Accused Military Fake Steven Burton Charged: Man Allegedly Wore Unearned medals To Class Reunion

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A Palm Springs man who was never in the military has been charged with wearing the Navy's highest honor.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles say 39-year-old Steven Burton was photographed wearing the Navy Cross along with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and other medals.

The U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday that a Navy commander attending her high school reunion noticed Burton wearing a Marine uniform with the medals and contacted the FBI.

Authorities say Burton claimed in Internet postings that he'd served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He's expected to surrender Thursday to face a charge of unauthorized wearing of military medals and could face up to a year in federal prison if convicted.

There was no telephone listing for a Steven Burton in Palm Springs.

Comments

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

No no no NO, this is all a HUGE misunderstanding. See, the guy started his own MILITIA and those are MILITIA MEDALS.

I started a militia and promoted myself to 6-star general plus admiral in charge of the air force.

[blueskybigstar]

What? He looks cray Z with that amount of medals on him.

[blueskybigstar]

dogman44 I'm a Fan of dogman44 45 fans permalink
I think it was a quote from Henry Ford. When asked about the rising
power of Unions, he said something to the effect of; Why should I fear
the Unions? I can pay one half of the working class to fight the other.
Ford was also a Fascist in the real sense of the word. He was a nazi
sympathizer. Right now my books are packed away. But the quote is
in a very interesting read called "Labor's Untold Story". It was written
by a couple of historians back around the late 50s early 60s. It is
profusely documented and tells the story of the struggle between
labor and the ruling class from the Civil War to the Eisenhower admin.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:13 AM on 11/12/2009
- blueskybigstar 204 fans permalink

fanned

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:20 AM on 11/12/2009
- Harvee Wallbanger I'm a fan of this user 41 fans permalink
"I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half. " - Jay Gould

Here you go, I found it for you.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:32 PM on 11/12/2009
- blueskybigstar 204 fans permalink

I think I fanned you already, but just in case I'll do it again.

[blueskybigstar]

These symbols of purple hearts and valor under fire and such are advertisements to their children, justifying their parents' loss of life, and get their families to enlist over and over again. These trinkets and baubles mean nothing. Look up Kay Griggs and you will see the state and extent of our corrupt military. If you just would see the amount of money and corruption there is in war for the very few who refer to you as serfs, then I believe you would feel my way. I have a hard time understanding patriotism when we have been the bad guys all over the world and our government is false to its own people.

[goldstardaughter]

Every Gold Star family has to decide for themselves whether or not their family member's sacrifice was justified or not. To say that these medals are trinkets and baubles and mean nothing is a simplification. I am proud of my father's 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Star, 26 Air Medals and Purple Heart because these represent the character and heroism of the man. My father hated war and had no illusions about it. He was there to do his job and get his men home safely.

[blueskybigstar]

I would be proud of him too if he fought in ww2 or the Korean War. War is not the answer, unless to defeat injustice. We need to educate ourselves. How are we to get to heaven if there are a million people who have lost their lives for false reasons and under our name?

[blueskybigstar]

Repost:

Cheating has become epidemic, especially by our leaders. The world becomes cynical and America has become Rome with all the same intrigues. Since World War 2 service has become more celebrated even though we have fought no good wars since that time. It stuns me that someone would like to be known to have been distinguished in military service when they only have the opposite of good to show for it. Jefferson and our founding fathers feared standing armies and feared patriotism that had anything to do with ridiculous statements of God and country. You know that the elite make jokes about how they just give people little trinkets and people will go and ddiiee for you.

[ICorpsDoc]

Good wars? What a silly statement.

I never thought I would do this but if I can paraphrase our last VP

"You fight the wars you have not the ones you wish you had"

There is no such thing as good combat or bad combat. There is a difference between easy combat and tough combat though.

You sign up to do a job and you do it. You are a tool in the bag of foreign policy tools that our govt has. Nothing more.

You take pride in what you did.

If you have ever done it you would have an idea of what I speak. Thinking the war was "good" or the sacrifice worth while has got nothing to do with the effort you put in and the things you did.

If you do not want to fight or are unwilling to fight then do not enlist or take that comission. And for cripe sakes do not join the combat arms.

I did and could not be prouder. And I fought in a totally worthless war.

[blueskybigstar]

"I did and could not be prouder. And I fought in a totally worthless war."

This shows just how effective the product is that they feed you.

Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe in right and wrong?

