David “Buck” Thrailkill – US Army Special Forces Communications Sergeant, ODS/S, Combat Wounded, Purple Heart, Blog of Shame
6112/07/2020 by militaryphonies
BACKGROUND
David Walkup Thrailkill comes to us from Fayetteville, North Carolina. At the time of this writing, December 2020, Thrailkill is 57 years old. He prefers to go by his nickname “Buck.”
Thrailkill recently attended a wedding where he wore his Army uniform complete with a Purple Heart medal, which signifies that he was wounded in combat. Thrailkill is also wearing both a Saudi Arabian version of the Kuwait Liberation Medal and a Kuwait Liberation medal – which are the last two medals on the bottom row. These medals signify participation in Operation Desert Shield/Storm (ODS/S). It appears he has a Bronze Star as well – the medal just to the left of the Purple Heart.
On Thrailkill’s RallyPoint profile, he claims to be an “18E: Special Forces Communications Sergeant.”
The Army MOS of 18E is a Special Forces designation.
Here is Thrailkill’s claim of being a combat veteran, although it is unclear if he is talking about Panama or Operation Desert Storm.
. . . . .
ACTIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PHONIES
David Walkup Thrailkill’s military records were ordered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request – twice. Two results will be presented.
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FOIA RESULTS
NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER (NPRC)
FOIA Result – NPRC – David Thrailkill – Summary Sheet
FOIA Result – NPRC – David Thrailkill – Assignments
FOIA Result – NPRC – David Thrailkill – Awards
FOIA Result – NPRC – David Thrailkill – Military Schools
. . . . .
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (DoA)
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – DD214
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – Assignments
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – Assignment Data
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – Miscellaneous
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – Current and Previous
FOIA RESULTS – DoA – David Thrailkill – Military Schools
. . . . .
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MANPOWER DATA CENTER (SCRA)
DoD Manpower Data Center / SCRA Results – David Thrailkill
. . . . .
MILITARY RECORDS – COMPLETE FOIA RESULTS
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DISCUSSION and SUMMARY
LENGTH OF SERVICE
Although Thrailkill’s military records support his claim of being retired, he served for 15 years and six months. It could have been a medical retirement.
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY (MOS) CODE
The 18E Special Forces MOS was not supported by Thrailkill’s military records. Although he appeared to be in a support role, he was not 18E as he claimed.
OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/STORM (ODS/S)
The awards in the photo not found in Thrailkill’s official military records are the ones at the very top – Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal – as well as the ones at the bottom – the Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait and the Kuwait Liberation of Kuwait Medal. The two awards for the liberation of Kuwait that Thrailkill is wearing in the photographs suggest he was in ODS/S.
He deployed to Panama in 1989 but had he also deployed to ODS/S he would have a second award of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM). However, Thrailkill neither wears two AFEMs in the photo nor are two AFEMs supported in his records.
We also could not find the Multi-National Forces and Observers (MFO) medal listed in Thrailkill’s military records, which is also on the bottom row of ribbons that he wears.
. . . . .
STOLEN VALOR
A claim of a Purple Heart medal is in direct violation of the federal Stolen Valor Act of 2013, especially if the claims were used for gain. State laws may also apply.
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PHOTOS
Buck Thrailkill – Facebook
Buck Thrailkill – Facebook
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SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK#1: https://www.facebook.com/buck.thrailkill
FACEBOOK#2: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Banjoist-Buck-Thrailkill/148703048536954 (music page)
FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/people/buckt13/
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This Ain’t Hell: https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=108036
He had a good run when he was in, why couldn’t he be proud of what he did? No need to embellish.
Tried to post in the thread: You guys are absolutely correct. Something I should have corrected. Unfortunately, I had to go home to years ago to bury my dad on little notice. Having not been in uniform for several years my wife had to put one together from scratch with the help of a couple of guys I served with in just a few hours and while I really appreciated all their efforts, they got quite a bit wrong. With no time or means to correct on the fly, I went with what I had. Not an excuse, was just the situation at the time. That said, I had an outstanding career with some of the best men you could serve with all over the world, and yes, all while being stationed right here at Bragg. But if you know anything about the units and missions of those units, you also know that you are rarely home no matter where you are stationed. I have never, nor would I ever dishonor them or my service intentionally. Had someone reached out to me about this I would have at least provided my part of it. 100% my responsibility. No excuses. Badges are wrong, patches are wrong, however none of that intentionally. Those guys thought enough of me as a person and a soldier to do their best for my wife and for me in a time of need, and I am grateful to them. I served honorably with honorable men during some extremely hard times back in the 80’s and 90’s. I and will not just sit here without at least having a voice. Again, I should have corrected then, and have since then, but nothing I can do to change what is.
Respectfully, DWT
I can assure you the pictures above are not from a funeral, so basically you’ve worn this costume to multiple events.
Thank you for your response. Im not throwing rocks, if this is true/Ill roll with it.
That is the MFO ribbon. Looks like another POS who had an out fucking standing career but wasn’t happy with it and had to shoot it full of holes.
