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[Cy Q. Faunce]

Richard Guerra is a wing tsun and soryu karate instructor in Austin, Texas. He has made many claims about his past military service, including that he saw combat during the Vietnam War, that he served as a Navy SEAL, that he was involved in Navy Special Operations, that he fought in North Vietnam, and that he trained Navy SEALs and other special operations personnel in martial arts.

Based on publicly available records, we can refute these claims.

http://www.bullshido.org/Richard_Guerra

[Bryan]

I looked into this for Richard. The evidence I saw was insufficient to call the man out in public as a fake. Much of it seemed to be invented by Chuck Hardin. I am very uncomfortable labeling people as a fake, fraud, or phony unless there is direct and credible evidence. In this case you had a few internet posts that I showed POW Network could have been posted by anyone since the poster was not a registered user and the website was one of those free sites with little security.

There was also a news story quoted where it stated Richard was waiting or holding a "Navy Seal Bag" which seemed to be a typo for "Navy Sea Bag" not Richard claiming he is or was a SEAL. If there are any credible witnesses who have first hand knowledge of Richard claiming he was a SEAL in Vietnam I would like to hear from them.

As of this update the entire Bullshido Dot Org site is offline. Chuck Hardin has been kicked off his own website for what was explained by Bullshido Staff as unethical behavior. Supposedly there are criminal and civil actions being taken against Chuck Hardin and the Bullshido website.

[JimH]

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies500.htm

Has Claims by the fake SEAL Richard Guerra
and the Investigation into Mr Guerra by a US Navy SEAL who busts FAKE SEALs

[Bryan]

Jim, there are big problems with this investigation. The most important being all the research was done by Chuck Hardin who according to Bullshido itself is unethical which can be translated into the man is a complete bullshit artist.

I sent several emails to POW Network warning them that getting in bed with Bullshido was a bad move but nobody seemed to care. Now it comes out that Chuck Hardin is not only a fake, fraud, and phony but he was embellishing facts in his investigations aka making stuff up. Steve Robinson is not only a member of the Bullshido website but was working closely with Chuck Hardin. Chuck made friends with Steve and Steve never bothered to check out the background of Chuck Hardin. He also took all Hardin's research as fact and then used it to write the letter you have linked to.   

Here is the biggest problem, Chuck Hardin is the guy claiming Richard Guerra claimed he was a SEAL. Richard Guerra claims he never claimed he was a SEAL. There are no pictures of Richard Guerra dressed as a SEAL and no credible witnesses that I have found. The entire letter written by Steve Robinson is based on the assumption that Richard Guerra was claiming to be a SEAL. If he never claimed to be a SEAL then he is not guilty. What is most interesting to me is in other cases there is a huge amount of evidence where in this one there is Chuck Hardin claiming the man is a fraud then telling POW Network he is a fraud when maybe the entire story is bullshit.

If Bullshido Dot Net wants to investigate martial arts bullshit they are welcome to but I hope they have learned their lesson concerning the entire "Military Investigation" drama they have created for themselves and others.

When and if we find credible evidence that Richard Guerra has made public claims he was a Navy Seal and not a Navy Vet I will be more than happy to look into it.

[Cy Q. Faunce]

Bryan is, as usual, lying.

From the article in The Daily Texan:

Navy Seal Richard Guerra and Samuel Espinoza of the 173rd Airborne Army Division sat together and discussed their experiences as young Hispanic soldiers, chatting as old friends would.

You can throw insults at me all you like, Bryan, but if Guerra were an honest man, he wouldn't have let that lie go uncorrected.

[Bryan]

Bryan is, as usual, lying.

From the article in The Daily Texan:

Navy Seal Richard Guerra and Samuel Espinoza of the 173rd Airborne Army Division sat together and discussed their experiences as young Hispanic soldiers, chatting as old friends would.

You can throw insults at me all you like, Bryan, but if Guerra were an honest man, he wouldn't have let that lie go uncorrected.

Good to know your reading this. Now you can explain all the lies you have told in your bullshit investigations. How about the lies you told to get everyone to trust you at Bullshido? Now you have been called out yourself and the silence is deafening.

As far as Richard goes you have proven nothing. One article that is all messed up is not proof enough to publicly lynch a Veteran.  Maybe you would like to explain your relationship with Georgette Oden and why she was according to Richard "harassing" him on behalf of you and your former website Bullshido?

Now that we know your reading this stuff you have some serious explaining to do.

[Cy Q. Faunce]

If you want to discuss Guerra, you can account for his post on the USS Jouett forum as well.  And yes, one interview in which he claims to be a SEAL is enough.  Along with the testimony of former students regarding his claims^{1, 2}, it's damning.

You will of course respond with generic incredulity and ill-feigned high-mindedness, because you are still upset that your own impostures were punctured.  I doubt you will convince anyone here, but if it makes you feel better, by all means do go on.

As for matters regarding me, you already have a thread for that, and I'm not going to comment on an ongoing legal matter in any case.  Let's stick to topical facts about Guerra's claims.

