Township Trustee Candidate Falsely Claims To Be Vietnam Veteran

First, the necessary disclaimer: This is an opinion blog. The opinions stated here, are mine, and mine alone. My opinions do not represent the opinions of Patch in any way, nor do I work for Patch. I do not work for any political campaign, I have not donated to any political campaign, nor do I volunteer for any political campaign.

From time to time, I write political opinion pieces here at Patch. Almost all of them concern local politics. Some folks agree with me, and some folks don't. Comments are mostly civil, and that is how things should be. We all have a right to state our opinions, and we all have the right to disagree.

Throughout our nation's history, our veterans have sacrificed greatly to preserve these rights. Having never served in the military, I have no idea what it would be like to be on a battlefield, and see the things that our veterans saw, and do the things that they had to do. I've never sent a Son or Daughter to a war zone either, and can't imagine what kind of anguish a family must feel, to have to wonder if their loved one is alive or dead. If they are hungry, or cold, or scared, or wounded.

I have the greatest respect for our men and women who have served our nation in the military. I have respect, and empathy for their families, who sacrifice. Our veterans serve, and their families
sacrifice. I've done neither. What I do, as a very small token of my thanks, and appreciation, is tell a veteran "Thank You" when I see them. If they are a Vietnam Veteran, I also say "Welcome Home." I also volunteer from time to time for our local veterans, maybe donate a few bucks for a Buddy Poppy, and always go to the parades in Plymouth on the two days that our veterans march every year. A lot folks in Plymouth do the same things as myself, and many do much more, to show their appreciation for our veterans. That is the way it should be.

This leads me to something that has me feeling very sad, and disappointed today. Make no mistake, this shouldn't be a political blog, but rather an American blog. Unfortunately though, politics are involved, but in this case, I honestly do not think that there will be too much
disagreement in what I am about to say here. It's just something that needs to be said. Something that needs to be cleared up. Too many people have shed blood, too many people have lost their lives, too many families have lost loved ones, to let this stand, without saying something.

A current candidate for political office, has declared herself a Vietnam Veteran, and it's just not true. This candidate is Christal Corliss, and she is running for Plymouth Township Trustee. Ms. Corliss portrayed herself a Vietnam Veteran-USAF in a campaign flier sent out to residents of Plymouth Township, by a slate of candidates for the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees. They are running on the Democratic side of the ballot. They call themselves Women For Plymouth. The campaign literature in question is simply a piece, listing the qualifications of all of the five candidates.

I was made aware of this by a township resident, and was asked how this could be? I didn't know, but I decided to check it out. I went straight to her campaign page, and began looking things over. What I found is that she is 62 years old. That puts her in high school when the Vietnam War ended in 1975, with the fall of Saigon. So in essence, this doesn't qualify her to even be a Vietnam Era Veteran, much less a Vietnam Veteran.

I decided to ask Ms. Corliss about this, and she responded. She claims that she went through Air Force Basic Training in November of 1977. That was right around the date I would have guessed, and she admitted it. I informed her that the Vietnam War ended 2 years before she went to basic training, and she simply stated that the Air Force classified her that way. I didn't believe that, so I began doing my own research.

I spoke to a friend of mine, who not only served in Vietnam, but made a career out of the Air Force, and retired as a Major. He was not happy on two counts. First, he was not happy about a person who never set foot “in country” portraying themselves as a Vietnam Veteran. That distinction is important. That distinction is only for those who served in a combat zone. Those who served during the Vietnam War, but for whatever reason, did not serve in a combat zone, are correctly
classified as Vietnam Era Veterans.

Christal Corliss is neither. To be a Vietnam Era Veteran, you needed to be in the military between the years 1964-1975. That is the time frame. My friend was not the only Vietnam Veteran I checked with either. I know a great many Vietnam Veterans, and I checked with multiple sources.
They are all in agreement on the dates mentioned. If you served in the military between 1962-1975 you are entitled to be called a Vietnam Era Veteran. If you served in a combat zone between 1962-1975, you are entitled to be classified as a Vietnam Veteran.