Bring back the draft. Otherwise we are just mercenaries for The Military Industrial Complex.

The Blackwater CEO was the highest paid in America. Cheeney owns hundreds of thousands of shares of H.Burton. Come one. There is no reason to fight wars now except for money.

[blueskybigstar]

Bring back the draft.

[RogerHWerner]

There's also a difference between war fought to defend yourself and war or expansion or choice. I would argue this forms the basis for the good vs bad war analogy.

[blueskybigstar]

Adm Boorda was awarded the medal. but not the "V" thingy. silver V for valor under enemie fire

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:33 PM on 11/11/2009
- blueskybigstar 204 fans permalink

Did you read the article? His commander said that he did qualify.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:58 PM on 11/11/2009
- LandFil I'm a Fan of LandFil permalink
Ultimately, the Navy decided that ADM Boorda did not qualify:

http://boards.law.af.mil/NAVY/BCNR/CY1998//06956-98.pdf

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:03 AM on 11/12/2009
- blueskybigstar 204 fans permalink

Because they were in on it, Dodo bird. Remember this was after investigations were going on about Ron Brown which was tidily covered over. Classic Rove, attack the man's strengths. He was the most honorable man in the military and the only civilian to make admiral. Funny, they don't give a reason, even though the quantity of evidence proving that he deserved the medal. They keep their opposition and lies short and sweet. What happened on nine one one was a coup at the Pentagon.

[ICorpsDoc]

"and the only civilian to make admiral"

I agree about the Admiral being a quality person and a tragic death.

But this quote above is both untrue and makes no sense. I know what you are trying to say:

He was the first enlisted man to make CNO ( a lot different than what you said)

[blueskybigstar]

I had to look it up. CNO=Chief of Naval Operations. Are you military?

[blueskybigstar]

They say this guy could get a year for this.

How much should Hillary get by pretending to have been in combat in pursuit of the most powerful position in the world, to command all our military?

[RogerHWerner]

Well what Clinton did was unfortunate and an exaggeration. What this guy did isn't comparable and a flagrant violation of federal law. By all means let's see if we can pass a federal statute making it a crime for a politician to exaggerate their accomplishments. Don't hold your breath.

[goldstardaughter]

This is not about having mental problems, pretending to be in the military or a lie that snowballed. You can bet that this is not the first time that this man claimed service and honors that were not his, nor would it have been the last time if someone had not acted. This man, and many more like him, are claiming honors that our service men and women have fought, bled and died for. We all say that we support our troops but many here look at this as harmless. How is this supporting troops to say that it is OK for someone who did not even serve to claim he was awarded some of our nation's highest honors? Let's have some respect for those who have served and earned the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart and other medals in combat at great physical and emotional cost. What he did is against the law and he deserves to be prosecuted.

[b1986]

Even though I think it was a real jerk move and he deserves to be publicly humiliated; prison... really??

[Poiks]

I agree. And what made that woman contact the FBI?? Seems weird to me.

[Poiks]

(talking to myself): I see that she was a navy commander. Nevermind!

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

...betcha he likes christmas tree ornaments too.

[trvstereo]

he should just told everyone that he invented post it notes.

[ddanimal]

If the military really gave a damn about honor and their reputation, they wouldnt be dropping depleted uranium on Iraq and Afghanistan.

[JBleep]

I was there. I knew something was up when he said he was promoted to 'Generalissimo'.

[CessnaDriver]

With Oak Leaf Clusters.

[cartach]

Get over it. Obviously the guy has some mental problems or he wouldn't go as far as he did by dressing up and wearing medals at a class reunion where at least some of his former classmates would know his real story. It's one thing to use the uniform and medals as part of a con for personal gain and entirely another just because you want to play dress- up. At least he appears to be pro military. I would think that a psychiatric examination is warranted before any criminal charges are laid. The next thing you know they'll be charging parents for dressing their young kids up in military gear.

[devildog21]

You're making an assumption of his mental health. There are low lifes in the world who would do this just to score points. You say he appears to be pro-military; if that were true, he would never even consider wearing that uniform and those medals without having earned them.

[BDAinVA]

Sounds like a lie that snowballed - I don't know if it was worth contacting the FBI over it. If she was that worried about it, the Commander could have just embarrassed the guy by asking him some questions that he couldn't possibly answer if he wasn't in the military.

[skullman]

I'm betting that he is a republican, warmonger, chickenhawk.