Thanks. I corrected it to remove all uncertainty that that was the MFO. Appreciate the input.
Damn David Walkup “Buck” Thrailkill! You had a damn decent, possible Honorable Service and had to go and take a great big steaming dump on it. Dumbass! And to do it in the midst of the SOF and Airborne Troops. Smooth move ex-lax. Welcome to you new GOOOOOGLE FAME!
Just because you work at the North Pole and Santa lets you sit in the sleigh…that doesn’t make you an elf.
Here are some social media accounts for David Walkup Thrailkill aka Buck Thrailkill before they start to disappear….
https://www.facebook.com/buck.thrailkill
https://www.facebook.com/BanjoistBuckThrailkill/
https://www.facebook.com/FifthStringStudio?ref=hl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/buck-thrailkill
http://www.youtube.com/user/BUCKT13
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgoeUz_4-GR06VMd84STBaw
http://www.flickr.com/people/buckt13
[…] folks at Military Phony send us their work on David Walkup Thrailkill, or better known as “Buck” as he likes to […]
He managed to do 15 years without an overseas assignment and then separates less than 4 months into a short tour to Korea. Therein lies a tale…
Yep-you are mostly likely correct about that. Like I used to hear troops say at Camp Casey, “What’s the fastest way to make E-4 in Korea? Come here as an E-5”
Numbskull. Has a good career post-service and has to spit in his own face. Yeah, that makes LOADS of sense, doesn’t it?
You guys are absolutely correct. Something I should have corrected. Unfortunately, I had to go home years ago to bury my dad on little notice. Having not been in uniform for several years my wife had to put one together from scratch with the help of a couple of guys I served with in just a few hours and while I really appreciated all their efforts, they got quite a bit wrong. With no time or means to correct on the fly, I went with what I had. Not an excuse, was just the situation at the time. That said, I had an outstanding career with some of the best men you could serve with all over the world, and yes, all while being stationed right here at Bragg. But if you know anything about the units and missions of those units, you also know that you are rarely home no matter where you are stationed. I have never, nor would I ever dishonor them or my service intentionally. Had someone reached out to me about this I would have at least provided my part of it. 100% my responsibility. No excuses. Badges are wrong, patches are wrong, however none of that intentionally. Those guys thought enough of me as a person and a soldier to do their best for my wife and for me in a time of need, and I am grateful to them. I served honorably with honorable men during some extremely hard times back in the 80’s and 90’s. I and will not just sit here without at least having a voice. Again, I should have corrected then, and have since then, but nothing I can do to change what is.
Respectfully, DWT
That’s all well and good to say, this explanation. But what about your Rally Point profile with the claim of being 18E?
As stated in another reply above the pictures posted here are not from a funeral. They appear to be from a happier time such as a wedding. Maybe your own. You are wearing, and have been wearing, awards that are not listed in your personnel file. Awards you did not rightly earn. You disgraced an otherwise outstanding career with your shenanigans and trust me when I say that there is no excuse for what you did. You were a former Senior NCO who should know how to lead by example. No excuse or reason you can provide will be good enough for those of us who believe in the words INTEGRITY and HONOR. Neither of which you have shown judging by the info on this blog.
I got someone to repost your reply over at ValorGuardians, who did a followup blog on your case this morning.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=108036
There is probably going to be a better discussion over there. Some have already responded and posted their opinions.
I am a retired 18Z, E9. I’ve served with Buck in JSOC. I’ve talked to Buck about this. There is a background story you are missing. Buck assums full responsibility for not checking the uniform before he wore it. It was rushed for his fathers funeral. Put togeather by a friend. He never checked it. He owns that mistake. I listened to him having known him since 1987 through now I can and will personally vouch for him as his actions not being intentional. I request you reconsider your actions of posting this without having contacting him first to get the rest of the story. Buck was a special operations communicator at JSOC and in 7th Special Forces Group Support. His service was outstanding. His deployment during the panama invasion where he was a member of my team.
V/r Michael McGarvey, SGM(R)
This is not our first rodeo. We often get people coming to the rescue as character witnesses but in many cases, it is the person themselves.
Let’s just assume you are a retired SGM and you served with Buck – I’ll take you at your word. However, your statements run counter to what a SGM would say. You actually are supporting Stolen Valor, a federal crime, under certain circumstances? That’s OK with you?
I also find it hard that anyone would believe his excuse of having the uniform put together by his wife and friends for his father’s funeral. These photos are from a wedding, not a funeral. If he had the uniform from a funeral, then that means he wore this uniform TWICE for two different events.
You would have us believe that he never noticed the BSM and Purple Heart? He never noticed the ODS medals in spite of wearing this uniform twice.
I’m not buying it. I’m not buying it at all.
I think in Buck’s case, and perhaps yours – you are under some kind of false impression that there is a consideration for taking the blog down over some kind of “misunderstanding.” There is no misunderstanding. There are photos of him wearing an unearned Purple Heart – an award NOT supported by his official military records, among other medals not in his records.
