Two weeks ago, MCPO Terence Hoey, USN (Ret), a New York-based Stolen Valor investigator held a press conference, accusing Assemblyman Randy Voepel of lying about his military service. The press conference wasn’t well received by the mainstream media in San Diego. Two television channels and Joshua Stewart from The San Diego Union-Tribune rejected his accusations for insufficient evidence.
Hoey told me privately that Voepel was lying and that someone would dig more up. Ken Stone of Times of San Diego just posted a video of Voepel addressing the East County Tea Party, claiming to have served throughout 1969 and 1970 as a Forward Gunner (like Lance in Apocalypse Now) on small craft (aka swift boat) with Mobile River Force, Task Force 117, inserting SEAL teams in the Mekong Delta. The video also shows Voepel speaking at a public event claiming that he was involved in “infantry” fighting (suggesting he was a Navy SEAL).
Hoey responded to release of the video:
“Voepel was a Vietnam era junior sailor in the U.S. Navy, he worked as a radarman on the USS GURKE (DD-783) and the USS Buchanan (DDG-14). No heroics, killing Viet Cong, inserting SEALs, the smell of battle … as I said before … Voepel’s stories are all pure fantasy and a pack of lies.
“Voepel’s description of battle(s) and combat action is a tactic straight out of the Valor Thief’s handbook … and these false accounts are always technically incorrect, grotesque in nature and do not match official service records.”
Randy Voepel wearing his combat action ribbon, dog tags, and Swift Boat TF-117 ball cap.
Voepel has made a lot of claims about his military service which other veterans have questioned but couldn’t prove untrue. Hoey says that the video Stone posted is undeniable proof that Voepel is lying. Official Navy records are congruent with Hoey’s statement. The records show that Voepel didn’t serve in the Riverine Units nor did he serve in the “infantry”.
Moreover, Randy Voepel could never have served with Mobile River Force–Task Force 117 (as he claims in the video) because he enlisted six months after Task Force 117 was officially dissolved.
Randy Greg Voepel enlisted in August of 1969 and was in basic training in San Diego (boot camp), then advanced training (“A” School) in San Francisco, until he was assigned to serve on the destroyer USS Gurke in July of 1970 (he served on that ship until October of 1971.) Task Force 117 was dissolved in February of 1969.
I’ll offer more analysis in follow up posts.