Gregg Ramsdell said he was a decorated combat veteran with an "I love me wall" in his office at Ft. Benning to prove it. He told wild-eyed stories about brutal combat in Afghanistan. In VA claims he made about PTSD he said he witnessed, "women holding babies while detonating themselves, IED explosions causing severe bodily injuries and death, retrieving body parts and bagging them, having blood and body excrements being blown onto my uniform."
The problem is that he was completely full of shit.
The lies began to unravel when he was hired as a civilian logistics manager on Ft. Benning, partly due to his claiming to have a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts. Another employee saw his medals on display and got suspicious. Of all the places to fake being a Ranger, Ft. Benning probably is not the place to do it since it is the home of both Ranger School and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Ranger School confirmed that Ramsdell did not earn the Ranger tab he had on display, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
That started an FBI investigation.
Ramsdell made a variety of claims over the years, many to claim VA benefits which he did not earn totally over $76,000. Pictures show Ramsdell in uniform wearing a Green Beret, Special Forces tab, Ranger tab, and a Combat Infantry Badge with a star above it, indicating that he served in two wars. None of it was true.
This week, a federal judge ordered Ramsdell to pay back restitution and sentenced him to a year in the slammer.