The blog stays up. Unless you or Buck can provide evidence that he earned the BSM, PH and ODS medals. We would certainly consider that but there would have to be a good explanation as to why they are not in his official records – a mistake he already admitted to.
As I said – this is not our first rodeo. The first excuse is never the best unless they come clean. Give this about 4-6 months, you will see him change his story and come up with another one if he fits the pattern that many of them do.
By the way – instead of defending one of your own that is committing a federal crime, which is admirable but for the wrong reasons, perhaps you should have provided Buck proper guidance and better tutelage when he was under your command? Then again, he was an E-7 so should have known better himself.
Shame on you for even writing something like this… and shame on him.
OK, so how does this “the dog ate my homework” story for the wearing of unauthorized ribbons on his Class A’s even begin to explain ol’ Buck’s documented claims of being an 18E? I was an ODA commander but truth be told most of my time as an 18A was as a REMF, a staff REMF and a communications REMF. I get the mentality of some SOF support troops and I’ve listened to their laments: “Hey-I know more than most 18 Echoes, why can’t I get a tab? Can’t the Army send me to a shortened Q Course? It’s just not fair-I tried to get into the Q Course!” I knew one commo sergeant who was so bothered by this that he presented about 18 metric tons of documentation to the Army regarding his SF comms skills, the operations he supported (I know what some of you are thinking but this wasn’t Vietnam, he was a 25 not a 5, and all these operations were peacetime) blah, blah, blah. After YEARS of nagging the Army for some arcane reason they granted him 18E status BUT he couldn’t wear the tab. Yeah, he was a good comm soldier but in my opinion he wouldn’t have been a good fit on an ODA and he could never grasp that bit of ground truth.
The truth is SOF support troops are around special operators all day, they support special operators all day, and they wear the same unit patches as special operators all day. After a while some support guys in these SOF units (actually a small few-by no means all or most) start to think that other than being on a Team and going to the Q Course they mostly ARE special operators. Then away from their unit or after retirement, they magically BECOME special operators. I’ve seen it. In my opinion this is what happened in this case. Nevertheless he claimed something he wasn’t-more than once. IMO the explanations given are what I call a “scuse”. A scuse is such lame story that it doesn’t even deserve an “ex” in the front.
Gee whiz “SGM”, I never tolerated incorrect wear of medals while in the Army. Did you?
I never tolerated dishonesty about things like rank, MOS, or duty assignment while in, did you?
Then why on earth would you tolerate it now? Is it because your relationship with this fool involves more than former service?
I call BS. Either you were never a “SGM”, or you have a financial investment in this fool.
His mea culpa strikes me a lot as, “Now that I got caught, I just can’t tell ya how sorry I am.” Frankly I don’t believe his apology. Look at where he lives: frigging Fayetteville, North Carolina where anybody everybody knows exactly what an 18 is and what an 18 isn’t-ESPECIALLY a guy like him who served in the 82nd. Pretending to be a Special Forces soldier in the shadow of Fort Bragg is about as smart as pretending to be a Navy SEAL at Coronado, CA. What I find befuddling is that why anybody with an MFF badge would pretend to be an 18E? I mean there really aren’t that many dudes who’ve earned a MFF badge in comparison to 18E’s-especially somebody like him who isn’t tabbed. It makes as much sense as a former Marine Scout Sniper pretending that he was in Force Recon. Just doesn’t make sense.
So Buck had his head up his 4th point of contack during times of duress. Now you have yourhead up your fourth point of contact for assuming to know all and be the judge in this matter. I did counsel Buck as a SGM would. If you are so sure of the circumstances that he would be found guilty have him proscuted under this federal law in a court of law. You will get the opportynity to meet both of us face to face. Other than that Buck is not intentiinally a stolen Valor candidate. I am a member of the Guardians of the Green Berets and we both have a simular mission. You however in this case are wrong.
The comment about “face to face” – you wouldn’t be threatening us, would you?
You may have gotten a more cordial response had you not charged in with a “Big Dick in the Room” mentality. Rank has no basis here. It’s like honor among horses – doesn’t exist.
We often report cases of Stolen Valor to the proper authorities, and we will with this case as well. Unfortunately, many DAs do not pursue it if there are not large sums of money involved.
That’s why I say, just move on.
So, in regard to GotGB – you support efforts to root out Stolen Valor, unless it is one of your own. Then, they get a pass. Sounds like you want to play SGM and seem frustrated when it does not apply here.
Take inventory of what course you are taking here. You are defending someone clearly in violation of the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. Tsk, tsk.
so your hiding behind the computer screen being judge and jury. Your opinion isn’t supported in this case. Just because I disagree with you. If your so right bring him up on federal charges. I see you in court like I said face to face unless you wont be there and have another proxy stand for you like [*** PII REDACTED ***] who you had contact me to verify who I was.
The only Big Dick in the Room is you
Let me get this straight and on the record —
You, SGM Michael McGarvey, support someone falsely making claims which include being wounded in combat?
