Stolen Valour

HENDERSON UPDATE 27/2/2020.

Since the ANZMI publication of the David Henderson matter, dozens of emails have been received that condemn Henderson’s offensive behaviour.

Below is an email received from the former owners of Lone Pine Medals, Mudgee, who are most concerned that their good name and reputation has been dragged through the mud by Henderson for his own selfish benefit.

“In relation to your latest fraudulent wearing of medals case: David Henderson

I am one of the “un named ladies”, who apparently told him he was entitled to wear the medals. . I state categorically that this statement is false.

Some background for you. - My wife and I were Gulgong RSL Sub Branch affiliate members (as ex police officers), and owners of a medal mounting and framing business.

Mr Henderson already had the US Army Commendation medal in his possession and asked should he have it on his rack. We advised him that if he was entitled to the medal, that he could wear it as it was approved for wear.

He then asked us to mount it on his rack.

Later he asked if we could mount his Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. We had been advised by him earlier that he was filling out forms for this medal as he was entitled to it, and had been approved....thus the medal to be added to his rack.

As medal mounters, we can only do what a client requests. We are not required to prove their entitlement, and can only do what we are advised.

We were in possession of the book which you show a page from, and noting that his name wasn't in it, confronted him. He said it must be outdated.

He also stated to us at one time that being shot in the arse he should be entitled to the Purple Heart as well, and how can he get that.

We have always done everything we can to find out a clients eligibility. One example was a WWI set in which the soldier enlisted in 1916. thus only entitled to the BWM and Victory medal. We thoroughly researched the soldier through records, the AWM, and National Archives and confirmed his two medal entitlement. The client refused to believe his grandfather didn't get the trio, and we refused to supply him with same due to it being wrong.

We would never allow any person to wear medals not of their entitlement, as with David Henderson...we can only go on what he claimed as Vietnam entitlements are much harder to confirm.

Finally, we took our job very seriously, and had recommendations from many current serving members, and past members. We mounted sets for troops on deployment...for entire Ships companies....we prided ourselves on our work.

We may have moved to Canada, and sold the business to another party...but we do not like our work being dragged through the mud by a man who should know better.”

The above email is published with the expressed approval of the authors.

If the Secretary of the Gulgong RSL Sub Branch -;.
John Fielding RFD, JP
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret'd)
Secretary Gulgong RSL sub-Branch,

had taken his responsibilities seriously, and contacted the former Medal Shop owners, instead of defending the fraudulent behaviour of his President to ANZMI, he may have taken a different view. We will never know.

Henderson has been reported to the RSL NSW State Branch. An update will be published in the future regarding the action taken by that governing body.

The ANZMI site is riddled with military imposters, medal cheats and valour thieves, who hold or have held executive positions in Ex Service Organisations.

The message should be very clear to these false pretenders. You will appear on this site if you belong to one or more of the above three categories.

****

David Henderson was born in the United Kingdom on the 3 September, 1945. He enlisted in the Australian Regular Army and was subsequently posted to the Republic of South Vietnam on the 6 August 1969. On the 19 November, 1969, he was posted to 8 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment ( 8RAR) where he served as a Private in that Infantry Battalion until the 20 April, 1970. He then returned to Australia.

In the above photograph, Henderson is wearing the following medals.

1. Australian Active Service medal clasp Vietnam. (AASM) Entitled.
2. Vietnam Medal. Entitled.
3. Australian Defence Medal. (ADM) Entitled.
4. Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal (RVCM) Entitled.
5. United States Army Commendation Medal for heroism or meritorious achievement.. Not entitled.
6. Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. Not entitled.

Henderson is the President of the Gulgong Returned and Services League (R&SL) Sub Branch in mid-west New South Wales. A respectable position.

Henderson, though is a medal cheat, a valour thief and a big noter.

He is not entitled to wear the US Army Commendation Medal. He has purchased and awarded this medal to himself.

Criteria: The Army Commendation Medal is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States other than General Officers who, while serving in any capacity with the Army after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. Award may be made to a member of the Armed Forces of a friendly foreign nation who, after 1 June 1962, distinguishes himself by an act of heroism, extraordinary achievement, or meritorious service which has been of mutual benefit to a friendly nation and the United States.

