Posts
A man from Connecticut fighting for Ukraine has for decades lied to everyone, including his now former wife, about being a US war hero. After learning of his stolen valor, she ditched the marriage. [H/T New York Post]
James Vasquez, 48, became one of the most high-profile Americans to get over to Ukraine and help thwart the Russian invasion. Being the legend in his own mind that he claimed to be, he shared dramatic images from the front lines and also created controversy by claiming to have access to American weapons.
Vasquez constantly claimed to be a decorated US Army sergeant who unselfishly and quite heroically shared his incredible skill-set he acquired from his imaginary tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I was in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and I was in Iraq after 9/11 … This is a whole different animal,” Vasquez bragged in an online interview pleading for funds to help his brave Ukraine war efforts.
But eventually, Vasquez, a Norwalk-based home improvement contractor, has admitted to the New York Times that he’d misrepresented [as in 'lied'] his military record for decades — and was kicked out of the Army Reserves before ever going to war.
The Pentagon confirmed that he’d never been deployed, and had only been a private first class — the second lowest rank one can have in the Army— rather than a battle-tested sergeant.
 |
| Vasquez poses with George Castanza of 'Seinfeld' fame |
“I had to tell a million lies to get ahead,” Vasquez told the Times. However, he refused to elaborate on why he’d been kicked out of the military, where he specialized in fuel and electrical repairs rather than combat and heroic stuff.
“I didn’t realize it was going to come to this,” he said of the exposé, meaning: he didn't think he'd get caught.
His confession was an even bigger shock to his now-ex-wife Tina Vasquez, who had proudly told The Post when her husband first flew to Ukraine that war was “in his DNA.”
“He did the same thing after 9/11, rushed in to help. That’s just who he is — he’s my hero,” she proudly said at the time.
On Monday, she told The Post that she “was just as shocked as anybody else” to see her now-ex’s confessional.“It was just devastating to me. He fooled everybody.”
On Monday, she told The Post that she “was just as shocked as anybody else” to see her now-ex’s confessional.“It was just devastating to me. He fooled everybody.”
“I believed him. The war stories that had supposedly happened brought tears to his eyes. I felt terrible for what [he said] he had to go through and endure — and then come to find out it was all just a lie,” she said.
“Here I am, I’m with him for 11 years and I don’t even know the man I married.
“You think you know somebody and it just blows up in your face,” she said, adding it all “seems like a dream.”
Tina filed for divorce over “other personal reasons” last July when her charlatan husband announced he was heading back to Ukraine for a second time after a few months back in the US. The divorce is now finalized.
The Post could not immediately contact Vasquez, who has since deactivated the Twitter account he used to share his now-questionable tales of conflict alongside Ukraine’s far-right Da Vinci’s Wolves battalion.
“He’s a ghost now — nobody knows where he is,” his ex-wife said, saying that former friends have also been unable to get through to him but believe he is now back in the US possibly working for Uber Eats.
“He needs help and I hope he gets the help that he needs. I pray for him every day,” she said.
Vasquez had confessed to the Times as part of a larger exposé of Americans aiding Ukraine’s war efforts despite problematic pasts.
The only remaining question Americans have is "which political party did this guy belong to?"
No comments:
Post a Comment