CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE NAVY VALOR BOARD ABUSE
The Issue
ATTENTION US MARINES & SAILORS - MARINE CORPS VALOR SCANDAL.
Secretary of the Navy DelToro was duty-bound to acknowledge that the President of his Valor Board unduly influenced the board of 6 Vietnam Veterans. This action was unjust and dishonorable. The evidence is contained in Department of Defense documents, and it is undisputed.
Additional victims have come forward indicating that was not an isolated case. You or someone you know may also be a victim of a tainted valor board during the tenure of this valor board president which spans from 2008 to the present.
Backstory: In 2018 a Marine Corps Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient submitted valor awards for five Marines and one Navy Corpsman based on actions at Hue City Vietnam during the '68 TET Offensive. All awards were downgraded or rejected. This is not uncommon when evaluating valor. Documents obtained later through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) indicated that the President of the Navy Valor Board may be guilty of undue influence.
Additional FOIA material confirmed that the President of the Navy Valor Board clearly exceeded his lawful authority. One of the most sacred trusts promised to America’s combat veterans who shed blood on foreign soil is an impartial valor award process. Three of the 6 Hue City vets have died. Norris Brenden was killed in action (shot in the head) on 5 Feb 1968 at Hue City. Josef Burghardt was shot in the neck on 28 February 1968 and remained a quadriplegic for his remaining days. Nick Carangio received 3 Purple Hearts and passed from Agent Orange complications. The six Hue City vets in question were the recipients of 12 Purple Hearts in Vietnam.
Evidence: Department of Navy official documents provide the evidence of their own misdeed.
An official memo dated 23 March 2022 from the Navy Valor Board President to his supervisor falsely accused a Medal of Honor recipient of submitting a valor award packet for five Marines and one Navy Corpsman in exchange for their submitting eyewitness statements for his Medal of Honor. The valor president labeled this as a “QUID PRO QUO.” Dictionaries define this phrase as a “favor for a favor.”
Demands to prove this libelous accusation have gone unanswered to this day. It gets worse.
Navy Officials informed the six Hue City vets that no appeals could be made back to the original valor board, but offered an avenue to appeal: THE NAVY BOARD OF CORRECTION (NBCR):
The NBCR is advertised as an independent entity with a mission to address errors or injustices made by the original valor board. The six Hue City vets appealed to the NBCR citing errors and injustices, but that appeal was denied. FOIA documents later yielded a Letter dated 22 June 2023 from the Valor Board President to the President of the Navy Board of Correction (NBCR).
Excerpt from letter…..“We (the valor president) determined that the petitioners are NOT entitled to either the NX (Navy Cross) or SSM (Silver Star) and therefore recommend NBCR deny relief.”
The valor board president is “recommending” that the Board of Correction President agree with his decision to reject the nominated valor awards. This recommendation was inappropriate since the valor board president based it on his false quid pro quo belief. At this point, the NBCR could no longer be an unbiased judge of valor. They were pressured to agree with a colleague, and they did exactly that. They rejected the appeals.
This letter of 22 June may be considered business as usual, except that the valor board president sent it 8 months prior to the NBCR's meeting to decide the appeal. It's no different than a judge telling the jury to find a defendant guilty before deliberation. The Navy Board of Correction is a sham entity and proves that American combat veterans have no legitimate venue to contest material errors or injustices in valor awards.
The above evidence alone would normally trigger an Inspector General investigation, but the SECNAV considered the matter closed and refused five requests for investigations. They tied up their loose ends in a letter dated 1 Feb. 2024 which acknowledged that the president of the NAVY Valor Board unduly influenced the valor board of 5 Marines and 1 Corpsman who distinguished themselves at Hue City during the 1968 TET offensive.
Below are verbatim excerpts from that official Department of Navy document and they constitute the smoking gun. The SECNAV initialed a final report that stated verbatim:
(The NDBDM is the President of the Valor Board.)
“…the comments made by the NDBDM reflect a potential lack of impartiality which calls the fairness of the NDBDM review into question. At the very least, the apparent lack of impartiality reflected in the words of the NDBDM president created the appearance of impropriety in the valor award adjudication process, and, has the potential to undermine confidence in this process.”