Henderson is not entitled to wear the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. He has also purchased this medal and awarded it to himself.

Degrees

The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross was awarded in four degrees, with a basic medal followed by higher degrees which were the equivalent of personal citations on an organizational level (also known as having been "Mentioned in dispatches").

The degrees of the Gallantry Cross are as follows:
• Gallantry Cross with Palm: cited at the Armed Forces level
• Gallantry Cross with Gold Star: cited at the Corps level
• Gallantry Cross with Silver Star: cited at the Division level
• Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star: cited at the Regiment or Brigade level.

You will notice that Henderson claims that he was awarded the highest degree of this gallantry medal by the former Republic of Vietnam Government. (bolded).

Henderson served in 8RAR in Vietnam from November, 1969 until April, 1970 when he returned to Australia. During that time, the Battalion was engaged in heavy fighting with the enemy at the Long Hai Hills during Operation Hammersley. The Vietnam Government bestowed the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation for their actions in that battle, that occurred between the 10 February and the 9 March, 1970.

One 8RAR soldier was awarded the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm during their deployment. It was not Private David Henderson. In the below comprehensive official list, he does not get a mention in the Battalions honours for that tour of duty.

I

Henderson is entitled to wear the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit citation, but not the individual Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Medal with Palm. There is a distinguished difference between the two. Citation depicted below -;

He has been warned by former colleagues of the 8RAR Association on several occasions, and also the Vietnam Veterans Federation of Australia, that he has no entitlement to the two offending medals in question, and that he should remove them from his rack. He has told some former 8 RAR colleagues, that he was awarded the medals when he was with 9 Battalion RAR, prior to his posting to 8 Battalion RAR in November, 1969. That statement is false. He was never awarded either medal at any time by any official source. He has defied the advice of former 8RAR colleagues to get the medals off, with total disrespect to all Australian soldiers, who have been officially awarded both medals.

Arrogance perhaps, vanity, or both!

Henderson has been the President of the Gulgong RSL Sub Branch for the past 26 years. He should lead by example and not wear medals that he has purchased and awarded to himself.

Henderson was contacted by a Researcher and given an opportunity to provide an explanation to wearing purchased medals. The Secretary, on his behalf, replied and stated in writing inter alia -;

“Please be advised that the wearing of these medals was done in good faith by Mr Henderson having previously been given false guidance by professional individuals.

He has subsequently realised that he is not entitled to the two medals you have mentioned and has removed them from his rack. He is embarrassed and upset that this has occurred.

He has proudly served as President of the Gulgong RSL sub-Branch for 26 consecutive years and was only led to believe he was entitled to wear those medals in recent years”.

When questioned by one former 8RAR member, Henderson stated that local medal experts told him he was entitled to the two medals. They were allegedly two Sub Branch ladies. Henderson then filled out the required forms, the ladies sent them away and presto, the two medals arrived in the mail and were court mounted with his genuine medals. The ladies, according to Henderson, cannot be contacted now, as they both moved to Canada.

Henderson would know as well as every other former Australian Army Vietnam veteran, that you do not receive a U.S Government heroism medal and a Vietnam Government Gallantry Medal by sending away for them. He purchased them at a Medal Dealers Shop or on ebay.

Henderson is a fraud and he knows it. He has been told to remove them on at least two occasions, he ignored that advice, and now that ANZMI is making inquiries, he produces the “false guidance” excuse.

As a false pretender, he should resign or be kicked out of the NSW RSL immediately. The NSW RSL has enough ongoing problems at the moment without medal cheats and valour thieves like Henderson holding the Executive position of Sub Branch President, within the organisation.

ANZMI has not been provided any evidence that Henderson has removed the offending medals.

There is no excuse Mr Henderson, get rid of the un-awarded medals and resign your post.

Matthew Parmenter provides a lot of verbal and written evidence about his time as an heroic RAAF Jet Fighter Pilot. The problem is it is all bunkum.

Parmenter's only experience with Jet Fighters is with a modellers club in Victoria. He has given endless verbal and written evidence of his daring exploits in the RAAF. We have a Statutory Declarations detailing that Parmenter has said on numerous occasions that he served as an RAAF Jet Fighter Pilot in Vietnam. In addition, below are excerpts from pages he wrote to his mates.

