinated for endless hours with both excellent resource links as well as comic relief, way better than most movies I see these days.
However the ending has left me kind of flat?
Is this story dead in the water?
Curiosity is killing me…..
I have no military experience or affiliation but still I would like to commend you guys for the fantastic work you are doing in fighting bullshit online in general. Misinformation is destroying brains and fake people need to be called out in all forms. Never in a million years would I thought that the BS would be so epidemic in your world.
I hope I am not intruding here.
Cheers, thank you, and keep up the good work!
CT~Canada
April 24th, 2013 at 7:17 am
I’ve never been to a movie by myself. I remember, though, that I used to feel sad for people that were out eating by themselves…. but ya know, its not that bad. I used to eat by myself all the time. From the time I graduated high school until the time I had my daughter, I loved being by myself out eating.
May 27th, 2013 at 11:34 am
Should this also highlight the fact that there are two distinct audiences reading blogs?