And now we are apparently onto grade school playground name calling. If you want to continue any dialogue, you need to be more respectful or I’m done with you.
Lets get this right, you hiding your name are wrong! 100% and you don’t like people telling you so. You ego comes through very loud and ckear to me. I hide nothing I tell it like it is.
So keep making your accusations about federal law violations and act on them. All this blog is for is to carry the diarrhea coming out of your piehole.
Just because you cant admit maybe you made a mistake like Buck admitted.
It doest abolish your ownership of your actions. I like carma It always comes full circle.
I
Well, that went downhill fast.
They are making comments on your posts over on This Ain’t Hell. You’re going to end up pretty famous for advocating for people that falsely claim they were wounded.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=108036
You’ve got more of a mess to clean up on Aisle 3, better get over there and defend Stolen Valor. You know, make things right in your eyes.
I’m right here, not hiding a thing. Telling you and your staff you are dead wrong in this case.
You are the mess I’m working on at this point in time. You now have my undivided attention…
Congratulations. Stop talking and bring him up on charges! put your money where your mouth is.
For anyone who cares Yes I stand 100% behind Buck. He admitted his mistake to me and what happened. I’ve served with him and stand behind him. The people who run this site are upset because I do stand with him.
Come on, Warrior. You’re the advocate for people wearing unearned Purple Hearts. Many are tearing apart your logic on TAH since your post got put up over there.
Don’t give up in the middle of a metaphorical firefight. You took point, so I’m saying there’s a lot of work to do. Buck’s got your back, don’t worry. He’ll gladly let you take metaphorical jabs that are meant for him. If he had any integrity, he would thank you but ask you not to take up his cause, especially when he is compromised. OR, will he gladly watch you flail your arms and alienate a community of combat veterans over this? Time will tell.
Nobody said that we were taking him to court or whatever you’re trying to assert. We will most certainly report this case to the FBI, based in large part by your antagonistic approach. He’ll have you to thank.
Whether they do anything or not, or for that matter even follow up, is not my concern. Maybe it will come to nothing, not my call beyond reporting it.
Fanning the flames only makes the fire larger, so that’s why I said to just accept that Buck screwed up and move on.
Another bit of advice which is offered for free – it is wrong to threaten legal action when you haven’t retained an attorney. Not our first rodeo, as I mentioned. An attorney worth his/her salt would not advise you to threaten to see you in court. They tend to get reported to their state bar and tend to lose their license to practice law. They certainly don’t like clients or potential clients doing it on their behalf.
That said, when something does go to court, there is a little obstacle that they call “discovery.” I can tell you right now that the discovery process will not be favorable for Buck. But why listen to me, right? If people want to do the equivalent of digging a hole in their backyard and shoveling money in it, why should I care?
So, I’m curious about a couple of things. Why is contacting Buck Thrailkill so important to the facts? There is a photo of him wearing an unearned medal… in fact several unearned medals. That’s the fact we’re talking about here.
Nothing he or you says changes that fact.
If I were to venture a guess, ol’ Buck went to his old SGM and said something to the effect of “Daddy fix.” You are operating on an old set of rules, and when he confessed to you for some reason you felt like you are in sole possession of the moral authority to render a judgment on the situation. When you found out that you have no jurisdiction, and more importantly – no influence – it appears you became frustrated and went into some tirade suggesting payback.
There’s nothing personal here. I’ll give you the same advice I gave Buck – move on.
You would have gained a little more influence had you earned it, rather than the chosen approach of “take that shit down” statements and accusations that we did not do due diligence. You burned up whatever capital we give as a baseline default with the use of those few statements.
Don’t let pride get in the way of making a good decision. Trust me, this is not worth your time and you will only get frustrated.
The blog stays up. There was never any consideration to take it down, nor will there be no matter how much you spit, curse, and threaten.
Nevervsaid I advocate fot that cupcake. I said Buck was under stress just like you were when your father died.
If I advocated for such BS I wouldn’t be involved with Graridains of the green beret.
We at least verify the story behind the photo. And talk to the person first. If you truely have LE investagators in your team you would know to complete the case instead of going off half assed like you have.
Yep you got a photo
Yep he was wrong but you and your team are still 100% wrong on this. Here is a thought. Accept your ego is wrong.
The photo was from a wedding. Buck admitted that in an email that you were copied on.
Try and keep up.
He is wearing unearned military medals in the photo. That was the point of the blog. Tell me where that’s wrong.
*YAWN* This was fun but I must turn my attention to other things. You have had your opportunity to say your peace, and squandered it in my opinion.
All future posts from you will not be posted unless you have something substantial to say about Buck’s 18E claim, the proof of him being wounded in combat and fought in Desert Storm, among other things.
So now you squelch people who don’t agree with you sounds like socialists run this site
Call me on the phone cupcake I bet you never even served in the Military or you did what three years and got out?
You are pathetic excuse of a person.
Nobody OWES you a phone call.
So now you squelch people who don’t agree with you sounds like socialists run this site.
