Invalid valor: Vet lied about his service
Boasting a military record that included two Purple Hearts, decorations for valor and combat service in Somalia with the Army Rangers, Brian Culp seemed the perfect war hero to be honored last year as grand marshal in LaVernia's patriotic parade.
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“I have a copy of the joint meritorious unit award that was awarded to all the Rangers in Somalia in support of Operation Gothic Serpent, aka ‘Black Hawk Down,' and his name is not on it. I can state with 100 percent certainty, he was not there,” said former Ranger Raleigh Cash of Illinois, who participated in the Somali operation.
Cash said that when he confronted Culp by phone last year, the story changed. Culp said he had been deployed with a different Army unit that was sent in to help the Rangers. But this story didn't check out either.
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For Culp, the long trail of fiction and perhaps delusion may have ended Dec. 4 when he pleaded guilty to three federal misdemeanor charges: falsely claiming to have earned a Purple Heart, falsely claiming to have earned a Bronze Star with valor, and creating a counterfeit military identification.
He will be sentenced Dec. 29 in San Antonio and faces up to three years in prison.
Sometime soon, Culp also finally will gain formal recognition from the brotherhood of Rangers he so desired to claim. A place of dubious honor awaits him on a Web site belonging to an association of former Army Rangers.
Ranger Cash helps nail another assclown. I look forward to seeing his sentence and his name on the wall of shame.
You can visit Ranger Cash's memorial website at http://www.bravo57.com/
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