The phrase, “at the very least” suggests that this Board President tainted valor boards affecting other American combat veterans.
This is an unprecedented admission of guilt, but the Navy refuses to investigate, aware that hundreds of similar cases will be exposed. If an FBI agent was found guilty of undue influence on a case, then every case investigated by that agent MUST be reviewed. The agent would never be allowed to testify in court. It is an integrity issue. Yet, the president of the valor board remains at his position.
The SECNAV attempted to resolve the issue with a new valor board. Although he excluded the NDBDM, the Presidents of the Board of Correction (NBCR) and Council of Review Boards (CORB) provided input. These 2 employees were colleagues and co-conspirators with the NDBDM since they were aware of the quid pro quo false accusation yet neither took corrective action. Their inaction to stop an integrity issue also made them guilty parties. The petitioners filed a formal complaint based on this conflict of interest per DOD policies. The Asst SECNAV of Manpower did not reply.
If a judge were found to have exerted undue influence over a trial, the justice system would require a review of EVERY case that the judge adjudicated. No such investigation is in progress.
The Department of Defense, Marine Corps, and Navy IGs refused several requests to investigate. They understood that a review of redacted documents combined with interviews could lead to the opening of Pandora’s box of similar cases, and possible civil or criminal prosecutions on civil rights violations.
WHY A PETITION:
The Dept. of Navy’s unspoken strategy is delay, deny or await the surrender or death of the veterans or their families. They are very successful at this tactic. The ONLY remedy to restore the integrity of valor awards is citizen pressure.
It has been seven years of exchanging emails, letters, and phone calls. The Navy refused to reply to 13 communications requesting simple answers to simple questions. Bureaucrats have the luxury of ignoring the consequences of their dishonorable acts. They ignore individual citizen complaints with bureaucratic babble quoting policies that don’t apply.
We need your voice to collectively speak for the thousands of combat veterans and their families, who can no longer speak for themselves. Hundreds of valor medals may have been unduly influenced due to the favoritism and bias of those who have never been under fire. Their misuse of power undermines the spirit of valor these medals are designed to honor. Those who have genuinely served our nation with absolute bravery and integrity need your voice.
THE NAVY VALOR SYSTEM IS SERIOUSLY BROKEN AND MUST BE REPAIRED!
The Hue City 5 Marines and 1 Corpsman are respectfully requesting that:
1. A Congressional Inquiry based on the SECNAV’S admission of undue influence.
2. A Department of Defense Inspector General investigation.
3. An outside review of every questionable valor award case under the 17-year term of the board president.
4. An independent body to recommend changes to the Navy Valor Award process.
5. That the Presidents of the Valor Board, Board of Correction, and Council of Review Board, resign or be terminated immediately.
6. That Asst. Secretary of Navy of Manpower resign or be reprimanded.
7. That the 6 Hue City Vets receive a new valor board minus current valor staff.
We the undersigned agree that Congress and the DOD Inspector General conduct an investigation into questionable valor boards conducted from 2005 to 2025
Check Link to MOH video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Kvu30W4X25weBWKtReLAvWdXJCAeO8z/view?usp=sharing
Click on Link below to a magazine article which another victim of SECNAV bogus valor boards by the same players.
The magazine article concerns Doris Miller, a WWII hero assigned to the USS West Virginia as a messman when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. A movie based on Millers actions at Pearl Harbor starred Cuba Gooding Jr. Miller heroically carried wounded to safety during the attack and manned a 50 Cal anti-aircraft weapon shooting down several Japanese zeros. He was nominated for a Medal of Honor but received a Navy Cross. President Obama ordered a review of African American servicemen who was awarded our nation's second highest award to determine if documented systemic racism (AT THAT TIME) played a part in reduced valor awards. James Nierle, the same president of the Navy Valor board concerning the 6 Vietnam Vets played a part, according to the article, in denying Miller a Medal of Honor.
https://afro.com/the-united-states-navy-refuses-to-acknowledge-its-racist-past/
195
The Issue
ATTENTION US MARINES & SAILORS - MARINE CORPS VALOR SCANDAL.