Your like a child think you get the last word. If you felt strongly about your convictions you would call.
Your threats about running around to Military Bases in NC ROFL. You probably never served in the Military. I’ll take my chances.
Not about you and your military service, Michael P McGarvey, no matter how much you try and make it about you.
I will make an attempt to explain something to you, for what it’s worth – and in spite of your childish rants, which will kind of be the point of my response.
In the Stolen Valor community, there are people that do the hard work involved. I’ve never heard of you but I’ll take you at your word that you are with Guardians of the Green Beret (GotGB).
Each of these Stolen Valor efforts has a different mission, and often those missions overlap. As such, there is the opportunity to work together and support each other.
In regard to Military Phony (MP), This Ain’t Hell (TAH) and the GotGB, there have been many times we have referred cases to each other, shared research and evidence, and used each other to help answer specific questions. This has obviously been less the case in the era of COVID-19 due to the decreased availability of FOIA responses from the NPRC.
In spite of some minor differences of opinion over procedures and cases, we have always supported each other.
We have never, ever publically trashed each other’s efforts on Facebook or within a case’s comments section. It is an unwritten professional courtesy. That is, until now.
That is why it is hard for me to believe that you speak for the GotGB when you apparently feel some jurisdiction to speak for our processes and procedures.
Please go through GotGB and see if any of us trashed your work or brought the ethics of your investigations into question. I can save you the time and tell you that you won’t find any comments along these lines. If there was any question about a case, it would be explored respectfully through private channels vs. the “take that shit down” approach that you seem to have felt was warranted and the most efficient. Having said that, we would have expected some private communications but even that would be a little awkward because most everybody in the Stolen Valor community knows that we don’t take cases down… ever… unless it can be proven that there are factual problems with what we presented.
We don’t take posts down, even for informants that have changed their minds and felt like the subject has suffered enough in their opinion.
We post cases not as a punishment or for the sole purpose of embarrassing someone, although that certainly comes into play. We post cases to 1) inform the public due to the high likelihood that the subject repeats the embellishing behavior to others and 2) we’ve found it is a deterrent for the subject to repeat the behavior in the future.
In my opinion, it appears to me that you felt like you had some authority in this situation that you don’t have. You heard Buck’s story and quickly forgave him. That’s admirable although I find the story hard to swallow and don’t buy it. When you discovered that we didn’t shake in our boots and jump to accommodate your demand to take down the blog, you went into a childish rant. Nothing I can do about that. You constructed a false premise that you possess some kind of weird SGM influence over everything and quickly found out differently.
The logic should be apparent to anyone that works Stolen Valor cases – the reason we don’t take down cases is every Tom, Dick and Harry will realize that all they have to do is raise a fuss. I have wasted enough time on the useless bickering in regard to this case. The case stays up and always will. This is in spite of your willingness as a Stolen Valor investigator to quickly give a pass to anyone that you know. Stolen Valor is for “all those other guys” apparently. You are compromised if you feel this way. This is the beginning of corruption and you need to look at these cases with clear eyes and impartial judgment, even in the difficult circumstances that it is one of your own. I have noticed a trend that men can be honorable while in the service but they change over the years, many times realizing that was their high water point in life, and on occasion cross over into embellishment. The older we get, the better we were.
You are not owed an explanation but I provided one. Your transgression is that you dirtied up our case page with disparaging comments merely because you wanted to take lead to help a friend out. You violated any kind of professional courtesy and IMHO you don’t have what it takes to work in the field of Stolen Valor if you cannot be impartial.
Buck Thrailkill made a mistake and it appears that he lied to you as well about the photographs. This will all eventually catch up with you as I’m sure the story will change many times as you ask him about this or that: i.e. 18E claim on Rally Point, never noticing the BSM, PH and ODS awards on a uniform that he admittedly wore twice. This will all eventually catch up with you but when the smoke clears you will have dirtied up our case board with disparaging comments and violated professional courtesy. You should do the right thing and man up with an apology to counter things that you said, but that’s expecting a lot. This is if and when you come to the same realization that we have – Buck wore unearned medals and it was unethical to do so – in spite of our apparent disagreement on what should happen with him. This disagreement is something that can be debated, but you have no authority to mandate our business practices and then act like a child and trash our efforts merely because we disagree.
Facts:
a) Rally Point profile clearly states 18E MOS. DD214 & DA201 show 72/31/74 series MOS.
b) Photo in Class “A” shows unearned/ undocumented awards per DD214 & DA201:
– Bronze Star
– Purple Heart
– Meritorious Service Medal
– National Defense Service Medal w/ star (only one documented)
– Southwest Asia Service Medal
– Humanitarian Service Medal
– UN Multinational Force and Observers Medal
– Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
– Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
c) DAVID ‘BUCK’ WALKUP THRAILKILL states uniform was worn to a funeral but photo appears to be a wedding.
d) DAVID ‘BUCK’ WALKUP THRAILKILL has chosen to claim oversight as the reason for wearing unearned awards but has not addressed the false claim of 18E MOS.
e) DAVID ‘BUCK’ WALKUP THRAILKILL has brought a unique brand of disgrace to the uniform of the United States Army and to all who have served honorably.
