Ribbons for ABC crew

Marine Corps veteran Hansen Ahasteen wants to donate the Combat Action Ribbons he received in Vietnam to a pair of ABC newsmen who were injured in Iraq.

The 59-year-old Ahasteen said he cried after hearing ABC anchorman Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were injured. The military vehicle they were riding in was hit by shrapnel Jan. 29 after an explosive device went off.

Ahasteen said the newsmen “went in [to Iraq] like we did [in Vietnam].”

“They could have been in the back,” he said. “But they were up front.”

Asked why he’d like to honor Woodruff and Vogt in this way, Ahasteen said he simply felt it was a good gesture. He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s part of my healing process,” he said. “I have survivor’s guilt.”

Vogt has been transferred to an outpatient facility at the Bethesda Medical Center in Maryland, ABC said Feb. 8, while Woodruff, more seriously hurt, remains at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

A friend of John Kerry's?

The true test will be to see if the two ABC guys have the character to turn down the medals.

If you apply the principles from Stolen Valor, this guy was never in combat, if he was ever even in Vietnam.


Survivor's Guilt? I get hit with that every time an American gets killed over there since I came back. When did it become a disability?

Uh....How does one get stuff removed from a DD214 and how do people who dont have a DD214 get one with his awards?

I can go down to any Joe's Army Navy Store and buy any medal and give it away...


What an idiot.

So he feels sorry for the media but not the troops who get blown up everday?

Sorry, the reporter was just doing a job. I feel no different about a wounded or dead American truck driver than I do reporter. They are both stepping out and taking a dangerous asssignment, and they knew it. Well, ok-I feel more for the truck driver because he's doing something that gives him a reason to be in country where the reporter really shouldn't be in the thick of it.

Millions of people are killed on the freeway every year. Some die more graphically because they made the adult decision to ride a motorcycle to work instead of a car. Should we feel more sorry for a father who dies on his bike than his minivan?

Dave

Guy couldn't have served any earlier at '75 (18yrs old). But, he served and he can feel sorry for who ever he wants. I am sure the mere thought of going into 'nam after watching casualties come home for years would stress anyone out.

what are the principles from "stolen valor"? never heard that before.

oh yeah, combat action ribbon isn't a medal. it's a...well...ribbon.

ETA: you're right. he's done his bit and can do whatever he wants with his decorations and awards. guess he's earned that right.

Guy couldn't have served any earlier at '75 (18yrs old). But, he served and he can feel sorry for who ever he wants. I am sure the mere thought of going into 'nam after watching casualties come home for years would stress anyone out.

Quoted: So he feels sorry for the media but not the troops who get blown up everday?

Stunt for attention.

This guy is doing the same thing that asshole did a few years ago with Clinton. He made arrangements with Bill and gave him some Vietnam medal(s), claiming something along the lines of "We all would have dodged the draft if we had another chance".

Guy was a fraud. Never even went to Vietnam. This guys story sounds so similar that it is creepy. This guy is claiming to see a similarity between his alleged service in Vietnam with two liberal reporters doing what they do in Iraq. He claims PTSD and Survivor's Guilt as the reason behind this. But he is not attempting to communicate with veterans of this war. He could have quietly helped dozens of veterans, myself included, deal with PTSD and guilt. But he isn't doing that.

This is nothing more than a publicity stunt, and a fucking disgusting one at that.

Quoted: Guy couldn't have served any earlier at '75 (18yrs old). But, he served and he can feel sorry for who ever he wants. I am sure the mere thought of going into 'nam after watching casualties come home for years would stress anyone out. what are the principles from "stolen valor"? never heard that before. oh yeah, combat action ribbon isn't a medal. it's a...well...ribbon. ETA: you're right. he's done his bit and can do whatever he wants with his decorations and awards. guess he's earned that right.

Stolen Valor is a book written about posers, specifically from Vietnam. It outlines an impressive number of cases in which people have lied about being veterans, and veterans have lied about being in combat.

It details a number of indicators that can be used to identify posers from that era, along with attempting to explain why they do it. It also lists the names of everyone who won the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, and Air Force Cross in Vietnam.

This story is freakishly similar to several detailed in the book.

military.com lists this guy as having been a 1461 in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps no longer has 14 series MOSs and I haven't yet been able to find out what a 1461 does.

ETA: There is no 1461 MOS, but 14 series MOS's were:

1400 Basic Drafting, Surveying and Mapping Man
1401 Programmer, Autocoder
1411 Construction Draftsman
1421 Surveyor
1422 Surveying and Drafting Chief
1431 Map Compiler
1432 Cartographer
1453 Mapping Chief

Leads one to wonder how much combat he could have seen.