csquare
05-30-2009, 06:55
I wonder if he actually had any medals awarded or was ever in Southeast Asia? At least they're going after him for lying.
KERRVILLE — A misdemeanor perjury charge has been filed against an U.S. Army veteran who falsely testified at a child custody hearing here that he'd received the Medal of Honor.
Russell Fris of Palmer admitted Friday that he'd gotten no such honor for service in Vietnam and blamed his testimony on miscommunication caused by his poor hearing and the influence of post-surgery medications.
“Unless someone is looking at me in the face, or I have a phone right up to my ear, I can't hear what people say,” said Fris, 56, who was released from Ellis County Jail after posting $5,000 bail. He'd spent a week behind bars.
However, Fris previously had spun the same tale of receiving the armed forces' highest award for valor in action against enemy forces, according to his girlfriend, Jennifer Knoulton, and the attorney of her former husband, John Knoulton.
“He's told me several times,” said Jennifer, who accepts Fris' explanation that he isn't on the official list of the 97 living medal recipients because his records are sealed.
Fris made the same claim on the stand at the March 6 hearing where Kerr County Court at Law Judge Spencer Brown granted John Knoulton's request to temporarily modify custody of the Knoultons' children.
A hearing transcript shows that after telling John Knoulton's lawyer, Pat Maguire, that he'd won the medal, Fris said: “There ain't no way you could have found out about it. My records are congressionally sealed.”
After inquiring of the Medal of Honor Society, Maguire alerted local authorities to possible perjury by Fris and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the possible violation of the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The federal law bars falsely representing oneself as having been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces, and expanded prohibitions against wearing, making or the unauthorized selling of military decorations.
Maguire, who has yet to hear from the FBI, said: “I just want him held accountable for lying.”
When Fris was asked Friday why Jennifer Knoulton contradicted his denial of previously making the false medal claim, he said: “I've got Purple Hearts, Distinguished Flying Crosses, medals for valor. I don't even know what all medals I do have.”
KERRVILLE — A misdemeanor perjury charge has been filed against an U.S. Army veteran who falsely testified at a child custody hearing here that he'd received the Medal of Honor.
Russell Fris of Palmer admitted Friday that he'd gotten no such honor for service in Vietnam and blamed his testimony on miscommunication caused by his poor hearing and the influence of post-surgery medications.
“Unless someone is looking at me in the face, or I have a phone right up to my ear, I can't hear what people say,” said Fris, 56, who was released from Ellis County Jail after posting $5,000 bail. He'd spent a week behind bars.
However, Fris previously had spun the same tale of receiving the armed forces' highest award for valor in action against enemy forces, according to his girlfriend, Jennifer Knoulton, and the attorney of her former husband, John Knoulton.
“He's told me several times,” said Jennifer, who accepts Fris' explanation that he isn't on the official list of the 97 living medal recipients because his records are sealed.
Fris made the same claim on the stand at the March 6 hearing where Kerr County Court at Law Judge Spencer Brown granted John Knoulton's request to temporarily modify custody of the Knoultons' children.
A hearing transcript shows that after telling John Knoulton's lawyer, Pat Maguire, that he'd won the medal, Fris said: “There ain't no way you could have found out about it. My records are congressionally sealed.”
After inquiring of the Medal of Honor Society, Maguire alerted local authorities to possible perjury by Fris and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the possible violation of the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The federal law bars falsely representing oneself as having been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces, and expanded prohibitions against wearing, making or the unauthorized selling of military decorations.
Maguire, who has yet to hear from the FBI, said: “I just want him held accountable for lying.”
When Fris was asked Friday why Jennifer Knoulton contradicted his denial of previously making the false medal claim, he said: “I've got Purple Hearts, Distinguished Flying Crosses, medals for valor. I don't even know what all medals I do have.”