Local veterans speak out on imposter

McALLEN — A combat veteran always knows when there is another one in the same room.

That’s what many Rio Grande Valley veterans have said since J.C. Ortiz, the Mission man who claimed to be a decorated combat veteran, admitted his supposedly illustrious and heroic military career in the U.S. Marine Corps was really less than honorable.

“He told me about his Purple Hearts,” said Homer Gomez, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam. “The things he told me didn’t jive.”

Ortiz, born Gerrald Jerome Bowman, lived a lie for at least a decade, convincing many he served four tours of combat in Vietnam, was awarded seven Purple Hearts and retired as a sergeant major.

His real military record came to an ignominious end in 1962 after he went AWOL and was given an “undesirable” discharge from the Marines, he said.

It’s unclear whether Ortiz will be prosecuted. There are pictures everywhere of him wearing medals he never earned, which is the most damning piece of evidence, said FBI special agent Tom Cottone.

The FBI investigates many of the cases involving people who impersonate veterans. It makes it a priority to investigate fraudulent Medal of Honor wearers. There is no evidence, it seems, that Ortiz ever wore a Medal of Honor.

Cottone, who is part of a violent crime task force in Newark, N.J., has uncovered more than 150 cases of fraud related to the military in the last 10 years, he said.

“The real guys are very reluctant to talk about their experience,” he said. “These impostors are the direct opposites.”

The FBI and other law enforcement are more likely to investigate fraud reports if they involve major combat awards than someone who bumps their rank up just one grade.

“Depending on the situation, we occasionally have a little chat with them to explain the errors of their judgment,” he said.

Ortiz bumped himself up at least 10 ranks, though, so that is something not likely to fly under the radar.

The Marine Corps is aware Ortiz has been impersonating a decorated war hero, but would not confirm whether it is launching its own investigation.

The maximum penalty for wearing medals never earned, a misdemeanor, is six months in jail and a fine.

Ortiz was able to get away with his story for so long, Valley veterans say, because military members are trained to not question authority, especially a sergeant major’s.

Many assumed any inconsistencies in Ortiz’s story were either his confused memory or harmless embellishment.

The most glaring was the incorrect order of awards on his uniform, said Tony Cordova, head of the McAllen Military Order of the Purple Heart.

“I thought maybe his old lady put them together for him,” said Cordova, a Marine who served in Vietnam. “I wasn’t going to embarrass him, especially one of that rank.”

The fact that the United States has been at war has helped impostors like Ortiz to come out of the woodwork, said FBI agent Cottone.

“A lot of these impostors are capitalizing on the fact that we are at war,” he said. “They are also capitalizing on the trust they are given.”

Close to two dozen soldiers and Marines from the Valley have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This situation allowed for Ortiz, who really never made it past the rank of private, to take on a fatherly role as a sergeant major at funerals and when bodies were flown back from the battlefield.

“If you are a former Marine and combat veteran, you are generally looked up to in the Valley,” said Mick Sawyer, a Marine Corps pilot. “I think he saw that as an opportunity to do that.”

Ortiz claims he did not profit financially from his deception.

But not all deception is measured in terms of dollars, say several veterans.

“This is a gentleman who invaded the privacy of our fallen families’ soldiers,” Gomez said.

Something about Ortiz didn’t sit right with Gomez the first time they met.

Gomez, who was with the 101st Airborne, chatted with him about his jump wings and got answers that were not consistent, he said.

Even so, there are many veterans who would prefer to not focus on a fraud.

The death last week of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Omar Flores of Mission should be getting more coverage, said World War II veteran Bernard Littlefield.

“It is an affront to me that anyone in fraud would get that kind of recognition,” Littlefield said.

“You are glorifying a crook, especially in light that we are having bodies shipped back that are dying out there.”

———

Andres R. Martinez covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.