Update On Helping A Friend!
I am part of the veteran community on Steemit. I consider it an honor to be a veteran and part of this community. It is a place where as veterans we can talk to each other and not be judged like many people do on Steemit. There are some things that people do not understand about the things we did or had to do during our time in the military.
I had a friend that I got to know over the course of about a year and a half. His name is Bobby (aka) @solarparadise. He has been having problems with his eyes and it continued to get worse. He went to the doctor and there were two surgeries he needed so he would not go blind, one of which was said to be experimental and his insurance would not pay for it. He had to get this one done before the doctor would do the bigger and more expensive surgery which the insurance would cover. He does still need to get his eyes fixed that need did not go away in all of this.
I went to the veteran community and asked if this community could do something to help him pay for the first experimental surgery he needed. Like clockwork, @guiltyparties and others were off and running reaching out to people they knew, vets and non-vets alike to get this started. In just a couple of hours, we were off and running and had donations going to his account on Steemit.
That night he calls me after he sees this and thanks me and is happy about this, as he can get his eyes fixed. Then all of a sudden the next day I see a post go up to stop sending donations. He said in the post a friend got a hold of his wife that there may be a cheaper clinic and what he had in his account should be enough.
He calls today and I am busy working on the small house so I miss the call and he leaves a message for me to call right away. He said he told his dad about what was happening and his dad told him it would be jail time for this, I could not understand what he was talking about and then I see a post go up about him not really being a veteran. I then get a phone call and he tells me that he has been lying to me about being a veteran the whole time we have known each other and he has to send back the funds because it would be a federal offense, I guess for stolen valor, I was just in shock.
I got a community that I believed in starting a campaign to help this "veteran" that had lied to me for so long and was not really a veteran. I had talked to him for over a year and a half on the phone for 2 or more hours at a time sharing stories about my time in Iraq and he had also shared stories about his time in Iraq. They were stories that only a person that had been to Iraq would know the specifics too. At this point, I do not know if they were his stories or someone else's he had heard and claimed as his own. He said he was a contractor in Iraq so he may have seen some crap there too and did have some stories to tell.
I am sorry this has happened and it hurts to know you put trust in someone and it has all been a lie. It was not just me he had lied to but also his wife, they were married after his time in service from my understanding. He has also lied to many other people and friends about being a veteran. This something he will have to deal with and it may come at a great cost to him. I am glad that he did tell me this as it is hard to admit you are wrong. Now hopefully we can move forward with life and put the past behind us.
The one thing and the reason I am writing this post is that I do not want to hurt the integrity of the veteran community on Steemit. I am sorry if it has. It is a great community and I have made many friends in that community and have also met a fellow veteran and hope to be able to meet more and share a story or two with them. I am a community leader in this community and if I have learned one thing, as a leader, from my grandfather growing up and from my military service is when a man is wrong he takes responsibility and fixes the problem. Makes sure, within his power, it never happens again.
We are building a strong community for veterans and all of the supporters of this community. I hope to see it grow and move forward and be one of the best communities on Steemit.
Thank You for stepping up to the plate with the knowledge you found out...
This was not really that easy all the way around. I feel bad for all the people that were lied it is hard to admit when you are wrong and owning up to it. I am glad that this is done and we can move forward.
Oh my gosh. There is nothing that irritates me more than people lying about serving. This just goes way over the top with learning that he attempted to use it for financial gain. Unbelievable
The good part of this is he came clean and he has returned all of the funds that were donated and some people sent the donations back to him because he does need the help. There are good points and bad points here. But @solarparadise being honest was the highlight of the whole thing. Now We can all move forward and get on with life. To me being honest after the fact does not change that he was dishonest for so long.
This is true and I'm glad he came forward.