Fake Special Forces “Honor Guard” Group Forced to Shut Down

The Guardians of the Green Beret, a group of Special Forces veterans that scour the internet in search of individuals falsely claiming to be a member of the Special Forces Regiment has outed a group that was performing honor guard burials while purporting themselves to be a Special Forces unit.

Papotia Reginald Wright started the 8th Special Forces Regiment New York Honor Guard more than a year ago to perform burial services for veterans. But according to investigations by multiple groups, the supposed Special Forces veteran vastly inflated his military service, including medals for valor, and his group has since shut down.

Wright claimed to be a retired command sergeant major from Special Forces and used his fraudulent claim to run a veterans service organization with no official nonprofit status in Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the state Attorney General’s office. Military records seen by Stars and Stripes show he served in the Army from 1982-90 as a truck driver who never ranked higher than a specialist – a far cry from his claims of combat service.

Photographs show Wright in full dress uniform at promotional events including a New York Giants game. Most of his decorations – a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and others – are allegedly fake, according to Steve Antson from Guardians of the Green Beret, a watchdog group that works to expose people pretending to be part of Special Forces.

Wright and his group which contained other legitimate veterans who were not aware of the false claims and badges that Wright wore openly at several other events other than funerals including an NY Giants game and the opening of a recruiting station has been shut down.

To read the entire article from Stars and Stripes, click here:

Photo courtesy Guardians of the Green Beret