Flushing man charged as phony hero

For years, Louis Lowell McGuinn of Flushing passed himself off as a highly-decorated Special Forces war vet, Lieutenant Colonel Lowell Craig McGuinn.
He wore a chest full of medals, including the nation’s second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, established by George Washington to honor the ordinary soldier.
On Monday, April 30, the phony hero was arrested by real agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and hauled before a real federal judge. McGuinn is one of the first to be charged under the “Stolen Valor Act,” which went into effect in January. The law makes it a felony to lie about winning military medals. If convicted, he faces one year in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, McGuinn, who was discharged from the armed service as a private in 1968, “stated that he changed his name and date of birth to reinvent himself …when applying for employment.” The feds also say that the “colonel” told a security company he was in the Special Forces, to win consulting contracts.
The smooth-talking baritone was a fixture at military-related events. For years, he strutted at the head of a contingent of Special Forces veterans in a local Memorial Day parade, as the “ranking officer.”
The deception was made easier because, with the exception of the nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, the government has no comprehensive list of who won medals, or how many have been awarded.
Also, since the Special Forces have been involved in so many “top secret” missions since their inception, posers have an easy time lying about them. To this day, Special Forces personnel in Afghanistan don’t allow themselves to be photographed.
McGuinn was tripped up by the sharp-eyed director of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines Club in Manhattan, who noticed that the “colonel,” who was attempting to rent a space in the club, was wearing his supposed-awards improperly.
When McGuinn’s story didn’t pass muster, the FBI got involved, capturing the ruse on film and finally arresting the 62-year-old.
After a brief court appearance, McGuinn was released on $5,000 bond.