The VA website was another source I checked, and it is slightly different. According to the VA website, to be classified as Vietnam Era, you needed to be in the military between 1964-1975, and in order to be classified as a Vietnam Veteran, the years are 1961-1975. All are in agreement that 1975 is the cutoff, so there is absolutely no question that Christal Corliss simply does not qualify as either a Vietnam Veteran, or a Vietnam Era Veteran. I will take her at her word on her service in the Air Force, and thank her for that, but what she did, by portraying herself as a Vietnam Veteran, is deceitful. It is deceitful and it is disgusting.

Anybody who has served our nation in the military, knows their classification. She can't claim ignorance on this. Especially calling herself a veteran, when she never set foot in a combat zone. That is the most galling thing of all. Maybe you could get confused on what constitutes a Vietnam Era Veteran, but every veteran that I know, will tell you that there is no confusion on whether or not you set foot in that country.

The bottom line is this. When you go to basic training, fully 2 years after the war ended, you know in your heart of hearts, that you should not be walking around telling folks that you served in the
Vietnam War. To put that on a piece of campaign literature, in order to deceive people into voting for you, is even worse. It gives the word disgusting a whole new meaning.

It is stolen valor in my opinion. At the very least, it is a slap in the face to every single man and woman who served during that war. It is a slap in the face to every single family that lost a loved one during that war, and it is a slap in the face to every single voter that received that piece of campaign literature, that falsely portrayed her military service.

I say this because just as sure as the Sun rises in the East, there will be undecided voters that will see this piece of campaign literature, and see that Christal Corliss has portrayed herself as a
Vietnam Veteran, and feel good about making a decision to vote for a Vietnam Veteran for Plymouth Township Trustee. Many voters will not take the time to check and see that she lied about her service. They will believe her, because most people just don't expect others to lie
about something so serious, and claiming to be a Vietnam Veteran, when you know that is false, is as serious as it gets.

Stolen valor, is a serious thing. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 was signed by President Barack Obama on June 3, 2013. In short, the Act makes it a federal crime to fraudulently claim to be a recipient of certain military decorations or medals in order to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit.

If Christal Corliss was truly a Vietnam Veteran like she claimed to be in the campaign literature, she would have received the Vietnam Service Medal. If she did not receive the VSM, then she is not a Vietnam Veteran like she claimed. While the VSM is not expressly listed as one of the medals covered in the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, it is my opinion, that claiming to be a Vietnam Veteran in order to entice voters to vote for you, would be a tangible benefit, as stated in the Stolen Valor Act of 2013.

The bottom line, is that while I do not think that Christal Corliss violated the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, it is my opinion that she has violated the spirit of the Stolen Valor Act. I'll leave that up to the readers to decide for themselves. What I do know, is that Christal Corliss should apologize for this, and do it in a very public way. This is not about politics. This is about integrity. It's about character. It's about honesty. It's about decency. It's about the men and women who served in that war.

Another person who should be ashamed, is the woman who is running for Plymouth Township Supervisor. This piece of literature that was mailed to Plymouth Township voters, was paid for by The Committee To Elect Mary Starr-Supervisor. I'm not going to try and guess whether or not Mary Starr knew about this deceitful portrayal of Christal's military service, but she paid for it, so in my opinion, she is responsible for the content. Mary Starr, who portrays herself as a highly educated person, qualified to be the next Plymouth Township Supervisor, should have vetted this piece of literature. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. Either way, she's responsible for it getting
into the mailboxes of Plymouth Township voters, and she owes our veterans an apology as well.

In the end, I'll not try to tell folks who to vote for. Maybe this isn't a deal breaker for folks who want to support Ms. Corliss. That is your decision to make, and you get to make that decision freely, because of the men and women who actually set foot in a combat zone, and defended our nation, our flag, our constitution, and our freedoms. Just know that Christal Corliss did not do that. Not in Vietnam, and not in the Vietnam Era. Christal Corliss owes our veterans a humble apology, and I sincerely hope that they get it, because they damn sure earned it...