Secretary of the Navy DelToro was duty-bound to acknowledge that the President of his Valor Board unduly influenced the board of 6 Vietnam Veterans. This action was unjust and dishonorable. The evidence is contained in Department of Defense documents, and it is undisputed.
Additional victims have come forward indicating that was not an isolated case. You or someone you know may also be a victim of a tainted valor board during the tenure of this valor board president which spans from 2008 to the present.
Backstory: In 2018 a Marine Corps Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient submitted valor awards for five Marines and one Navy Corpsman based on actions at Hue City Vietnam during the '68 TET Offensive. All awards were downgraded or rejected. This is not uncommon when evaluating valor. Documents obtained later through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) indicated that the President of the Navy Valor Board may be guilty of undue influence.
Additional FOIA material confirmed that the President of the Navy Valor Board clearly exceeded his lawful authority. One of the most sacred trusts promised to America’s combat veterans who shed blood on foreign soil is an impartial valor award process. Three of the 6 Hue City vets have died. Norris Brenden was killed in action (shot in the head) on 5 Feb 1968 at Hue City. Josef Burghardt was shot in the neck on 28 February 1968 and remained a quadriplegic for his remaining days. Nick Carangio received 3 Purple Hearts and passed from Agent Orange complications. The six Hue City vets in question were the recipients of 12 Purple Hearts in Vietnam.
Evidence: Department of Navy official documents provide the evidence of their own misdeed.
An official memo dated 23 March 2022 from the Navy Valor Board President to his supervisor falsely accused a Medal of Honor recipient of submitting a valor award packet for five Marines and one Navy Corpsman in exchange for their submitting eyewitness statements for his Medal of Honor. The valor president labeled this as a “QUID PRO QUO.” Dictionaries define this phrase as a “favor for a favor.”
Demands to prove this libelous accusation have gone unanswered to this day. It gets worse.
Navy Officials informed the six Hue City vets that no appeals could be made back to the original valor board, but offered an avenue to appeal: THE NAVY BOARD OF CORRECTION (NBCR):
The NBCR is advertised as an independent entity with a mission to address errors or injustices made by the original valor board. The six Hue City vets appealed to the NBCR citing errors and injustices, but that appeal was denied. FOIA documents later yielded a Letter dated 22 June 2023 from the Valor Board President to the President of the Navy Board of Correction (NBCR).
Excerpt from letter…..“We (the valor president) determined that the petitioners are NOT entitled to either the NX (Navy Cross) or SSM (Silver Star) and therefore recommend NBCR deny relief.”
The valor board president is “recommending” that the Board of Correction President agree with his decision to reject the nominated valor awards. This recommendation was inappropriate since the valor board president based it on his false quid pro quo belief. At this point, the NBCR could no longer be an unbiased judge of valor. They were pressured to agree with a colleague, and they did exactly that. They rejected the appeals.
This letter of 22 June may be considered business as usual, except that the valor board president sent it 8 months prior to the NBCR's meeting to decide the appeal. It's no different than a judge telling the jury to find a defendant guilty before deliberation. The Navy Board of Correction is a sham entity and proves that American combat veterans have no legitimate venue to contest material errors or injustices in valor awards.
The above evidence alone would normally trigger an Inspector General investigation, but the SECNAV considered the matter closed and refused five requests for investigations. They tied up their loose ends in a letter dated 1 Feb. 2024 which acknowledged that the president of the NAVY Valor Board unduly influenced the valor board of 5 Marines and 1 Corpsman who distinguished themselves at Hue City during the 1968 TET offensive.
Below are verbatim excerpts from that official Department of Navy document and they constitute the smoking gun. The SECNAV initialed a final report that stated verbatim:
(The NDBDM is the President of the Valor Board.)
“…the comments made by the NDBDM reflect a potential lack of impartiality which calls the fairness of the NDBDM review into question. At the very least, the apparent lack of impartiality reflected in the words of the NDBDM president created the appearance of impropriety in the valor award adjudication process, and, has the potential to undermine confidence in this process.”