In fact Matthew (John) Parmenter has never served as an officer in the RAAF. He is:

Not listed on the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Vietnam Nominal Roll.
Not listed in the official "Stud Book" of RAAF Officers as ever having served anywhere.
Has no Defence file at National Archives Australia (NAA).

Parmenter has provided the following reasons why he is not listed on official Defence documents:

1. He was seconded to the United States Air Force (USAF) as an Australian with the USAF.

2, His service was under another name because he was/is under witness protection.

We are advised by the RAAF that there were pilots who were seconded to the USAF and flew in Vietnam. They are all listed on the DVA Nominal Roll. Parmenter is not?

Parmenter has given a "perfect" excuse for being a "mystery man", and that is, "he changed his name because he was in witness protection". Now why would a person, who is in "witness protection" publish a photograph of himself and give details of his past life?

Notice that Parmenter wears a Cap bearing the name of US Navy ship It is also noted that Parmenter claims to have flown Jet Fighters from Aircraft Carriers.  Royal Australian and United States officers who flew from Aircraft Carriers were not Pilots of the RAAF or United States Air Force (USAF) but specifically from the Royal Australian or United States Navy.

Parmenter is now an octogenarian who has been spreading his lies for many years and has done such a good job, that he has been believed and admired for his "service". We are pleased to dispel his lies and publish the truth, which is, he was never a Jet Fighter Pilot in the RAAF.

The F105 aircraft detailed as "My lil old Southeast Asia Bomb Truck" belonged to USAF 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron. We contacted that unit association and received an in depth response discrediting all that Parmenter has said. Including that he was never an Australian who flew USA F105 aircraft.

Here is a direct excerpt from our communications with 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

"He claims he shot down a MiG on 11 June 1965 while flying from Takhli RTAFB, Thailand in a mission against the Paul Doumer bridge in Hanoi. The Doumer bridge was off limits as a target until it was first attacked on 11 Aug 67 (see the book, To Hanoi and Back, pg 85). He shows two photos he claims were from his gun camera. The photos are widely available on the Internet. The color one showing the F-105 gun sight cursor and flames from the MiG's left wing tank was actually from Maj Ralph L. Kuster's MiG kill on 3 Jun 67. Ralph flew with the 469 TFS out of Korat RTAFB, Thailand. His mission that day was against the Bac Giang bridge. The link below shows the provenance of the photo, which was actually a still from a video camera Ralph had in his cockpit. The video is also on line.
www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Flamin...-Ammo-from-F-105D//1

To summarize:

Parmenter was never an RAAF Officer.
He never flew Jet Fighter aircraft for Australian RAAF or the USAF.
He never served with the Australian or USAF Defence Forces in Vietnam or anywhere else.

This false fighter pilot has been shot down after living a lie for many years. It is hard to image how people like Parmenter can lie to those he perceives as friends.

Daisy Hill in Victoria can no longer boast of having a Vietnam fighter pilot war hero in their midst, but they can boast to having a man who was at the very top of his game as a liar and wannabe.

"Wing Commander" Matthew Parmenter RAAF is cleared for landing at Airbase ANZMI where the landings are bumpy and there is a lot of time for reflection.

Michael John Joyce served with RAAF Number 1 Operational Support Unit in Vung Tau Vietnam for 91 days from 16 April 1970 until 15 July 1970 as a Cook. Here is a photograph of Joyce:

Notice that Joyce is wearing four medals these are:

Australian Active Service Medal
Vietnam Medal
Australian Defence Medal
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal (RVCM) - NOT ENTITLED

Joyce has made the mistake of being a cheat involved with the media and had his photograph published in a newspaper. As a result of his need for media fame it has been established that Joyce is not entitled to wear the RVCM because he did not meet the criteria of 181 days service in Vietnam and was not evacuated to Australia as a Battle Casualty. He served for 91 days only.

Here is the offending medal

Here is the official criterion for being awarded the medal.

Here is what Joyce said about the matter:

Dear xxx,
Yes i did not spend the required time in Vietnam And as you know there has at times been eligibility question I was Medivaced home. And subsequently was awarded The medal in question, this would be shown in the appropriate Records that are available to the public. I have previously Discussed this with fellow veterans, and the consensus was That if it was officially awarded then that would be that.

