CLAIMS

Dennis Earl Radcliffe is very involved with several veteran fraternal organizations in California. During one event, a Post #134 Mess Night, he listed his biography that detailed assignments to 1st Recon Battalion, Army Airborne School (Jump School), and BUD/S (SEAL) training at the Naval Special Warfare training Center, Coronado, CA.

Radcliffe claims that he served in Beirut, Lebanon where he was wounded in action on April 23, 1983 and was awarded the Purple Heart medal.

As the youngest sergeant (E-5) in the Marine Corps, he was assigned to SEAL Team 6.  On October 25, 1983 while with SEAL Team 6, Sergeant Radcliffe participated in the US Invasion of Grenada which also was called “Operation Urgent Fury”.

In December 1989, Staff Sergeant (E-6) Radcliffe also participated in “Operation Just Cause” in Panama.

Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) Radcliffe left Special Warfare February 1990 but was once again called upon for war and deployed to Kuwait in December 1990 where he was wounded in action again on January 18, 1991 while serving with Task Force Taro.

Radcliffe claimed that he retired on August 22, 1993 at the rank of First Sergeant (E-8). He also has the claim of 1st Sgt documented in the print and broadcast news media and on detachment brochures.

His decorations and awards include: SCUBA Badge, Gold jump wings, Purple Heart (2 awards), Combat Action w/4 bronze stars. (see Post #134 Mess Night Brochure for all awards)

As mentioned, Dennis Radcliffe is very involved with several veteran fraternal organizations in California. In this capacity, he participates in many supportive functions including the Gold Star Wives. He has also served as a Vice Commander and as a Commander for a few of these organizations.

He often wears the uniform of a 1st Sgt (E-8) as well as the awards that he has claimed.

FOIA RESULTS – SELECTED

FOIA RESULTS – COMPLETE

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

RANK

Dennis Earl Radcliffe’s records show him as being discharged as a Sergeant (E-5) vs. his claim of being a 1st Sgt (E-8). His chronological record of assignments list him as being Marine Detachment (MARDET) on the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) as a 8151/guard in 1983-1984. His photo from the USS Kitty Hawk WESTPAC 1984 cruise book shows him to be a Lance Corporal (E-3). This directly undermines his claim of being a Corporal (E-4) and a Sergeant (E-5) in 1983, unless there was a reduction in rank for disciplinary reasons.

MOS

Radcliffe’s official military record does not support him being in Recon or having attended Army Airborne School. He is listed as being a 0311 (Rifleman), 0151 (Admin Clerk) and a 3151 (Air Freight Transportation Clerk).

BUD/S (SEAL) TRAINING and SEAL TEAM 6

Although U.S. Marines do not go through SEAL training, a check of the BUD/S database was performed by Don Shipley in an effort to be thorough about this case file. Since Radcliffe claimed “BUDS/SEAL Class 184 Naval Special Warfare training center, Coronado, CA Mar’82-Sep ’82” Shipley added that Class 184 graduated on 23 October, 1992.  BUD/S Class 119 graduated on 24 September, 1982. Shipley stated that he did not base his verification on these facts and still checked the database for Radcliffe’s name. Radcliffe was not listed as having gone through BUD/S training.

AWARDS and COMBAT HISTORY

Radcliffe’s official military records do not support his claim of two (2) Purple Hearts. They also do not support his claim of five (5) Combat Action Ribbons. As a sidenote, the Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) doesn’t use 3/16″ Bronze Stars to denote subsequent awards. The CAR is a personal award and subsequent awards are denoted by 5/16″ Gold Stars (with a silver for 5 awards). In several photos it also looks like a “V” on his Purple Heart instead of a 5/16″ Gold Star. Although Radcliffe was with a unit that could have potentially deployed to Kuwait for ODS, there are no campaign medals listed that would support such a deployment.

BEIRUT, LEBANON

There are several things that preclude Radcliffe from serving in Beirut, Lebanon — i.e. lack of awards characteristic of deployment there, no reflective assignment in his military records, etc. The Beirut community checked a Purple Heart/WIA database and confirmed there were no Purple Heart awards for 23 April 1983. Further, there were no incidents recorded on this date in an exhaustive search of books and newspapers for any recorded action that would rate such an award.

STOLEN VALOR & DONATIONS

Both the awards of Purple Heart(s) and CAR(s), as well as wearing them on a uniform, may have put him Radcliffe in violation of the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. If these awards, along with his claims of combat and special warfare training, were used as part of an overall military profile to collect donations that he directly benefited from it could be problematic if Radcliffe can not account for those funds and/or produce the necessary documentation to support his service claims.

PHOTOS and SOCIAL MEDIA

PHOTOS

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SOCIAL MEDIA

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