BACKGROUND
Daryl Cleve Edwards (Sr) comes to us from Miami Springs, Florida. He grew up in Schenectady, New York. Edwards is 58 years old at the time of this writing – March 2020.
The Florida Panthers National Hockey League team has a tradition of honoring veterans with a program called “Heroes Among Us” where they call attention to a veteran at their hockey games.
From the NHL Florida Panthers’ website:
Since the inception of the Heroes Among Us program, the Florida Panthers have honored over 250 members of the Military. During each Florida Panthers home game at the BB&T Center this season, a serviceman or woman will be honored as a “Hero Among Us” for their service and dedication to our country. Each hero and their family will receive four (4) tickets to the game they are being honored at, as well as special recognition on the ice during the National Anthem and a TV timeout.It also says:
*All nominations will need to go through a verification process to verify that they have been honorably discharged, and must provide proper documentation.
The Florida Panthers honored Edwards in November of 2019. The story was carried by CBS4 Miami who are in partnership with the Florida Panthers to carry the “Heroes Among Us” stories.
The transcript of his Navy career from the video is as follows:
“Lieutenant Edwards enlisted in the Navy in 1980 and served until 1995. He worked his way up in the ranks. He says his first job was sweeping the deck. He then moved to an administrative position and later promoted to Master-At-Arms aboard the USS Detroit.
He then ended up in Lebanon during the Lebanon Civil War where he was buried in a building that was blown up and was rescued three days later. Lieutenant Edwards received a medal for surviving but little did he know years later he would battle the biggest fight of his life.”
Here is the same story in his own words…
In the news video it claims that Edwards served from 1980 – 1995.
The video goes on to state that Edwards served in Lebanon and “was buried in a building that was blown up and was rescued three days later.” He received a “medal for surviving.”
Also within the video, it shows a photo of Edwards as a Navy Lieutenant (O-3) wearing a U.S. Navy SEAL Trident, a Silver Star medal and a Purple Heart.
Some people were skeptical and asked Military Phony to look into these claims.
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ACTIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PHONIES
After contacting the UDT/SEAL archives and checking the UDT/SEAL database we found that there is NO record of “Daryl Cleve Edwards” or any other variation of his name ever completing BUD/S Training or assigned to any SEAL teams.
We could find no record of a Silver Star listed for Daryl Cleve Edwards at the following databases:
- https://homeofheroes.com/silver-star/silver-star-global-war-on-terror/silver-star-global-war-on-terror-navy/
- https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Navy-Silver-Star/
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Daryl Edward’s military records were ordered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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FOIA RESULTS
NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER (NPRC)
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MANPOWER DATA CENTER (SCRA)
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OTHER RESEARCH
High School
Here is Edwards’ senior picture from his High School yearbook in 1980.
So, he could have possibly joined the Navy in 1980, but his military records do not support this. Apparently he did something for the four years between 1980 – 1984, but it does not appear that he was in the Navy. This is significant because most of the US involvement in Lebanon was during this time.
U.S. Navy
Edwards’ photo was not located in the USS Detroit cruise book from 1983-84.
Here is Edwards’ picture from the USS Detroit cruise book in 1986.
Edwards’ appearance in this cruise book for the USS Detroit (AOE-4) from 1986 is supported by his military records. He was a Personnelman (PN) which is someone that works in administration overseeing military records and other administrative functions. His rating at this time was PNSN (E-3).
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DISCUSSION and SUMMARY
Edwards’ official military records from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) do not support many of his claims.
Time in Service
The service dates that he claims of 1980-1995 are not supported. Several official records show that he served from 1984-1992.
Rank
Edwards’ records show that he was enlisted and was discharged as a PN3 (E-4) which is a Personnelman Third Class. His records do not support his claim that he was an officer since he claims he was a Navy Lieutenant (O-3).
Navy SEAL
Edwards’ records show no training as a Navy SEAL nor any duty assignments as a Navy SEAL, yet he wears a SEAL Trident on his officer uniform. As mentioned before, he was not found in the BUD/S-SEAL database when it was checked.
Silver Star and Purple Heart
Edwards’ records show no listing of a Silver Star or Purple Heart. A Purple Heart is the medal awarded for being wounded in combat.
Both of these medals are covered by the Stolen Valor Act of 2013.
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BOMBING IN LEBANON
There was a lot of ambiguity over the choice of words used in the broadcast. As a reminder, the broadcast said…
“He then ended up in Lebanon during the Lebanon Civil War where he was buried in a building that was blown up and was rescued three days later. Lieutenant Edwards received a medal for surviving but little did he know years later he would battle the biggest fight of his life.”
