“1991-200” | “force recon” | “3 tours and a few other things” —  Christopher Deane

BACKGROUND

Christopher George Deane comes to us from Boston, MA.   He is 42 years old as of June 2018.  Chris is an amateur baseball player and plays in local leagues around Boston.

Many people around Chris have the idea that he was in the Marine Corps, probably because it was well publicized.   Here Chris says he was in the USMC during a player profile interview…

Source: http://yawkeybaseball.com/player-profile-chris-deane/

Here is a more extensive interview that Chris did for a magazine, where he claimed that he served in the Marines for nine years, was a “sergeant of the Recon Division, stationed in Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, etc…

Source: https://issuu.com/brettrudy/docs/ne_base_nov_pg_42-43__1_

Some have claimed that Chris has told stories of being a P.O.W. and was once “attached to a car battery.”

We didn’t hear that claim directly but it is certainly supported by a POW tattoo.

Besides the POW tattoo on his shoulder, he has other military-themed tattoos.

(NOTE: Not sure of right and left due to images taken in mirror)

We reached out to Chris to find out what he had to say…

As the Private Message suggests, no active duty service could be found for Christopher Deane in the DoD Manpower database.  He did not answer and we did not pursue it with him further at that time.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was made for Chris Deane’s military records.

FOIA RESULTS

There was obviously no service dates and only a discharge date for October 7, 1994.  This does not support Deane’s claim of serving from 1991 – 2000.

Of particular interest is the “N/A” for RANK/GRADE.  If he showed up for boot camp, he would have at least been discharged as a private (E-1).

To be complete, we checked the POW list with our friends at POW Network.

Gulf War:  http://www.pownetwork.org/gulf/index_gulf_war.htm

Afghanistan: http://www.pownetwork.org/afghanistan/index_afghanistan_war.htm

There was no “Christopher Deane” listed.

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DISCUSSION & SUMMARY

DISCUSSION

Since there was only a discharge date, and no rank as well as no service time, we believe that he signed up for the Marines but never reported.  Our guess is that eventually, the Marine Corps discharged him in absentia when he never showed up.

The story that he gave in the article may be somewhat true in that he signed up for the Marines before he got an opportunity to play baseball for a professional farm team.  Perhaps he wanted to pursue that and just decided not to go into the Marines?  It is certainly plausible and there is no shame in that.

But, why would he say he was in the Marines for nine years, Sgt, Recon, POW and the rest?  What would make him do that if it is not true?

We reached out to Chris Deane again once we had his FOIA results.

Although Chris Deane did not answer, he saw all of the messages – even the last one on Monday 25 JUNE 2018 as annotated at the bottom.

We really wanted to get his side of the story but he chose not to answer.

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SUMMARY

Many of the claims attributed to Christopher Deane were not supported by his official military records. 

He got out with no rank vs. an E-5.  No CAR (Combat Action Ribbon) and no medals indicative of P.O.W.

In fact, Marines often say that you do not officially earn the title of “Marine” until you complete the advanced training segment of Marine Corps recruit training known as “The Crucible.”

STOLEN VALOR

If Chris Deane has used any of these claims to gain anything of value, including money or work positions, it could put him in direct violation of the Stolen Valor Act.

There was also a claim that he has PTSD, and works with veterans with PTSD.  What would he have gotten PTSD from?  His records do not support him in a war or military conflict.

EARLIER PHOTOS WITHOUT BEARD

MORE RECENT

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SOCIAL MEDIA

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• FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.deane.94

This Ain’t Hell: https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=80205