Lawhorn’s Lawrence: Questions arise over claims of veteran featured in column

Vietnam veterans Bob Harvey, left, and Ken Baldwin, both of Lawrence, share stories with other veterans over beers during happy hour Friday at 23rd Street Brewery.

There are many sad stories associated with America’s veterans. It appears I have stumbled upon one.

On Sunday I told you a story of a group of veterans who meet at Lawrence’s 23rd Street Brewery for a little healing and a lot of fellowship. It is a good group that serves a good purpose that goes well beyond quenching a few thirsts.

One of the men highlighted in that article, Delwin R. Barnett, told of his time in Vietnam, including his status as a Prisoner of War and several medals he received. I’m sorry to report, I now have doubts about those claims. An individual who serves as a bit of a watchdog on such matters called me after the article appeared on Sunday, and said he’s not finding where Barnett’s name appears on the commonly accepted lists of Vietnam POWs.

I contacted Barnett upon hearing that concern, and asked him to explain the discrepancies. Barnett continued to tell me that he was a Vietnam POW and had received the medals that he claimed. But I didn’t find the assurances I was seeking. For example, I was unable to see his medals because he says he became involved in a dispute that involved someone setting his car on fire. The medals and many other possessions were in that car. He said a former colonel of his is working to get the medals reissued, but he couldn’t provide me the name of the colonel.

I could launch a more exhaustive investigation of Barnett’s past, but I doubt that I will. I will leave it at this: I’m not saying Barnett’s claims are false, but I don’t have the comfort level with the information that I require. I regret including the information in the article, and apologize that I didn’t vet it better.

Making false claims about a person’s time in military service is the sort of thing that can enrage people, and understandably so. That’s why I feel I also should say this: After talking with Barnett, I do believe he believes the things he told me.

If nothing else, this unfortunate incident has educated me on the issue of Stolen Valor. That is what individuals in the veterans community call it when people make false claims about their time in service. Apparently, it is an all too common occurrence.

“I get calls about it all day, every day, and I do mean every day,” said Mary Schantag, chair of the POW Network, who works to debunk bogus claims of service. “I get calls on Christmas, Easter, New Year’s Day.”

She said the issue has become prevalent since the late 1990s, and has grown as the Internet has grown. She said in 1998 her organization received 22 Stolen Valor complaints.

“Now, 22 complaints, I can receive that many in 48 hours,” Schantag said.

Like I said, a sad story.

Originally published — Nov. 08, 2014

Lawhorn’s Lawrence: A table of veterans and stars

For a good part of the conversation, Delwin Barnett simply was the quiet guy at the end of the bar room table who had a hard time hearing.

But you know how quickly things can change around a bar room table. As casually as the fellows order another round of dollar draws at West Lawrence’s 23rd Street Brewery, one of the guys asks Delwin the simplest of questions.

“How long was it for you?”

“What?”

“How long?”

“Four years in combat and six months as a POW.”

The quiet guy at the end of the table is retired Capt. Delwin Barnett, and he has two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross to his name.

“Yeah, I guess I’m not supposed to be alive,” Delwin says.

The other fellows around the table chime in with the jokes about his Cajun cooking at this point.

Yeah, it is that type of table.

Move over one chair, and Ken Baldwin has a Silver Star, too. Move over a couple more chairs and there is a retired lieutenant colonel. A few more chairs and you’ll find a 20-year Air Force veteran.

Yeah, it is that type of table, too.

It is a table tucked into the corner of 23rd Street Brewery, and every Friday at 3 p.m. you can find it filled with the same group of six or more guys. They’re there for the bar’s dollar Happy Hour beer — and for a few other things that don’t come so cheaply.

“This is Happy Hour, but this also is our therapy,” Baldwin says.

It sure beats some of the other forms they’ve tried. Delwin tells about therapy in a VA hospital.

“They didn’t want to talk about happened to you,” Delwin says. “They wanted to send you off to some program where you would paint something. Arts and crafts.

“You look kind of artsey and crafty,” says Gary Bartlett, a former Vietnam-era Air Force man who helped get the group together for a weekly happy hour more than two years ago.

“I have a lot of ash trays,” Delwin says.

The fellows don’t want to mislead you, though. Therapy comes in a lot of different forms around this table. Not every week does someone choose to open up. Sometimes they just open a tab.

“We sit around and solve the world’s problems,” said Bob Harvey, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam.

But sometimes they do solve some of their own. Harvey said it was about a year ago that he had a “breakdown” sitting at this happy hour table.

“I just finally expressed some things that I had kept hidden for 40 years,” Harvey said. “It took 40 years to let it get out, but this group allowed that to happen.”

On this day, there were a lot of memories. They talked about their fallen friend, Jack Hohman, the kindest, gentlest guy you would ever want to know, who also happened to be a part of the Ninth Infantry that served in the bloody Mekong Delta.

And they remember coming home. Baldwin was a Lawrence boy, so this is where he returned to. Lawrence in 1968 wasn’t the most welcoming of places.

“If you made the decision to serve rather than protest, you were looked down on,” Baldwin says.

And, thankfully, they talk about how things have changed. There was a little bit of talk about where they’ll all be on Veterans Day, which is Tuesday. A local grocery store offers free breakfasts to veterans that day. A sandwich shop offers free lunch. There were predictions that they would go to bed full.

But it wasn’t always that way, Harvey says.

“For the first 30 years, it seemed like it was a day for the banks to be closed and the federal employees to get off,” Harvey says. “It didn’t seem like it was much until after Desert Storm. I think the country just finally caught on that it wasn’t us that were making all the decisions back in Vietnam.”

Baldwin says he thinks a lot of that has to do with guys like the ones sitting around the table.

“I think our generation said we weren’t going to let that happen again,” Baldwin says. “No soldier needs to come home and go through that again.”

Harvey says that’s why he’s hoping this corner table eventually will grow bigger. He says if there are other veterans out there who want a seat at the table, all they have to do is show up at 3 p.m. on a Friday.

“We don’t have to know them,” Harvey says. “As soon as we meet them we are going to know them.”

But maybe the table won’t be for everybody. That’s fine, too. Baldwin says he’s confident today’s new crop of veterans are going to find their own place.

“It wasn’t a good situation for a lot of us coming home,” Baldwin says. “But America is doing better. We have made the turn.”

Here’s to a happy Veterans Day, and to happier hours for all our veterans.

— Each Sunday, Lawhorn’s Lawrence focuses on the people, places or past of Lawrence and the surrounding area. If you have a story idea, send it to Chad at clawhorn@ljworld.com.