[Bryan]

If you want to discuss Guerra, you can account for his post on the USS Jouett forum as well.  And yes, one interview in which he claims to be a SEAL is enough.  Along with the testimony of former students regarding his claims^{1, 2}, it's damning.

You will of course respond with generic incredulity and ill-feigned high-mindedness, because you are still upset that your own impostures were punctured.  I doubt you will convince anyone here, but if it makes you feel better, by all means do go on.

As for matters regarding me, you already have a thread for that, and I'm not going to comment on an ongoing legal matter in any case.  Let's stick to topical facts about Guerra's claims.

I asked Richard if he posted that and he stated he did not post it, it was not him. I asked POW Network and they said nobody could confirm a relationship between the IP Address of the poster and Richard Guerra. Just to show anyone could post there claiming to be anyone I posted on that forum as POW Network, made screen shots, contacted POW Network, provided them with links, provided them with screen shots of the post, explained the situation, then exchanged a few emails about the matter.

Later POW Network sent me a email with a IP Address from the post I made on the Jouett Forum for a Bangkok IP, I was more than a hundred miles from Bangkok on a Dynamic IP that changed every time I logged onto the net. If I wanted I could have the IP read I was in Austin or any other city in the world.

My point is anyone that disliked Richard could have made those posts. There is no solid evidence Richard ever even knew about the Jouett Forum much less posted there. The writing style was not his writing style, it did not seem to be his words there from the exchanges I had with Richard.

The bottom line is you "Chuck Hardin" do not have any business trying to investigate anyone for anything. You do not have even a basic understanding of military investigating and now you been proven to be a fraud yourself.

By the way, my post was immediately removed form the Jouett Forum. It left me wondering why the so called Richard Guerra SEAL posts were not removed unless there was an agenda to make Richard out to be a liar. In the past cases I have worked on there were dozens of eye witnesses, dozens of statements, multiple pictures of people in military uniforms, loads and loads of evidence. In this case there are a couple questionable pieces of evidence and a fat little liar.

I have no reason to defend Richard Guerra and no reason to throw him under the bus either. If there is any credible evidence he has claimed to be a SEAL when he was not I will be the first to take issue with that.

[Cy Q. Faunce]

Your failure to address the Daily Texan article in any substantial way, and the testimony of Guerra's ex-students, is a pretty glaring omission.

I very much doubt that Guerra's former shipmates on the Jouett have any stake in discrediting him, and his investigation on Bullshido began well after his post on the Jouett forum.  Who but Guerra would have a stake in making such an inflated claim on his behalf?  Your logic fails.

I suspect they deleted your post because their forum is for shipmates only.  You never served on the Jouett, hence do not qualify as a member.

[JimH]

Bryan,
I see your point.
If Mr Guerro Never claimed to be a SEAL then the title of FAKE SEAL is a non issue.

To me:
The 2006 message on the USS Jouett site seems like BS.
Looks like someone LOOKING for info,hoping for a bite.
Reading his,Mr Guerro's, other posts on the USS Jouett site and then reading the 2006 post raises questions.

Why would a guy who did 2 years in the NAVY,(which is not long enough to do basic,a stint on a ship deployed ,and BUDS ),post on a site stating he was a SEAL they would know, with his real his ship mates reading it knowing he was not a SEAL ?

[Cy Q. Faunce]

And the article in the Daily Texan?

And the students' testimony?

[Bryan]

Your failure to address the Daily Texan article in any substantial way, and the testimony of Guerra's ex-students, is a pretty glaring omission.

I very much doubt that Guerra's former shipmates on the Jouett have any stake in discrediting him, and his investigation on Bullshido began well after his post on the Jouett forum.  Who but Guerra would have a stake in making such an inflated claim on his behalf?  Your logic fails.

I suspect they deleted your post because their forum is for shipmates only.  You never served on the Jouett, hence do not qualify as a member.

Here is the article in question. There are several problems with Chuck Hardins interpretation of the article.


The most obvious is the fact there are direct quotes from Richard Guerra but there is no direct quote of him stating he was a Navy SEAL. We have no idea if the author added this to make the article relevant, to gloss it up a bit, or just in error. Richard Guerra himself told me he never told the reporter he was a SEAL. Even if you quote people and they deny it later you cannot use the quote, that's the writing business. In this case we have to give the benefit of the doubt to Richard Guerra.

Then as you read on the writer clearly makes a error which any amateur military sleuth would pick up on.

"Guerra at the time had his Navy Seal bag with him and a crew cut, showing he had served in the military."

Clearly this indicates to me there is a serious error in the article as this should read "Navy Sea Bag" not Navy Seal Bag as there is no such thing. This has been pointed out multiple times but Chuck Hardin in his deceptive writing refuses to acknowledge this.

The rest of the article is a typical Veterans perspective article and Richard Guerra never makes any claims valid of investigation in it. In my opinion I would need to see much more than this to ever place Richard on a list of Fake, Frauds, and Phonies.