With that said, it is hard to nail Edwards down on any claim if the claim is vague to begin with, but we’ll try and work through this…
Lebanon Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was fought between 1975 and 1990. When Isreal invaded Lebanon when going after the PLO, the United States sent the Marines into Lebanon initially to evacuate the PLO. Later, the UN formed the MultiNational Force which went back into Lebanon, so the United States was there during the Lebanese Civil War from 1982-1984.
Bombing in Lebanon
During the time that U.S. troops were in Lebanon, there were three significant bombings having to do with U.S. assets. These bombings were:
1) the U.S. Embassy Bombing on 18 Apr 1983
2) the Marine Barracks Bombing on 23 Oct 1983 and
3) the U.S. Embassy Annex Bombing on 20 Sept 1984
It is quite common that these bombings are mixed up by the media and others. Often, incorrect photos are shown of one event when referring to another.
The Marine Barracks Bombing on October 23, 1983 tends to be the most prominent in people’s minds due to the shear number of casualties. The newscast/Florida Panthers may have been referring to this event when they spoke about the building being blown up.
Edwards was not even in the U.S. Navy when the first two bombings occurred – the US Embassy Bombing on April 18, 1983 and the Marine Barracks Bombing on October 23, 1983.
USS Detroit in Lebanon
Although the USS Detroit (AOE-4) did support the MultiNational Force in Lebanon, it did so prior to Edwards joining the Navy. Edwards joined the Navy in May 1984.
From Wikipedia:
“On 9 January 1984 Detroit suffered a fuel fire in her forced-draft blower while moored at Souda Bay, Crete. Some crew members were treated for smoke inhalation. When she returned to Norfolk on 2 May 1984, Detroit had completed 301 replenishments, a new ship’s record.”
The point here is although Edwards was stationed aboard the USS Detroit, he did not report to that ship for duty until August 24, 1984. Since the ship did not return to Lebanon until 1986, Edwards was not there when the US Embassy Annex was blown up on September 20, 1984.
NOTE: The US Embassy Annex was the new site designated after the first US Embassy was bombed on April 18, 1983.
US Marine Barracks Bombing
So, we don’t really know which building is being referred to that was blown up that Edwards would have been buried for three days.
The most logical assumption is the US Marine Barracks on October 23, 1983. This is sometimes referred to as the US Marines Headquarters Building or BLT (Battalion Landing Team) building.
The problem with this – besides the fact that Edwards was not even in the Navy yet – is that the Killed in Action (KIA) and Wounded in Action (WIA) have been extremely well documented. In fact, these casualty lists have been well documented for the entire US intervention from 1982-1984.
Daryl Edwards is not listed on any of these casualty lists.
NOTE: The Iwo Jima War Memorial in Washington DC lists 1981-1984 because there was some issues with missiles off the coast that folded those events into the involvement as well, but there were no casualties in 1981.
It is common knowledge for anyone that served in Lebanon and participated in the rescue operations, that the last living survivor was pulled from the rubble around noon on the day of the Marine Barracks bombing. The bombing happened at 0622 on 23 Oct 1983. Others were pulled from the rubble later, but no additional victims were found alive.
The last man pulled from the rubble around noon that survived was a Navy chaplain. We won’t mention his name here to protect privacy but also to avoid the genuine survivor’s name coming up in a Google search with Beirut survivor and Edwards.
This same issue of someone anecdotally surviving for three days occurred when Gunny Landis “Bull” Lawton tried to claim the same thing.
Most rescuers that were interviewed agreed that it would have been impossible to miss someone and the legendary status of a story about someone surviving three days under the rubble would not have escaped many people. It just didn’t happen.
SUMMARY
So, we have approached these claims from several different angles. We are extremely confident that none of these ambiguous angles would support the extremely odd claim that Daryl Edwards was in Lebanon buried for three days after a building was blown up.
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STOLEN VALOR
If the claims by Daryl Edwards were used to leverage work, military or civilian promotions, or anything else of value, he may be in violation of Stolen Valor laws.
The NHL Florida Panthers’ site states that “Each hero and their family will receive four (4) tickets to the game they are being honored at, as well as special recognition on the ice during the National Anthem and a TV timeout.” So it appears that Edwards clearly has received something of value. Who knows what else?
State laws may also apply in regard to Stolen Valor. In addition to the Federal Stolen Valor law, Florida has its own statute in regard to Stolen Valor.
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PHOTOS
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SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/daryl.edwards.5621
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/daryl.edwards.334
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