ANTIOCH — A U.S. flag neatly folded and encased within the army room of this metropolis’s museum ended up there as a result of, because the story went, it was draped round an Army soldier as he climbed on a helicopter from atop the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
He was among the many final American troops to go away Vietnam, he mentioned, and introduced the flag that saved him firm throughout fight residence with him.
The valuable possession was later introduced with nice fanfare to the Antioch Historic Society throughout a Vietnam Veterans Appreciation barbecue fundraiser 9 years in the past, on the cusp of the fortieth anniversary of the autumn of Saigon.
“We had been so enthusiastic about it on the time. It appeared like a extremely whole lot,” recalled Laura Jacques, a longtime volunteer and previous president of the Antioch Historic Society.
However the flag will now be faraway from the wing of the museum the place different embellished Antioch troopers’ keepsakes are on show after data present it was most likely by no means in Vietnam — and neither was the person who claimed to hold it.
Army data obtained by this newspaper present the flag-bearing former U.S. Army sergeant, Michael Thomas Greenawalt, was in actual fact stationed in Germany, working as a desk clerk through the Vietnam Conflict.
Whereas the data from the Nationwide Archives and Information Administration don’t present the entire personnel file on his service from 1972 to 1985, not up for debate are historic data that say the U.S. Marines — not Army troops — had been the final fight troopers to evacuate the embassy by helicopter on April 30, 1975.
Greenawalt didn’t return calls or emails for remark. The longtime Antioch resident moved to a close-by county a number of years in the past, out there public data present.
However veterans and native historians who keep in mind the lead as much as the April 2015 barbecue fundraiser — which was documented by this information group on the time — at the moment are feeling a mix of feelings over the brand new revelations.
Former museum volunteer and veteran Invoice Fraga remembers being caught off-guard by the donation on the time, however the board was later excited to get it. Greenawalt, then-commander of the Antioch American Legion put up, approached Fraga throughout a barbecue planning assembly simply days earlier than the occasion providing his prized memento, he mentioned.
“He advised a narrative that he had the flag round his neck when he left and acquired out of there,” Fraga recalled. “It was one of many final flags (to go away Vietnam).”
Fraga didn’t assume to query it, given Greenawalt’s standing with the native American Legion.
Through the occasion, Greenawalt retold the story of leaving the U.S. Embassy’s rooftop with the flag round his neck — the identical one he had carried with him throughout his whole keep in Vietnam, he mentioned.
“It’s one which I had with me that I introduced from residence. I had the flag with me within the nation the entire time,” he was quoted as saying in an East Bay Instances article.
When a reporter requested him why he determined to donate it, he mentioned: “It simply appeared proper on the time and I did it.”
Greenawalt, who joined the service whereas dwelling in Riverside, advised these assembled on the 2015 veterans barbecue that he had served in a particular unit, a part of the Army Special Forces from 1972 to 1975.
However a tipster raised questions on Greenawalt’s service, which led to this newspaper’s assessment of his data.
“I really feel like he performed everyone there that day,” mentioned Fraga, an Army veteran who didn’t serve in Vietnam. “If I had been a fight veteran, I might have been actually upset, and as it’s, I’m upset as a result of he did that.”
“Getting this respect for one thing you didn’t just do ain’t proper,” Fraga added.
J.R. Wilson, founding father of the Delta Veterans Group, whose group benefited from the fundraiser barbecue, remembers being stunned by the late-minute flag donation and later questioning Greenawalt’s conflict story. Wilson mentioned in an interview he didn’t increase the difficulty then and by no means spoke once more with Greenawalt, who moved out of the world shortly thereafter.
Wilson finds it upsetting to consider the celebrities and badges on the American Legion honor guard uniform Greenawalt wore again then. They signified a senior jumpmaster with two gold stars throughout fight, a fight infantry badge and pathfinder torch badge symbolizing flight and airborne capabilities and a Vietnam marketing campaign ribbon, amongst different badges.
He added that almost half of Greenawalt’s uniform badges seen in images from a previous newspaper article gave the impression to be unearned. As commander of Antioch VFW Submit 4551, Wilson is tasked with analyzing such data usually.
“A clerk will not be an infantryman, nor does he get fight infantry badges,” he mentioned. “It’s fairly unhappy that somebody would need to impersonate a hero.”
Even so, Wilson mentioned Greenawalt has the “proper to show individuals incorrect by submitting a DD-214 (army discharge papers),” although that would result in extra questions.
Autrey James, previous commander of Antioch’s American Legion who took workplace simply after Greenawalt vacated it, didn’t recall the flag story however did keep in mind Greenawalt’s point out of serving in Vietnam. To be a member of the American Legion, you solely have to serve sooner or later of lively obligation, he mentioned.
“If I had heard that (flag) story, I might have challenged him on that,” James mentioned.
The Antioch museum plans to take away the flag.
“I assume we’ll need to look into issues a bit extra earlier than we show them. We’ll need to do some extra analysis,” Jacques mentioned. “Normally, we have now some connection and know that issues are on the up and up.”
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