As far as all the students coming forward, where are they? If he had done what Chuck Hardin said there should be dozens of people coming forward as witnesses. Richard stated to me that Chuck Hardin sent the State Of Texas Attorney Generals assistant into Richards class to try and catch him making military claims. She, Georgette Oden, according to Richard Guerra tried to entrap him in some kind of nonsense to make political play in local Austin politics.  



Austinites honor Veterans

Tejano veterans bond over shared war experiences
By Rachna Sheth

Navy Seal Richard Guerra and Samuel Espinoza of the 173rd Airborne Army Division sat together and discussed their experiences as young Hispanic soldiers, chatting as old friends would.

But Espinoza and Guerra met for the first time Tuesday, though they fought in Vietnam three years apart from each other - Espinoza in 1968 and Guerra in 1972. The two said that Vietnam tied them together like brothers.

"We have a bond, not because we're Chicanos, but because we're both veterans," Espinoza said.

"It's like blood," Guerra added.

War veterans ranging from World War II to the Gulf War, along with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos and other local leaders attended a ceremony Tuesday, which honored Hispanic-American veterans. Tejanos in Action and the American GI Forum, organizations that support Hispanic veterans, held the event at Plaza Saltillo in East Austin.

Being Chicano did have implications in the military during Vietnam, the veterans said.

"[White officers] saw color. We didn't," Guerra said. "They would have us doing the shit details, like giving us extra work. They would have us take out the [burn victims], they would call me 'dirty Mexican,' [and] 'damn Mexican' [and say] 'go back to Mexico.'"

Guerra and Espinoza said the worst insults, however, occurred at home during boot camp and after they returned from the 13-month tour in Vietnam.

Upon returning to the United States, a police officer stopped Guerra and asked him for a green card while he waited at a bus stop to catch a ride back to Austin, he said. Guerra at the time had his Navy Seal bag with him and a crew cut, showing he had served in the military.

"I said, 'I don't need no green card - I have a military ID,'" Guerra said. "And he said, 'I didn't know they allowed wetbacks in the Navy.' I just looked at him. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't beat him."

Porfirio Martinez Sr., 90, who fought in Algiers and on D-Day at Omaha Beach during World War II, observed the ceremony standing with the help of a walker. Memories of the war still haunt him.

"Sometimes we see him with sadness and a far-off stare," said his daughter, Margaret Prieto. "Now as he gets older, he gets choked up about it."

Her brother, Porfirio Martinez Jr., sustained a sniper's shot to the head in Vietnam and has a synthetic plate in his skull. Though a generation apart, both father and son experienced discrimination in the military.

Porfirio Martinez Jr. described an incident in Vietnam when he was speaking with other Hispanic soldiers in Spanish and a few white officers reprimanded them.

"They came over and said, 'Don't talk in Spanish. We're not paying you in pesos - we're paying you in dollars,'" Martinez said.

Paul Herrera, head of the Austin chapter of American GI Forum, said the U.S. military is no longer discriminatory. He called it the "most democratic" of organizations.

[Cy Q. Faunce]

Then why did he never ask for a correction?

And why do his students so clearly recall his SEAL claims?

[Bryan]

Bryan,
I see your point.
If Mr Guerro Never claimed to be a SEAL then the title of FAKE SEAL is a non issue.

To me:
The 2006 message on the USS Jouett site seems like BS.
Looks like someone LOOKING for info,hoping for a bite.
Reading his,Mr Guerro's, other posts on the USS Jouett site and then reading the 2006 post raises questions.

Why would a guy who did 2 years in the NAVY,(which is not long enough to do basic,a stint on a ship deployed ,and BUDS ),post on a site stating he was a SEAL they would know, with his real his ship mates reading it knowing he was not a SEAL ?

Jim, My understanding is Richard had several nut jobs running around pretending to be him on the internet. Its also my understanding the same people were posting on Bullshido as former students and in general trying to cause trouble for the man.

Since your interested in this, to be completely fair, If any former students come forward as witnesses to Richard making claims he was a SEAL I will let you interview them and decide if they are credible or not. My only interest here is to be fair to a Vet, to make sure he gets a fair deal. Chuck Hardin is not a Vet, not one of Richard Guerra's peers, Chuck Hardin is in no position to be judging Richard Guerra, this should be done by Vets alone.

[Cy Q. Faunce]

Um, no.  Anyone can request records and get the truth.  In Guerra's case, ex-SEAL Steve Robinson helped with the investigation, as did the POW Network.  Neither of them will have anything to do with you now, of course.

But it is crazy for you to suggest that no veterans were involved in the investigation of Guerra.  In fact, I was guided entirely by their expertise and wisdom.  And it is even crazier to suggest that a civilian has no place calling a military faker on his fakery.

Ask Burkett, Robinson, or the Schantags what they think of non-veterans exposing fakers.  They do the real work.  You just tag along, pursuing petty vendettas under the guise of doing real work.