After his exchange with Covington Catholic High School students, Native American activist Nathan Phillips was labeled an "elder" and "Vietnam Vet." It turns out only one of those are true.
The media was all over the teens from Covington Catholic for disrespecting the poor Vietnam Vet. This is a man who served in one of America's nastiest wars, how could they be so disrespectful?
The only issue is Phillips did not serve in that war. He was in the United States Marines from 1972-1976.
Phillips claimed to be a Recon Ranger. There's one issue with that. There is no such thing as a Marine Recon Ranger, those are only in the Army.
Retired US Navy SEAL Don Shipley blew Phillips' cover. He obtained the DD-214 form of Phillips and uncovered the truth.
“Nathaniel Phillips enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves on May 20th, 1972 and served until May 5th, 1976,” Shipley read from the form.
“He served under just four years and was discharged at the exalted rank of ‘Private,'" Shipley continued.
That's not all. Phillips went AWOL three times while he was stationed in Southern California.
Here is the video from Shipley. Warning, explicit language.
Retired SEAL Don Shipley
The truth on #NathanPhillips per DD214 fm #DonShipley A poseur assassinhttps://t.co/1h4P6xAadj
Not a Vietnam vet
Served in USMC 72-76
Drumroll please
Refrigerator mechanic not a "Recon Ranger
& the big finish
3 AWOLSThanks for your service Nate
Now shut upNSFW but awesome pic.twitter.com/AcZciLewKi
— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) January 23, 2019
Despite never going to Vietnam, he claimed he did in order to help raise money to create a documentary about his life.
There was no fact-checking done by the media. They simply ran with his lie and let him tear down the teens from Covington Catholic.