Yours Truly
Mick Joyce.

Wearing the medal on the basis of a consensus of fellow veterans was insufficient authority to attach the medal to his rack.

Like Joyce, most of those caught wearing this medal say "It was issued to them" In most cases that is baloney and it has been purchased by the wearer. Joyce wears four medals, he is entitled to three.

Returned Veterans will not tolerate those who cheat with medals. Being a returned veteran is a status hard won and the awards they receive are sacrosanct.

Herbert Alec Mason, President of a Victorian RSL Sub Branch, was another non battle casualty from Vietnam, who falsely claimed that he was issued with the VCM.

www.anzmi.net/index.php/cheats-thieves/medal-cheats/638-mason 

We thank the genuine veterans and the many others throughout Australia, who through their diligence and observation are striving to preserve our medals protocols and heritage.

Joyce is welcomed to the website for being a medal cheat.

Kurt Ronald Southam is 33 years of age. Residing in Caloundra on the picturesque Sunshine Coast, in the State of Queensland can be a very relaxing and rewarding experience. Particularly if you are a former Royal Australian Navy elite Clearance Diver who has experienced the horrors of war in Afghanistan.

It could not be a better place to live, to get away from the stressors and traumatic memories of military life on operational service from “Hawaii to Afghanistan”.

Kurt Southam, apparently discarded his wet suit, flippers, snorkel and goggles, his intricate knowledge of explosives and counter terrorist techniques to become a Business Development Manager for an employment firm in Maroochydore, also on the Sunshine Coast. He is also a strongman and claims the number 1 spot in Australia for the under 80 kilos weight division.

Southam just loves publicity. You only have to google his name and instantly before your eyes, he is pictured posing for the camera lifting everything from rocks to beer barrels and tractor tyres.

Southam may be strong at lifting tractor tyres, but he is weak in character. Very weak indeed.

He is a liar, a valour thief and an imposter, who has used his very mundane Royal Australian Navy service to convince people that he was a highly trained Australian Navy Clearance Diver in Afghanistan. The equivalent of our respected Special Air Service Regiment in the Australian Army. (SASR)

In a published Sunshine Coast Profile article, Southam claims that he was a Clearance Diver in the Royal Australian Navy “serving from Hawaii to Afghanistan”.

His claims also extend to his Linked in Page where he states he was a former elite Naval Clearance Diver.

All of these claims are lies. They are intentional fabrications that characterise Southam’s shallowness.

Southam’s Royal Australian Naval (RAN) career is totally opposite to what he claims.

He enlisted in the RAN in November, 2001. He followed normal procedures and completed his Recruit Training at HMAS Cerberus in Melbourne, Victoria. He was then posted to HMAS Watson in Sydney, New South Wales where he trained as a Seaman, Combat Systems Operator. Unfortunately for Southam, he was not cut out for the RAN and he was discharged in August, 2003 as “Retention not in the interests of the Navy”. In other words , his services were terminated. In the 20 months that he served in the RAN he had no sea time. His postings were at two shore bases in Australia.

About the closest he ever came to being a qualified Naval Clearance Diver was completing a basic swimming test in Recruit Training at HMAS Cerberus in 2002.

His services were terminated as his retention was not in the interests of the Navy. No shame in that. Not everyone is cut out for service life. However, to now claim to be one of their highly trained Navy Clearance Divers with operational service in Afghanistan just shows what a false pretender he is.

Southam never “moved up the ranks until he became a Navy clearance diver” as suggested in the above article. He left at the same rank he joined. A seaman. By his actions, he would not even have the moral or physical courage to pass the selection test of this fine body of service men and women.

Southam is an imposter who likes publicity. We are happy to provide some more.

We understand that Southam gains his motivation from another well known Naval strongman, whose photograph appears below.

Welcome to the site, Kurt Southam.

Another self proclaimed strongman named Ian Ronald Crowden also appears on this site.

Anzmi.net/Crowden. Link.

Crowden was arrested in 2013 for kicking a Customs dog at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Airport. In his defence, he falsely claimed to be a sniper and an Afghanistan Veteran as well. He had no military service and he was later convicted of Perverting the Course of Justice as well for his trouble.

Must be something in the water they drink