We have talked of Willie,, but somehow he was never posted to HoSI
This is old news to some but worth reading for all, as Willie was one of the biggest posers ever.
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The persona
Big WIllie's military service — he said he was drafted in 1964 and fought in the Vietnam War — was key to his relationships with the power brokers in L.A., especially at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Historian James Bultema, a former member of the LAPD who joined after his own service in Vietnam, said that experience would have endeared Willie to people on the force, which backed the street racers.
"Back then, when I went through the academy in 1970, I bet you 60-70% of the class were all veterans," Bultema said. "So ... that background, like I said, would have won him over to a lot of cops."
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Stories of valor
Tales of Willie’s heroics in Vietnam are well known among friends, family and members of the Brotherhood. Willie was a bomb disposal technician. Willie jumped out of airplanes. Willie ate snakes to survive. It seemed like maybe the stories had taken on a life of their own in the hands of people who wanted Willie to be larger than life. One bit of lore involved him being saved by a fellow soldier after getting wounded — an incident that supposedly ended Willie’s military service in 1966. Several obituaries for Willie mentioned his work as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces. So did the program from the memorial service following his death in 2012.
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Deception
None of it was true. The Army’s records, provided to The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that Willie never completed basic training and was honorably discharged in 1966 due to a preexisting medical issue. There is no record of Willie being deployed to Vietnam and serving in the Army Special Forces there. The story Willie told that impressed politicians and police — it’s a lie.
A page from Willie's military file
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Willie served TWO(2) months and was "honorably" separated, rank of E1, on a medical discharge
link: Read Willie's story in all his glory