News / Military
By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / June 10, 2016
PHOTO: Retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Wayne Ridgley is the center of attention during a Memorial Day ceremony on May 30 in Tampa. Ridgley wears ribbons that he did not earn, according to his military record. (CHRIS URSO | Times)
PHOTO: Retired Marine Sgt. Wayne Ridgley salutes 10-year-old Sharan Allen of Tampa as she places a wreath during a Memorial Day service May 30 in Tampa. (AUSTIN ANTHONY | Times)
PHOTO: Retired Marine Sgt. Wayne Ridgley plays taps at a Memorial Day service in Tampa on May 30. (AUSTIN ANTHONY | Times)
As he has for the last decade, the old Marine stood ramrod straight at the Memorial Day ceremony, a gunnery sergeant’s stripes on the sleeves of his dress blue uniform, rows of ribbons on his chest signaling a host of medals for heroism in combat.
He brought his arm up in a slow salute as men and women attending the ceremony at American Legion USS Tampa Post 5 walked toward him carrying wreaths to honor those who died in war. The veterans saluted back. The civilians looked on with admiration.
But under a canopy, one veteran seethed.
“He’s not a Gunny,” said Gerard Abbett, using military slang for the rank on the Marine’s sleeve. “He didn’t receive any Silver Stars.”
Abbett, who was wounded in Vietnam and received two Purple Heart medals, was right.
A check of his military records shows Wayne Ridgley, 68, never was a gunnery sergeant, never received any Silver Stars, and served only 14 months — not long enough to earn the 20 years worth of hash marks on his sleeve.
He is, however, a war hero. He lost a leg in Vietnam, received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with a V device for Valor, and was medically retired as a corporal.
Confronted with his real military record, Ridgley acknowledged his misrepresentation to the Tampa Bay Times, saying he did it to make himself and others feel that he was more important. He said he knew he would get caught someday. He said he won’t do it again.
“I was enjoying it,” Ridgley said. “It felt like I was somebody and I did it for a long time. I got a crazy notion in my head that maybe if I carried myself like this, I’d feel like a strong guy. One of the best ranks in the corps is gunnery sergeant. I lost it and kind of went looney over it.”
Flashing military honors that were never earned has emerged as a growing national trend, prompting legislation outlawing the practice and a recent ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California that there is a constitutional right to do so.
“It’s an epidemic,” said Anthony Anderson, an Army staff sergeant who runs Guardian of Valor, an organization that tracks down cases where people lie about their service record. Anderson estimates his organization gets 60 to 70 cases a week involving invalid service time, rank and awards.
Ridgley has become a symbol of the Marine Corps throughout much of the local veterans and political community. He has appeared in uniform at a number of events over the years and is a member of the Hillsborough County Republican Party executive committee.
The discovery that he did not earn all the honors he claims has angered some fellow veterans and left many shocked, saddened, puzzled, and asking why.
“Isn’t that honor enough, to get a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart?” veteran Abbett asked.
In 1969, Wayne Ridgley was a 21-year-old Marine rifleman, fighting in the Vietnam War, according to his military records.
He was seriously injured Sept. 20 of that year, according to the citation for his Bronze Star medal.
Ridgley “displayed exceptional skill, professionalism and resourcefulness in the performance of his myriad and demanding duties,” according to the citation.
“Although painfully wounded, his silent courage served as an inspiration to all who observed him and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.”
In a series of interviews, Ridgley said he lost his right leg above the knee when he was hit by a mortar round and is now rated 100 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He said he is in bad health. He lost a kidney two years ago as the result of exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam, and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
At first, Ridgley denied he made up his service history, but later he relented.
He said the fabrication came years after he left the service, starting sometime in the mid-1980s.
“I was a hot dog vendor at MacDill Air Force Base for many, many years, and that is when I promoted myself to gunnery sergeant,” he said. “I was young and dumb, and to be honest, I did not feel I did enough for my country in the first place.”
Suspicions have been growing about Ridgley’s service record but people continued to take him at his word.
He attended the weekly Marine Raider Lunch Bunch, a group of veterans that meets regularly to honor the Marine Corps unit of the same name that served in World War II.
He participated in the weekly Friday flag wave on Bayshore Boulevard as a member of the Bayshore Patriots group. He has taken part in Memorial Day ceremonies, balls and parades for years. He attended meetings of Purple Heart organizations.
“I was very impressed with him,” said Gary Somerville, a retired Marine major and Korean War veteran who knew Ridgley through the Lunch Bunch.
“I’ve known him for about 15 years,” said Bill Hamblin, an Air Force veteran who serves as president of American Legion USS Tampa Post 5, which has invited Ridgley to take part in their annual Memorial Day ceremony for the past decade. “I always liked Wayne.”
Ridgley has earned recognition in political circles, as well.
“He is a most phenomenal volunteer, who never really speaks of his rank or awards,” said Deb Tamargo, chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party. “He is a very kind, loving, amazing person.”
Some of those angered by Ridgley’s actions find them especially harmful because of his real military record.
“For someone that served to actually claim something that they didn’t actually earn, that is worse than a civilian doing it, because they actually know what it costs to earn an award,” said Anderson, with Guardian of Valor.
“It takes the valor away from those who earned the Silver Star,” said Abbett, who confronted Ridgley at the Memorial Day ceremony.
“It doesn’t sit very well with me,” said Hamblin, commander of Post 5. “A lot of people tell war stories. But if you are wearing stuff and representing yourself, that’s different.”
Hamblin said he won’t invite Ridgley to take part in future ceremonies.
“He is a phony,” said Somerville, the lunch bunch president, adding that Ridgley’s actions “take the glory away from people who really did those things.”
Still, Ridgley remains welcome at the group’s gatherings, Somerville said.
“Once a Marine, always a Marine. All he has to do is let us know he is sorry for what he did. He is a good guy.”
Ridgley, who so loved the Marine Corps he married his wife of 44 years on the corps’ birthday Nov. 10, said he plans to make amends.
“I am scared to death,” he said. “I am 100 percent combat wounded, but I have learned my lesson not do it again. I am so embarrassed. I blew it. I feel very ashamed of myself for what I did.”
Describing himself as a “proud Marine,” Ridgley said he still vividly remembers the horror of war.
“This is going to bring all this crap back to me,” he said. “I got a lot of explaining to do, to all my friends. I know I didn’t do right by doing this stuff.”
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