BACKGROUND

Gerald Donnell Young comes to us from Urbandale, Iowa. Young is 50 years old as of August 2019.

Young joined the Iowa National Guard and claims he was deployed to Afghanistan twice. In 2003, Young was deployed to Afghanistan with the Iowa Army National Guard 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

It is during this 2003 tour in Afghanistan that things took a strange turn and forged Young’s future direction.

Young claims that out of five members of his squad, all were killed except him. They were guarding a fuel dump.

Young, being the only survivor, gave deep thought to how he could best honor and remember his battle buddies that never made it out alive.

So, Young’s idea was to…

… sell BBQ sauce.

Gerald Young is a disabled veteran who created Young G’s Barbeque Sauce after being the lone survivor of an attack on his platoon in Afghanistan.

Young said, “I end up being the only that survived the tragedy of incoming fire and I love to share all that I’m doing. This is what I’m doing for my fellow soldiers that stood side-by-side with me – fighting for our country.”

This first appears as a We Are Iowa news story, but the video is also posted to Gerald Young’s Young G’s BBQ sauce website.

https://www.ygsbbq.com/young-gs-story/

There are also two audio files posted from Young’s appearance on two radio shows. They were shortened to isolate the military claims. The entire interviews can be found on Young G’s website.

Various versions of this story appeared alongside a marketing campaign for Young G’s BBQ sauce.

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STORIES IN THE MEDIA

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https://qctimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/harkin-branstad-urge-hiring-of-disabled-people/article_4f13b908-4e51-5775-8138-d67392f73560.html

Gerald Young, a member of the Iowa Army National Guard 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, told the two politicians about the attack on his position in Afghanistan in 2003.

“Out of the four, I was the only one to survive,” he said.

Although he lived, he sustained massive spinal cord injuries that hindered his ability to move or even stand. But after receiving the family’s secret barbeque sauce from his father and taking an entrepreneurship class for injured veterans, Young now runs his own business: Young G’s Barbeque Sauce.

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https://businesses.uniquelyurbandale.com/news/details/young-g-s-barbeque-sauce-launches-new-regional-distribution-via-the-brenmar-company-inc

“In essence, the product is part of a promise that was supposed to include fellow soldiers from a second tour in Afghanistan to form a business once back in the United States. However, the colleagues were left in the battlefield, Gerald injured and to recover all aspects of being a veteran in that paradox of adversity.”

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https://wcfcourier.com/business/local/program-helps-injured-soldier-start-business/article_f960b6b6-d083-58be-bb10-76ef41f42402.html

“The spinal injury he suffered from enemy fire while on extra duty guarding fuel from thieves ended his active duty military career.”

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CONFLICTING STORIES

After the story was broadcast on Iowa Local 5 News, the word spread fast among the people that Young served with. They found these stories odd. Some even were surprised to find out that they had been killed – it was new to them.

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“Mr. Young served in Afghanistan in the Iowa Army National Guard in the early 2000s. He claimed in a TV news interview while promoting his BBQ sauce company (Young Gs BBQ LLC) that he was the lone survivor of his platoon. Only thing true about that statement is that he deployed in the Army National Guard to Afghanistan. He’s using that outrageous story to promote his business. There was no one in his platoon killed or shot at on the deployment.”
— Unit Member —

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“Young deployed with a small group to Afghanistan in early 2003.  Received an Article 15 for stealing from the troops and the reason he was “injured” guarding the fuel dump is he received 45 days extra duty because he was a fuel tanker type.  The unit rotated leaving him behind to complete the extra duty when the so called attack occurred.  He claimed the injury and was evacted to Landstuhl, from there to Walter Reed then to demobilize.  Did not learn if he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal or not.  He tried to demobilize with another guard unit but they sent him back to Iowa.  Apparently he was not successful in getting a discharge and subsequently received a less than honorable discharge from the Iowa Guard for doing something.  The Des Moines Register article I sent you confirms his unit did not have any causalities from the deployment.  I asked the TV news station who did the video and Des Moines Register if they are interested in doing a FOIA to the Guard to verify what he said in the video is false.”

— Independent researcher who spoke with unit members —

Reference in the above commentary about the Des Moines Register: http://data.desmoinesregister.com/fallen/

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NATIONAL GUARD UNIT ACCOUNTING

In addition to Young’s comrades, the official statistics kept by the unit did not show incidents that would support wounds and Killed-In-Action during that time frame.

https://www.iowanationalguard.com/History/Pages/In-Memorial.aspx

https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/610224/four-iowa-national-guard-soldiers-wounded-in-afghanistan/

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ACTIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PHONIES

Mr. Young’s military records were ordered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

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FOIA RESULTS – SELECTED

NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER (NPRC)

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MANPOWER DATA CENTER (SCRA)

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DISCUSSION and SUMMARY

There is no Purple Heart in his records, but perhaps there was a hint due to the language of being “injured” vs, “wounded” as a result of enemy fire.

Young appears to have deployed to Afghanistan but that was not really in dispute.

There is no newspaper account nor unit listing of the incident. There is no listing of four KIA in a single day.

Young G’s BBQ sauce may taste good but we believe it should stand on its own merits and not be promoted by some story that sounds like it is based entirely on fiction.

We can’t say this is Stolen Valor but it clearly appears to be a case of fraud and deception in advertising, especially when this lone survivor story is marketed along with the sauce.

One more thing is peculiar — Young sells this BBQ sauce while dressed in an Army uniform with rank displayed. There has to be some kind of violation if not just unethical.

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PHOTOS

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SOCIAL MEDIA

FACEBOOK (personal): https://www.facebook.com/gerald.young.566

FACEBOOK (business): https://www.facebook.com/younggsbbq/

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/younggsbbq/

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