Can you explain to us why he claims 18E on his Rally Point? Or are you gonna say that honorary?
I can’t explain it I’ve never seen it
I’m responding to the uniform photos only.
I can’t explain it I’ve never seen it
I’m responding to the uniform photos only.
Contact the FBI your threats mean nothing. Just like your opinion please take Buck to court at least he’ll have his day then you will have your day in court as well instead of this nonsense.
Warrior, PLEASE tell me you’re not giving up so soon. There are a lot of phonies to defend. There’s a lot of work to do.
And dare I say it – you’re already behind. Get at it. You took it on. Add some resolve to your commitment.
SGM Michael McGarvey wrote: “Contact the FBI your threats mean nothing.”
I consider it a threat when someone is just blowing hot air and never follows through… sort of like yourself. You took on the passionate mission of defending people that have claimed being wounded in combat and they haven’t. Take your fight to Walter Reed and the Wounded Warriors. Look them in the face and tell them of your passionate mission.
Mine was not a threat. I’m simply telling you what I’m going to do. And as pointed out, I don’t do this with every case unless there are large sums of money involved, but I most certainly will with this case. Ol’ Bucky has you to thank for that for sticking your nose into something that you have very little experience with, very little knowledge on and absolutely ZERO authority. You used to be a Sergeant Major… the key word being “USED” to be. I’d treat you with a little more respect if you would have treated me the same way. Instead, you jumped in both feet with your assumptions.
I want Buck to know that you are making things worse by providing entertainment for people as they watch in sadness as a man attempts to defend the indefensible. Your military experiences don’t rank above other veterans, in spite of how you feel about yourself and your imagined “authority.” You have none in this situation.
Get over it, Warrior.
P.S. Keep running your suck and I will dedicate myself to making sure that the military bases in and around NC are keenly aware of ol’ Bucky here and his SGM’s stance on wearing unearned Purple Hearts. Maybe they’ll take up your mission, or maybe they won’t feel too warm and fuzzy about it. Don’t ruin your reputation on Bucky’s boneheaded mistake. When you find yourself in a hole — STOP DIGGING. Don’t make things worse. This blog will NOT come down… EVER. What we will do, and have done in the past, is consider posting the person’s apology/explanation if they are inclined to come clean when they have no evidence to exonerate themselves. We have done that in the case of Bucky by allowing these comments to be posted. Our policy is that this is less of a discussion board for airing grievances, and really only open for evidence that disputes what was presented in the blog. You have offered really nothing, so you are stretching my good nature by allowing these fruitless discussions to continue. So cough up some evidence that Buck was an 18E, combat wounded, Desert Storm vet and stop wasting my time.
Michael McGarvey please pull up a chair and pay attention to what I am about to say because I will only run this through one time.
1) You come onto this blog site chest puffed out and ready to throw that E-9 rank around like we are supposed to care that you are a retired SGM. We don’t care so let me deflate that balloon for you now. Your rank and/or presumed authority means shit to those of us who help expose frauds of all ranks and branches.
2) You hold up Buck’s error as if it were a 1 time mistake. It has been stated by you as well as Buck that the uniform was put together for his Dad’s funeral and it was not put together by him but rather a couple of friends and his wife. The problem with this, as has been pointed out several times to you as well as Buck, is that the pictures posted above are not from a funeral. They are from a wedding. So unless the funeral and wedding were the same day it means that Buck wore that uniform, with those unearned awards, at minimum twice and did not correct it.
3) His Rallypoint profile, as shown above, has him as an 18E when in fact he never was. His Facebook profile is quite misleading with what he did in the Army as well. To the untrained civilian it reads as if he served in the 7th SFG(A) instead of the support unit as an untabbed SFG(A) soldier. It’s not a bad thing to have been in a support role with an SFG so there should be no need to make it appear otherwise.
All of the above shows that Buck has been telling tall tales with people who might not otherwise know better. This may get turned over to the NCAG, the local DA or maybe the Charlotte FBI office. It all depends on the mood of the person handling this when that time comes. Buck is in violation the FEDERAL SVA by wearing the BS and PH. Don’t believe me check for yourself.
Your pal Buck, as a former Senior NCO, is expected to live by a higher standard than the average enlisted soldier. First line in the NCO Creed is “No one is more Professional than I.” He should strive to maintain that standard even now in retirement. He fucking didn’t and chose to start a lie that eventually caught up with him.
