Nathan Phillips’ DD-214 RELEASED – And Shows He’s Not Quite What He Claims
Late Tuesday, that changed.
Retired Navy SEAL Don Shipley sharedNathan Phillips’ (a/k/a Nathan Stanard) DD-214, which he’d acquired through a FOIA request. Shipley discusses its contents in this video:
He enlisted under Nathaniel Richard Stanard, an “adopted” name, according to the DD-214, but his birth name was Nathaniel Phillips. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves, serving from 1972 to 1976. He never left the United States during his service in Lincoln, NE, and El Toro, CA, and was discharged as a private.
Now, I’m not the military expert that Streiff is, but during my years living near Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune I came in contact with quite a few soldiers and Marines. My understanding is that it takes a special talent – of the “I don’t really want to do any work” type – to not promote beyond private in four years. (I’m sure I will be corrected in the comments if my take is incorrect.)
Also, his duty status lists “discharged,” not “honorably discharged.” That could have to do with his multiple stints in confinement after being AWOL.
When he wasn’t AWOL, what did he do? According to Phillips:
“I’m what they call a ‘recon ranger.’ That was my role.”
Wrong. His role was as a refrigerator mechanic, or ReferMech.
“Phillips also described coming back to the U.S. as a veteran of the Vietnam era. ‘People called me a baby killer and a hippie girl spit on me.'”
Returning to the United States from where? Was he overseas before enlisting? Or is he talking about coming back to El Toro from a trip to Baja California and using vague language to insinuate, but not blatantly claim, that he served in Vietnam?
It’s not often that I’m left speechless. I don’t know whether to laugh at the revelation that Mr. Recon Ranger is actually Mr. Freon Ranger (h/t @onefinejay, who h/t’s others on Twitter), or be extremely pissed that this man is stealing the valor of men who actually were recon rangers or served in Vietnam and who have lived with the nightmares and anguish their service left them with for decades.
Nathan Phillips' DD-214 RELEASED - And Shows He's Not Quite What He Claims