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-   -   Armando Cordoba Special Forces POW Liar and Fraud (http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35125)

Team Sergeant 09-16-2011 11:01

Armando Cordoba Special Forces POW Liar and Fraud
 
Armando Cordoba Special Forces POW ???
We are going to find out.
Team Sergeant




7 1/2 months as POW
From Green Beret to restaurant owner
By Jason Campbell
Reporter jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3544
POSTED September 16, 2011 1:57 a.m.

Armando Cordoba was 3 ˝ klicks behind enemy lines on a recon mission in Cambodia when he realized that he was in trouble.

With only two fellow Green Berets by his side, Cordoba could see the North Vietnamese Army gathering in the jungle in front of him. It started to become clear that the helicopter that dropped them made a serious topographical error.

So he and his men did the only thing that they could. They radioed in for confirmation that they were in fact deeper into enemy territory than they were supposed to be, waited for word that an evacuation was coming and slowly started to back out.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

The NVA spotted the three men and opened up on their position. The Green Berets – one of the Army’s Special Forces Groups that receives extensive outdoor survival training – fired back as they retreated towards the evacuation zone. The cover fire and the assistance of a pair of gunships was enough to get them to the bird that was waiting, and they piled in.

And then everything went black.

“They hit the tail of the helicopter and it went down. When I finally woke up there was smoke everywhere, and I could hear one of our men screaming,” Cordoba said. “I started working my way over there and that’s when I felt a gun press against my neck and heard a command telling me to stop. The next thing I knew I got hit in the face with the butt of the gun – it knocked my top teeth out and everything – and I came to with a bag over my head and my hands tied up.

“I knew then what was going to happen.”

Life as a Prisoner of War

For 7 ˝ months Cordoba was kept as a prisoner by the NVA in a series of camps that he believes were in Cambodia and Laos. They would remain caged in for 18 hours a day, and would receive only minimal amounts of food and water. Contact among the prisoners was strictly prohibited – even eye contact would result in a visit from the guards.

And treatment, he said, was a nightmare. Waterboarding was a regular occurrence, and other forms of torture used to try and coax information out of the prisoners included inserting bamboo shoots underneath finger and toenails. Electrocuting prisoners by forcing them to stand in water that had been wired was also a tactic, Cordoba said, that was used.

“The things that they did were brutal,” he said. “But they never got any information out of me.”



http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/1/article/27323/

Pete 09-16-2011 11:07

"......a handful of pilots....."
 
He escaped with "..........a handful of pilots..............". That means at least two.

So counting himself that would be a group of at least three that escaped.

And the number of times a group of 3 or more American POWs escaped from captivity during the VN war was__________?

1stindoor 09-16-2011 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete (Post 414451)
He escaped with "..........a handful of pilots..............". That means at least two.

So counting himself that would be a group of at least three that escaped.

And the number of times a group of 3 or more American POWs escaped from captivity during the VN war was__________?

Pete, Pete, Pete....you know we can't release that kind of information...it was a classified escape.

Eagle5US 09-16-2011 13:05

He was listed as of 9/11 on POWNETWORK...

Richard 09-16-2011 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle5US (Post 414462)
He was listed as of 9/11 on POWNETWORK...

They added him this morning 9/16/2011 after I sent them the newpaper article and let them know of the issues related to the truth of his POW claims.

Quote:

On it! Just posted him. It's pure BS.

Mary
I also sent an e-mail to the reporter expressing the problems with Cordoba's claims, providing him with the links to check the POW/MIA records, and suggesting he follow up by browsing the POW Network's web-site and read Jug Burkett's 'Stolen Valor' to understand how large the problem is - no answer yet.

http://memory.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html

http://www.axpow.org/vietnamescapes.pdf

Richard :munchin

Team Sergeant 09-16-2011 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle5US (Post 414462)
He was listed as of 9/11 on POWNETWORK...

LOL, I also sent Mary an email with this guys data.... she just posted it I'm sure.....;)

Eagle5US 09-16-2011 14:12

There's so much ...sniffle...love in here.....

it's...sniffle sniffle....touching. Really..


:D

Eagle5US 09-16-2011 15:47

Perhaps defrauding the VA as well....
 
The reported sent me a response...note the bold / highlight...

Major Klapperich,

I received a tip from a reader about Mr. Cordoba's service, and my editor sent me to interview him. He provided me with his VA card that signified that he was a Prisoner of War (our photographer took a picture that was initially going to run with the story), and noted that he was attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment during the interview. Other information he provided verbally checked out upon further investigation (like the quick answer about which group he was attached with, where he was stationed when in country and his general demeanor and knowledge in recanting the scenarios in which he faced.) I felt no reason at the time to ask for his discharge papers because his VA card clearly had "Prisoner of War" printed across the bottom and it would seem that the federal government would need the documentation to prove that in order for that card to be distributed.

I will definitely look into this matter further, and appreciate the letter of your concern. The last thing that we would want to do is tarnish the legacy of true special forces personnel and prisoners of war -- let alone those killed in action.

Respectfully,

Jason Campbell
Staff Reporter, Manteca Bulletin
(209) 249-3544 (office)
(209) 612-5225 (cell)

Interesting...:munchin

Oh, yes, and I did check-Mr. Cordoba is NOT listed in the database of almost 160,000 POW / MIA personnel maintained by the Library of Congress for the period of the Vietnam War.

sinjefe 09-16-2011 17:59

The 75th Ranger Regiment, as such, didn't exist until 1984.

mark46th 09-16-2011 18:30

You would think these jack wagons would do a little homework before they started spouting this crap...

Richard 09-16-2011 18:33

I've asked the reporter for specifics on the units/locations/times claimed by Mr Cordero so they can be checked with the historical record.

Tic..toc...tic...toc...;)

Richard
:munchin

Tress 09-16-2011 19:29

Quote:

Originally posted by mark46th:

You would think these jack wagons would do a little homework before they started spouting this crap...
Which jack wagons were you referring to, the posers or the reporters? :confused:

Tress

Gypsy 09-16-2011 19:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant (Post 414449)
Armando Cordoba was 3 ˝ klicks behind enemy lines on a recon mission in Cambodia when he realized that he was in trouble.


Yep, seems Mr. Cordoba is about to learn the definition of the word trouble...

PRB 09-16-2011 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gypsy (Post 414537)
Yep, seems Mr. Cordoba is about to learn the definition of the word trouble...

LOL, Armando Cordoba was 3 ˝ klicks behind a bullshit story when he realized that he was in trouble.. .....

Team Sergeant 09-16-2011 20:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark46th (Post 414519)
You would think these jack wagons would do a little homework before they started spouting this crap...

I'll give this one to the reporters, especially if the guy showed them an ID with a big POW stamped at the bottom....

It's USASFC facebook people that need to feel a little heat right now.;) They posted the story on their Facebook page.:munchin


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