Now as for you Michael…
Apparently you missed the part where we received Buck’s NPRC file which is the OFFICIAL records for one SFC Thrailkill. Those records show awards received, schools attended and other items deemed ok for public viewing. Nowhere in those records does it show the BS or PH, as well as the other medals, being awarded to Buck. Nowhere does it show Buck attending or graduating the SFQ. Yet despite all that you choose to accuse the blog Admins of not doing their due diligence. You can take that attitude and your haughty E-9 SGM bullshit and go fuck off in your corner of the world. This isn’t the 1st rodeo for this group and you aren’t the first person to be sent as cannon fodder to defend someone’s fairy tales. As an SGM you should be questioning Bucks fairy tales and why he was wearing unearned medals on his dress uniform. As the ranking NCO between the 2 of you you should have had a little campfire chat with him and explained that his bullshit needed to stop post haste. Instead you come here tail on fire ready to throw your weight around in order to protect your pathetic friend. I’ve known more than a few NCO’s in my career and the best ones would have been busting my ass even in retirement for fucking up as Buck did. Perhaps you forgot the NCO Creed. Well here’s a reminder for both you and that jacked up former SFC Buck.
“I am proud of the Corps of noncommissioned officers and will at all times conduct myself so as to bring credit upon the Corps, the military service and my country regardless of the situation in which I find myself.”
So Grunt, your preception of the situatiin is based on piss poor assumptions. You also asume guilty without due diligence. I’m glad its not your first rodeo! This admin team is full of little people hiding your identity behind numerous proxies. I have no rank to throw around except for the fact that I get to keep my retirement title for life. You will not get the missions Buck supported on his military record. That aside I am standing up for a man I know abd you and the staff on this site presume to know. Sometomes there are mitigating circumstances. But you all have already convicted him. My whole life has been about protecting people who are being oppressed. So here I am. Like ut don’t like it I don’t give a crap. So you are entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine. Since you all chose to publically execute him.
i choose to publically defend his service. Tell me none of you dirtbags has a perfect history! Never fucked up? I’ve been waiting to meet Jesus didnt realize he was working on this website and this is where the final judgement occurs.
You know who I am, where I am, you have my emaim and phone number. I hide nothing unlike you and this staff. You hide your identities to protect yourselves against slander lawsuits.
Cowardice conduct unbecomming of any man.
If you would *actually* work stolen valor, you would know why some of these protocols are in place. BTW, use a spell checker for Pete’s sake.
How dare you McGarvey, to come here and claim to be part of GOTGB, then assume to have authority to pick and choose who we can expose and can’t based off of your relationship with that person. I don’t care if he pulled you from a burned shit in 96, the fact is he claimed an unearned MOS, and unearned awards. No different from any other poser. You think because you and Buck shared quiet times back in the day you can come dictate who gets exposed? Then you want to question our military credibility and courage because you didn’t get your way. That is the most piss poor excuse of an NCO I can remember from my time in the Army. You are what I call a professional NCO, only care about yourself and think you are God’s gift to a Longtab. The facts have been presented, the research done, checked and rechecked, the excuse given and rejected. No self respecting NCO would wear awards unearned that others have died for. I looked up Buck’s father off of a picture on his profile, he died 11 years ago,,,11 years!!!! And you don’t think 11 years is sufficient enough time to correct a distraught made uniform before a wedding? Enough with blaming and accusing us of malfeasance, maybe you should redirect you god like powers toward Buck, since he not us disrespected his service, your service, and our service!
1. I assumed no authority here, it doesn’t take any education level to know I have no authority here.
2. I came here to get some admin to call and talk with Buck one on one and defend him until such time that the entire story is known by all before this should have gone public.
Like it or not the man deserves his side to at least be heard before you destroy him.
I have had a nice phone call and now have some things to check. Until such time as Buck has his opportunity you’ll just have to ignore me.
As for the Admin, no such apology coming your way. Call Buck listen then once your blind spots are reduced if you decide to continue with this posting then so be it.
As long as you continue to hide without hearing him out one on one, you have my unapologetic attitude you can filter me but the only proves you are fearful about standing behing this post.
I have never shy away from my responsibility. I have no problem addmitting when I am wrong. Do you?
Are you so afraid of hearing Buck out in a one on one conversation?
Its pathetic I have to even be here. If you had been professional enought to talk with him first. Before you posted this crap. You would have never heard from me.
So here we are, I don’t agree with you and you don’t agree with me and they are both opinions which are like A………
If however you simply call him have a dialog and afterwards decide there is no mitigating circumstances. You do what you like and then I’ll fade away.
Too much to ask to let him speak give the man his day in court? If it is too much, than this site is worthless and certainly not based on any American standard of conduct.
My name is right here, where is yours?
If I know someone to be a liar and a fraud, why would I call them to listen to more lies? You haven’t come to that conclusion yet.
Did you learn anything from your time in the service? You have no honor and have only added to the disgrace that Buck has brought upon himself and his service.
Shame on you.
Still waiting patiently for you to tell us what is factually wrong with the blog we posted about Buck Thrailkill.
Nothing but misdirection and double-talk out of you so far.
Contained in an email received from David “Buck” Thrailkill to MilitaryPhony, dated Thu, Dec 10, 4:23 PM:
“After discovering on Monday night that your organization put together a report about me based on photos from several years ago in which my uniform is clearly incorrect, I was quite devastated to realize that your accusation was in fact correct. No matter the circumstances for how this came to be, it was my responsibility to check thoroughly, which I did not. In fact, the only time it comes out of the bag is usually when I am putting it on for typically a funeral, and in one event my daughter’s wedding (your photograph from 2013).”
