Dennis Yusko of the Times Union on He rallied for the troops and lied about his past:
Don Neddo, the force behind the region's biggest pro-U.S. troops rallies, will no longer organize the demonstrations after admitting Thursday that he fabricated his combat service.
Neddo, 70, never parachuted into Korean enemy lines with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade during the Korean War and never suffered frostbite overseas, as he claimed in a Times Union story on March 29. Neddo is not even a veteran.
I'm going to have to agree with Stephen of To The Barricades! on this one:
If you didn't wear a uniform, you don't get to wave the flag to lead the battle. If you took advantage of your power, money, or "medical infirmity" to avoid the draft while thousands of others took their chances thirty years ago you don't get to tell our men and women to go and fight and die; nor do you get to tell me to "love it or leave it." I have more respect for someone who went to jail as a draft resister than I do for someone like Dubya who used his father's influence to get an appointment to the Texas Air Guard, then proceeded to be AWOL for a year and a half (which, by the way, under the UCMJ and for most low ranking schmucks is called "desertion" and punishable by court martial).
The chickenhawks will of course make excuses for Neddo's lies, like they've made excuses for the Administration's lies. Understand this, don't lie about mythical Korean War service while trying to shame those of us opposed to un-Constitutional wars of "defensive" pre-emption. If there is one thing that veterans of all political persuasions detest, it's a poseur and liar trying to capitalize on their sacrifices. The pro-war crowd who propped this guy up as a hero should be ashamed. From a WNYT story on a Neddo organized pro-war rally, Neddo had this to say:
"Those [peace] demonstrators out there don't realize it. They better thank God President Bush is their president and not Hussein.because President Bush hasn't killed anybody," Don Neddo said to the crowd. "But Saddam, he'd love these demonstrators if they were in his country. [They] give him more fuel."
Really? The President has his own issues with military service to deal with. I don't care too much for anyone who goes AWOL and then expects those of us who honored our obligations to get in lock-step and do as we're told. Go pound sand…