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Memorial caretaker admits faking combat past

Kenneth Jerome Nelson was once celebrated as a war hero and the unofficial caretaker of a monument dedicated to Vietnam veterans in the shadow of the California State Capitol.

Now, he’s known as a liar.

The veterans activist pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to wearing a Silver Star that had not been awarded to him, a misdemeanor. Nelson, 60, will be sentenced March 1 to a violation of the federal Stolen Valor Act, which prohibits wearing unearned military decorations, authorities said.

Authorities said they determined that Nelson wore a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest valor award, and claimed to have earned three Purple Hearts for wounds sustained in combat. In reality, he enlisted in the Corps in 1977, but lasted less than two months before being discharged as a private from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Marine officials said. He did not graduate from boot camp.

“The Silver Star is a symbol of heroism, patriotism and honor,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, who prosecuted the case. “Mr. Nelson would seek to diminish the sacrifice of others by wearing an unearned medal. He received years of praise and admiration from the public that he did not deserve, and now he is exposed as a fraud.”

Nelson was well-known in Sacramento for the painstaking care that he paid to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a granite and bronze shrine to 5,822 Californians who died or disappeared during the Vietnam War. He was profiled in the media numerous times, telling journalists that he was a member of the “Walking Dead” of 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. He claimed to have survived a head wound, a napalm burn and an ankle wound during service that included battles at Khe Sanh, Con Thien and Quang Tri.

Although the charges focused on a single incident in which Nelson allegedly wore unauthorized medals, authorities believe “there were claims to other various medals,” authorities previously told Marine Corps Times. Horwood said additional charges are unlikely to be filed, but Nelson was required to turn in his medals Monday as part of his plea agreement, authorities said. He brought them with him in a bag, said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.

As of Tuesday, Nelson was still listed as a 1/9 veteran on Web sites such as americasveterans.org, which says he earned the Navy Cross — the nation’s second-highest award for valor — the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with V and three Purple Hearts.