Flushing man charged as phony hero
BY VICTOR G. MIMONI
Thursday, May 3, 2007 3:46 PM CDT
For years, Louis Lowell McGuinn of Flushing passed himself off as a
highly-decorated Special Forces war vet, Lieutenant Colonel Lowell Craig
McGuinn.
He wore a chest full of medals, including the nation's second-highest
award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Purple Heart
with two oak leaf clusters, established by George Washington to honor the
ordinary soldier.
On Monday, April 30, the phony hero was arrested by real agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and hauled before a real federal
judge. McGuinn is one of the first to be charged under the "Stolen Valor
Act," which went into effect in January. The law makes it a felony to lie
about winning military medals. If convicted, he faces one year in federal
prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, McGuinn, who was discharged from
the armed service as a private in 1968, "stated that he changed his name
and date of birth to reinvent himself .when applying for employment." The
feds also say that the "colonel" told a security company he was in the
Special Forces, to win consulting contracts.
The smooth-talking baritone was a fixture at military-related events. For
years, he strutted at the head of a contingent of Special Forces veterans
in a local Memorial Day parade, as the "ranking officer."
The deception was made easier because, with the exception of the nation's
highest award, the Medal of Honor, the government has no comprehensive
list of who won medals, or how many have been awarded.
Also, since the Special Forces have been involved in so many "top secret"
missions since their inception, posers have an easy time lying about them.
To this day, Special Forces personnel in Afghanistan don't allow
themselves to be photographed.
McGuinn was tripped up by the sharp-eyed director of the Soldiers,
Sailors, Airmen and Marines Club in Manhattan, who noticed that the
"colonel," who was attempting to rent a space in the club, was wearing his
supposed-awards improperly.
When McGuinn's story didn't pass muster, the FBI got involved, capturing
the ruse on film and finally arresting the 62-year-old.
After a brief court appearance, McGuinn was released on $5,000 bond.
http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2007/05/04/news/news03.txt
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