The phrase, “at the very least” suggests that this Board President tainted valor boards affecting other American combat veterans.
This is an unprecedented admission of guilt, but the Navy refuses to investigate, aware that hundreds of similar cases will be exposed. If an FBI agent was found guilty of undue influence on a case, then every case investigated by that agent MUST be reviewed. The agent would never be allowed to testify in court. It is an integrity issue. Yet, the president of the valor board remains at his position.
The SECNAV attempted to resolve the issue with a new valor board. Although he excluded the NDBDM, the Presidents of the Board of Correction (NBCR) and Council of Review Boards (CORB) provided input. These 2 employees were colleagues and co-conspirators with the NDBDM since they were aware of the quid pro quo false accusation yet neither took corrective action. Their inaction to stop an integrity issue also made them guilty parties. The petitioners filed a formal complaint based on this conflict of interest per DOD policies. The Asst SECNAV of Manpower did not reply.
If a judge were found to have exerted undue influence over a trial, the justice system would require a review of EVERY case that the judge adjudicated. No such investigation is in progress.
The Department of Defense, Marine Corps, and Navy IGs refused several requests to investigate. They understood that a review of redacted documents combined with interviews could lead to the opening of Pandora’s box of similar cases, and possible civil or criminal prosecutions on civil rights violations.
WHY A PETITION:
The Dept. of Navy’s unspoken strategy is delay, deny or await the surrender or death of the veterans or their families. They are very successful at this tactic. The ONLY remedy to restore the integrity of valor awards is citizen pressure.
It has been seven years of exchanging emails, letters, and phone calls. The Navy refused to reply to 13 communications requesting simple answers to simple questions. Bureaucrats have the luxury of ignoring the consequences of their dishonorable acts. They ignore individual citizen complaints with bureaucratic babble quoting policies that don’t apply.
We need your voice to collectively speak for the thousands of combat veterans and their families, who can no longer speak for themselves. Hundreds of valor medals may have been unduly influenced due to the favoritism and bias of those who have never been under fire. Their misuse of power undermines the spirit of valor these medals are designed to honor. Those who have genuinely served our nation with absolute bravery and integrity need your voice.
THE NAVY VALOR SYSTEM IS SERIOUSLY BROKEN AND MUST BE REPAIRED!
The Hue City 5 Marines and 1 Corpsman are respectfully requesting that:
1. A Congressional Inquiry based on the SECNAV’S admission of undue influence.
2. A Department of Defense Inspector General investigation.
3. An outside review of every questionable valor award case under the 17-year term of the board president.
4. An independent body to recommend changes to the Navy Valor Award process.
5. That the Presidents of the Valor Board, Board of Correction, and Council of Review Board, resign or be terminated immediately.
6. That Asst. Secretary of Navy of Manpower resign or be reprimanded.
7. That the 6 Hue City Vets receive a new valor board minus current valor staff.
We the undersigned agree that Congress and the DOD Inspector General conduct an investigation into questionable valor boards conducted from 2005 to 2025
Check Link to MOH video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Kvu30W4X25weBWKtReLAvWdXJCAeO8z/view?usp=sharing
Click on Link below to a magazine article which another victim of SECNAV bogus valor boards by the same players.
The magazine article concerns Doris Miller, a WWII hero assigned to the USS West Virginia as a messman when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. A movie based on Millers actions at Pearl Harbor starred Cuba Gooding Jr. Miller heroically carried wounded to safety during the attack and manned a 50 Cal anti-aircraft weapon shooting down several Japanese zeros. He was nominated for a Medal of Honor but received a Navy Cross. President Obama ordered a review of African American servicemen who was awarded our nation's second highest award to determine if documented systemic racism (AT THAT TIME) played a part in reduced valor awards. James Nierle, the same president of the Navy Valor board concerning the 6 Vietnam Vets played a part, according to the article, in denying Miller a Medal of Honor.
https://afro.com/the-united-states-navy-refuses-to-acknowledge-its-racist-past/
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Petition created on March 7, 2025