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Stolen Valor, Broken Lives

PR King
4 min readJan 26, 2024

They committed murder and defrauded the government

Martha Ann McClancy and Charles “Chuck” Kaczmarczyk in happier days

“FRAUDULENT REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT RECEIPT OF MILITARY DECORATIONS OR MEDALS. Whoever, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds oneself out to be a recipient of a decoration or medal described in subsection ©(2) or (d) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.’’ 2013 Stolen Valor Act

Why would someone claim military service or awards that weren’t theirs? Money, benefits, and in some cases, such as claiming a Purple Heart or Combat Action Ribbon, prestige, and honors.

As the daughter of a military man who served in WW2 and Vietnam, the idea of claiming service and awards for acts you didn’t do and lying about medals and honors you didn’t earn is particularly abhorrent.

But that is exactly what Martha Ann McClancy and Charles “Chuck” Kaczmarczyk succeeded in doing before their lies were exposed.

Martha Ann was married to Bob McClancy, a detective in Bradenton, Florida. She was his second wife. They seemed perfectly suited to each other and very happy. Bob retired and the couple moved to Tennessee where they lived a full life. The only thing marring their happiness was Bob’s suffering from PTSD as a result of his service in Vietnam.

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PR King
PR King

Written by PR King

Florida stories, history fan, avid reader, geeky Boomer, Sagittarian with a Capricorn moon, Chromebook convert, military brat, sober 30+

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