Although Michael McGarvey was included on the “To” line of this email, the information seemingly did not catch up to him about the funeral vs. the wedding. It must be like being in the thick of a firefight and realize that you were given faulty ammunition. It is the nature of the beast when you choose to defend someone else’s lies.
BULLSHIT
Translation…I got caught and when my friend the retired E-9/SGM couldn’t throw his weight around and convince us to remove this blog I realized that this was not going away and was in fact growing into a bigger issue.
I believe that people around Buck are beginning to see him for what he is and that is a lying sack of bullsheeit. They are probably questioning the fairy tales he had been spreading and finding out they are not as true as he tried to make them seem.
Question: Isn’t Buck Thrailkill subject to the UCMJ considering he is retired from the Army?
Perhaps this is best taken up by Army CID vs. the FBI. Or both.
tshe86 CID probably wouldn’t handle this as they typically don’t deal with what they probably deem “minor” crimes. Plus with Buck being a civilian, even a retired Army NCO, it is more in the purview of the civilian authorities, NCAG, local DA, FBI, than Army CID.
NOTICE: As stated above, we have made a decision to not allow the posting of any more of Michael P McGarvey’s comments. This is a blog with the primary purpose of presenting facts pertinent to a case and allow comments related to those facts. This line is a little fuzzy and we do allow opinions, but in McGarvey’s case he continued with a practice of cockbirding around, name calling and tossing around unsubstantiated accusations. He was encouraged several times to stay on point and offer up evidence that Thrailkill was an 18E, combat-wounded, Desert Storm veteran yet McGarvey continued with the same tactics. We will no longer offer him a forum to provide comments that are not deemed valuable to this case. He is more than welcome to participate over at This Ain’t Hell (TAH) / Valor Guardians since they have more emphasis on discussion and opinions.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=108036
TAH / ValorGuardians has a contact phone number that he can call to make his case. In spite of how he feels, nobody “owes” him a phone call.
Now, McGarvey is accusing this site as being run by socialists, implying his First Amendment rights are being suppressed. He was given an opportunity to clearly state his case and in our view, squandered that opportunity. Now he wants to compare service records, seemingly to make this about him vs. Buck Thrailkill. If McGarvey makes any follow-up comment to any of you that is deemed respectable, or merely drops the ‘tude, then we will allow it to be posted. Otherwise, you can safely assume his posts are just more of the same – butthurt name-calling and unfounded accusations.
I don’t take any pleasure in reminding McGarvey of his irrelevance in this situation. It is most likely a significant milestone in his life as he gets older – nobody cares. As with any veteran, we thank him for his service but do not respect his stance on people that wear unearned medals. I know many veterans that have legitimate Purple Heart awards, along with Gold Star families that would rather give back that KIA / Purple Heart award for a mere day to be spent with their fallen loved one. I often spend holidays with Gold Star families and share meaningful, significant stories. It has been my experience that people that have no respect for what the medal stands for have most likely never had those close experiences. It is the honor of those Purple Heart recipients that is worthy of protection.
Sensorship doesnt suprise me. Nor does it make you right.
Nothing from you has been censored, but it should be. Still waiting very patiently for you to tell us what is factually wrong about our blog on Buck Thrailkill. I have to say, you’re not being a very good point man. Misdirection, rants, raves… like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. In spite of that, we STILL hold the door open for you to provide something substantial. My hope is fading fast.
Censorship is spelled with a “C.” Put the alcohol down, just put it down.
Michael P McCarvey – We reached out to Guardians of the Green Beret and the way it was characterized was that you do not represent them and they prefer that you not invoke their name as leverage when you make comments.
Your word carries no weight I’ll contact them myself
Please do. I’m sure that if you rant and rave you may be able to extract a different characterization from them. I’ve expressed concern to them about you taking a huge dump on our pages, under their name. This is not professional and outside the bounds of acceptable behavior. This is especially egregious when you try to pit one organization against another. You owe us an apology. Although we can easily remove your posts, I would rather that you man up and do it yourself. Google is tied into our pages so in a few days your name will be closely tied with all of your statements. I believe that you made those statements without knowing all the facts and your mouth engaged before your brain did. But when you start hearing some back peddling from Buck and the story changes, will you be man enough to consider what you wrote here? That’s the question.
These folks often change their story – here’s a good one to be on the lookout for: An ex-wife Photoshopped those Purple Heart images onto the photos in an effort to cause Buck some trouble. The daughter didn’t know any better when she posted them. How’s that?
I’m still waiting for you to tell us what is factually inaccurate about the blog we did on Buck Thrailkill. So far it has only been misdirection and name-calling coming from you. I would have expected more from you. Are you drinking when you post? Could that explain your behavior or are you always like this?
Um, Dang and snap and Oh shit, etc.
Nice Jerb