Former Marine guards California school
HUGHSON, Calif. (AP) — A former Marine applauded for voluntarily guarding a central California elementary school apparently misrepresented his service history, U.S. Marine Corps officials said Thursday.
Craig Pusley showed up for a second day of guard duty Thursday at Hughson Elementary School, this time in civilian clothes after wearing military fatigues the day before. He was gone by midmorning, after Unified School District Superintendent Brian Beck discovered discrepancies about Pusley's military service and asked him to leave.
A day earlier, Pusley, 25, told The Modesto Bee he was a sergeant in the Marine Reserve and had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Pusley said he was unemployed and using his reservist pay to support his wife and 3-year-old child.
Capt. Gregory A. Wolf, a Marines spokesman, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Pusley never served overseas and was discharged in 2008 as a private after serving less than a year at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He also is not a reservist.
Laura Fong, the principal at Hughson Elementary School, wouldn't comment on the controversy Thursday because she said she didn't know all the facts. But she said it was a "very heartwarming thing" when the former Marine showed up Wednesday, and his presence made her and the staff feel safer.
Before the controversy, parents in the small agricultural community 100 miles southeast of San Francisco thanked Pusley for guarding their children and bought him cups of coffee.
"In the beginning, I thought it was a good idea, because as a parent I was concerned about safety with everything going on," Amber Navarro, 26, said while picking up her first-grader at the school. "He seemed like a really nice guy."
Pusley, who did not respond to calls for comment from the AP, told the Bee he had responded to a call on Facebook for veterans to help protect schools in the wake of the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. A Facebook group called Veterans on Watch, created this month, is circulating a White House petition that calls for the employment of competent veterans as armed security guards in America's schools, and 2,239 people have signed it so far.
"It would act as a deterrent to have a well-trained first responder on hand to neutralize the situation as soon as possible," said Chad Walker, a former combat medic in the Army and one of the group's founders.
WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tenn., reported that another former Marine, Staff Sgt. Jordan Pritchard, stood guard in front of Gower Elementary in Nashville on Wednesday. Pritchard, who has two children at the school, said he wanted to provide extra security to students and teachers.
Wolf, the Marines spokesman, said the Marine Corps contacted Pritchard, requesting that he stop wearing his uniform outside the school. At no point was the former Marine asked to stop standing in protection of his son's school, Wolf said.
Former Marines are prohibited from wearing their uniform in public, except for military funerals, memorial services, weddings, inaugurals, and parades on national or state holidays.
According to the Official Military Personnel File, Pritchard served from 2003 to 2011 as a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialist. He was a staff sergeant and served in Afghanistan.
Marine Corps officials declined to say whether Pusley would face any legal repercussions for lying about his deployment history. However, it's unlikely he will since his fabrication was related to an act of generosity.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law aimed at people making phony claims of heroism on the grounds that it violated First Amendment free speech rights.
Craig Pusley showed up for a second day of guard duty Thursday at Hughson Elementary School, this time in civilian clothes after wearing military fatigues the day before. He was gone by midmorning, after Unified School District Superintendent Brian Beck discovered discrepancies about Pusley's military service and asked him to leave.
A day earlier, Pusley, 25, told The Modesto Bee he was a sergeant in the Marine Reserve and had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Pusley said he was unemployed and using his reservist pay to support his wife and 3-year-old child.
Capt. Gregory A. Wolf, a Marines spokesman, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Pusley never served overseas and was discharged in 2008 as a private after serving less than a year at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He also is not a reservist.
Laura Fong, the principal at Hughson Elementary School, wouldn't comment on the controversy Thursday because she said she didn't know all the facts. But she said it was a "very heartwarming thing" when the former Marine showed up Wednesday, and his presence made her and the staff feel safer.
Before the controversy, parents in the small agricultural community 100 miles southeast of San Francisco thanked Pusley for guarding their children and bought him cups of coffee.
"In the beginning, I thought it was a good idea, because as a parent I was concerned about safety with everything going on," Amber Navarro, 26, said while picking up her first-grader at the school. "He seemed like a really nice guy."
Pusley, who did not respond to calls for comment from the AP, told the Bee he had responded to a call on Facebook for veterans to help protect schools in the wake of the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. A Facebook group called Veterans on Watch, created this month, is circulating a White House petition that calls for the employment of competent veterans as armed security guards in America's schools, and 2,239 people have signed it so far.
"It would act as a deterrent to have a well-trained first responder on hand to neutralize the situation as soon as possible," said Chad Walker, a former combat medic in the Army and one of the group's founders.
WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tenn., reported that another former Marine, Staff Sgt. Jordan Pritchard, stood guard in front of Gower Elementary in Nashville on Wednesday. Pritchard, who has two children at the school, said he wanted to provide extra security to students and teachers.
