GORDON DUFF: PHONY MARINE, “AIRPORT SPITTER” VICTIM “DARLING” OF RIGHT WING GROUPS

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“COLONEL” MIKE HAMILTON CHARGED WITH BENEFITS FRAUD AND MORE, MUCH MORE…

“How many stories were there of returning veterans killing “hippies” in Airports?  “None” you say?  This means, of course, that Vietnam veterans were all cowards, “candyass” whiners who, when confronted, ran and cried.  That’s not how I remember it, though I do remember Sylvester Stallone telling it that way in a movie.  I can see poor “John Rambo” crying his little pink eyes out.  Worse than that, for 40 years I have heard dozens of “veterans” telling me about having to flee airports, gangs of hippies chasing them, saliva flowing everywhere.”

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

Mike Hamilton of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was convicted recently of violating the “Stolen Valor Act.”  Hamilton’s Marine uniform sported 2 Navy Crosses, 4 Silver stars along with 74 other medals and ribbons.  When the Supreme Court overturned the “Stolen Valor Act” as unconstitutional, a violation of “freedom of speech,” Hamilton’s conviction was overturned.  He currently faces charges for other violations, perhaps even more curious ones, but Hamilton himself isn’t the problem.  There are some serious questions as to whether “Colonel” Hamilton is competent to stand trial.  Today, veterans groups are swooping around Mike Hamilton like vultures, looking for a meal.  A few short months ago, he was the darling of the “rubber chicken” circuit, spouting the myths they wanted to hear, waving the flag and cheering on the horse manure of that is so popular to the American “right.”

We don’t know much about Hamilton.  He claims to be a former judge and police officer.  We are told those things aren’t true.  He claims to be a Vietnam veteran and former Marine.  Though he is accused of, perhaps the most grandiose “resume enhancement” in history, we really don’t know his military record.  It is assumed he never served.  Frankly, we aren’t sure, nobody ever checked.

What we do know is that he has, for years, on every occasion he could get, spewed the same Vietnam era myths, like out of the Rambo movies, “airport spitters,” gangs of “hippies” attacking soldiers, and his favorite of all time, “spewing foul insults.”  This is the quote he used continually.  Those of us who served in Vietnam, really served in Vietnam, know that none of this ever happened.  40 years later I am still dangerous in an airport, cranky, irritable, raging PTSD and suffering from claustrophobia.  I would rather be dragged behind a car, through a barbed wire fence than get on an airplane anymore.

The nearly two day jaunt across the Pacific, DaNang, Guam, Hawaii (sometimes thru Okinawa) and on to California, packed in like sardines, left most returnees ready to kill.  Any idiot who would drive out to an airport, put their “hippie van” in long term parking and wait for me, just to see the enjoyment I would have kicking them to death…

Ah, that.  How many stories were there of returning veterans killing “hippies” in Airports?  “None” you say?  This means, of course, that Vietnam veterans were all cowards, “candyass” whiners who, when confronted, ran and cried.  That’s not how I remember it, though I do remember Sylvester Stallone telling it that way in a movie.  I can see poor “John Rambo” crying his little pink eyes out.

Worse than that, for 40 years I have heard dozens of “veterans” telling me about having to flee airports, gangs of hippies chasing them, saliva flowing everywhere. Every time I hear that story it make me sick.  No wonder Vietnam vets are hated and looked down on.  We know that these stories were told by mostly phonies, the thousands that never served that sought attention for themselves by playing the victim.  Why would a real vet do this?  Have they sunk this low?  It sounds like the Israeli army with their tanks and jets moaning about bottle rockets from Gaza.

And, to think, “veterans” are angry at Mike Hamilton for wearing a few Navy Crosses.  If he deserves criticism, it should be for his tales of airport abuse.

VETERANS BENEFITS FRAUD ISSUE

We are also told that Hamilton received $30,000 in undeserved VA disability compensation.  Stories indicate that he never served.  OK, here is my question:

“If real disabled vets take years, even decades getting through the VA system, who helped a total phony with NO documentation get 100% COMBAT disability?”

I am 100% disabled.  I had a claim denied because the VA said my records were destroyed.  This was in the 1970s.  Oddly, in 2001, my original service record book, last seen in Vietnam, sat there on the desk of a VA “comp and pension” examiner, medical records, all the rest.  It didn’t look “burned” at all.

I spent 12 years in processing with refiles because of “missing” documents, continual administrative “accidents” of every kind.  I have met vets whose claims have taken twice that long, in fact there are almost a million veterans with claims handling problems at the VA and two million more who died in processing.

But…

This guy, the darling of the Veterans Service Organizations, you know who we mean, the ones the VA loves so much, got his claim through, no service record book, no DD-214, no medical records, no witnesses, no real medals, no combat records, no wounds, all he had to do was say “airport spitter” a few times and they just threw the money at him.

If there is going to be an investigation by the VA Inspector General (VAOIG), it should be, not just Mike Hamilton but every person that touched his file, every person that made a phone call, applied pressure, every person who assisted an obvious phony because they liked his politics.

There is a story here, much more than we are being told.  Hamilton wouldn’t have done the damage he did if he didn’t have so many willing to buy into the filth he was spewing.

Gordon Duff

Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.

Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

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