Pro-Trump ‘war hero’ celebrated by Fox News now admits he faked his military service

A military veteran who was featured in fawning Fox News piece earlier this month has now admitted that he lied about his military service.

John Garofalo, 72, and his pro-Trump artwork were the focus of a report by Fox’s Bryan Llenas which has now been removed by the network. In the piece, Garofalo claimed that he served as a Navy SEAL for seven years and received 22 commendations including two purple hearts. He also falsely claimed he was listed as “missing in action” twice during Vietnam.

In the piece, Llenas described Garofalo as a “tough, tough man” and a “hero.”

But when the Navy Times reached out to Garofalo this Thursday, he admitted to lying about his past. He also admitted that his ruse has been going on for years.

“It got bigger and bigger,” he told the Times. “What I did I‘m ashamed of, and I didn’t mean to cause so much disgrace to the SEALs.”

The video, which reached up to 1.5 million views on Fox’s Facebook page, has since been removed.

According to the Navy Times, records show Garofalo did in fact serve in the Navy from September, 1963 to September 1967 “as an aviation boatswain’s mate ― aircraft handling, or ABH, a job that involves overseeing various ground-based functions involving aircraft.”

“The closest he ever got to Vietnam was a tour in Rota, Spain,” the Times report adds.

This Thursday, Fox News issued a correction on the story, pointing out that “all of Garofalo’s claims turned out to be untrue.”

The fact is that he did not serve in Vietnam. He was never a U.S. Navy SEAL. Even though he showed us medals, Garofalo was not awarded two Purple Hearts or any of the other nearly two dozen commendations he claimed to have received, except for the National Defense Service Medal.

[The Daily Beast] Featured image via screen grab

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.