Wolf, the Marines spokesman, said the Marine Corps contacted Pritchard, requesting that he stop wearing his uniform outside the school. At no point was the former Marine asked to stop standing in protection of his son's school, Wolf said.
Former Marines are prohibited from wearing their uniform in public, except for military funerals, memorial services, weddings, inaugurals, and parades on national or state holidays.
According to the Official Military Personnel File, Pritchard served from 2003 to 2011 as a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialist. He was a staff sergeant and served in Afghanistan.
Marine Corps officials declined to say whether Pusley would face any legal repercussions for lying about his deployment history. However, it's unlikely he will since his fabrication was related to an act of generosity.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law aimed at people making phony claims of heroism on the grounds that it violated First Amendment free speech rights.
Have any of you had to explain what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary to an elementary age child this week? As the mom of a 9 yr old little girl I had to explain 20 of the people that died were kids. We made it a point to redirect the conversation to something we could do to make the holidays better for kids in our area whose parents might not be able to do much if they had to face job loss this year. Personally I welcome a Vet at the front and back door of every school in the USA to give our kids peace of mind and help them get back to the business of learning rather than being afraid to use the bathroom! Once kids get an idea good or bad parents are hard pressed to erase it. We've months ahead of us to convince our kids they're safe again after what happpened at Sandy Hook Elementary. Anyone on a campus would obviously be screened as any volunteer is through the state patrol and wear identification showing they've permission to be on campus all the kids can see. Dishonesty was a bad call but this guy's heart was obviously in the right place wanting to help the kids at Hughson Elementary feel a little safer.
I hate to say it, but with the lying it "feels" like he did this for the attention, not for the nobility of the act...
his heart is in the right place but .....
Â
Â
"Standing guard" w/ what? His gloves? Gonna take more than some 145lb runt wannabe and his bare hands to stop some dingbat w/ even the most ineffective gun. This guys only purpose..... To serve as a sacrificial warning bell.
@bagsofdirt At least he did something instead of sniveling like a little nobody dirt bag I don't think what he did lying about his service was good at all but he stood guard. Unlike people that send in comments that serve no purpose. And for your information dirt bag we former and current military have always been used as the sacrifical warning bell for this country we take the round so people like you can rest easy at your comfortable chair in front of your computer so you can make stupid comments. I'll take the 145 lb runt military guy over the 300 lb lazy person hidding behind his computer screen
I see everyone jumping on the bandwagon and applauding this. However, people seem to forget that the military has a mental health crisis on its hands. How many military veterans have committed murders and suicides? Have you people forgot about the Fort Lewis soldier currently on trial for a mass murder of innocent civilians and children?
Â
Do you really want the military guarding schools? This is another knee jerk reaction. What happens if a child shoots up a school? Look at what happened in Texas when the school police officer shot and killed the 8th grade boy for pointing a gun in the hallway - which turned out to be a pellet gun.Â
Â
Banning guns, arming teachers or putting armed guards in school isn't the answer. Military in schools definately isn't the answer
Â
@seattleemt So how many seconds did you serve Mr. or Ms. Knee JERK
I don't care about weather he lied or not about his service. He was doing the right thing for all the right reasons. He brought a peace of mind to those children and I salute him. I only wish we only had more people like him. In my humble opinion I feel he showed the highest values of the USMC and put them on display. The Marine Corps should be proud of him and we should be patting him on the back instead of trying to kick him in the butt.
Â
Â
@Aaron Wheeler............... obviously he's got some "issues" if he can't even make it in the military and then lied about it to be near kids......Ya really want a guy like that around the chilluns?
Supreme Court ruled that lying about your military history is protected speech. The made that ruling this year. The AP writers should have probably known that. It was pretty big news. Â
 @lakeview The last lines of the article read "Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law aimed at people making phony claims of heroism on the grounds that it violated First Amendment free speech rights."
Â
So, I think it'd be fair to assume the DO know that!
"Former Marines are prohibited from wearing their uniform in public, except for military funerals, memorial services, weddings, inaugurals, and parades on national or state holidays." I personally would rather see a Marine in uniform, guarding a school full of children, than at an "inaugural." Why waste that kind of representation on pomp and circumstance for an already heavily protected group of elitists? Aren't our kids more important?
Unfortunately he couldnt live up to the code of Semper Fidelus (Always Faithful) either by misrepresenting himself even for a noble cause.
Tough call here, as a vet I'm disappointed about the lying, but I like the purpose behind it.
Even an ex-marine-screw-up should know the definition of 'stolen honor'.
Pulsey, while your act was noble, it was horribly tarnished when you misrepresented yourself. Â Poor choice young man. Â
 @d_2 Agreed. If he'd have been truthful about his military experience, he would continue to be accepted.