Navy: Cole faker wore unearned awards - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Navy: Cole faker wore unearned awards

Jeffrey Sparenberg looked every bit the hero.

His chest candy included a Bronze Star with “V,” Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. A newspaper photo showed him holding a flag he claimed had flown on the destroyer Cole during and after the Oct. 12, 2000, suicide bomber attack in Aden, Yemen.

The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal reported that he said he was a master chief on the ship at the time of the attack and was seriously wounded, requiring a long rehabilitation.

And it was all a lie.

Sparenberg did serve on the ship, but he reported aboard four days after the attack, according to a Navy spokesman and documents obtained by Navy Times. The Bronze Star with “V,” Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal worn by Sparenberg don’t match information in his personnel data. And he retired in 2004 as a senior chief.

The Bronze Star with "V" and Purple Heart medals worn by Sparenberg appear neither in his DD 214 discharge document nor in his biographical data sheet, which contains personnel data considered public information. The Meritorious Service Medal is on his DD 214 but not on the data sheet.

Additionally, the Combat Action Ribbon is listed on his DD 214 and biographical data sheet, but it should not be there.

"Senior Chief Sparenberg's name does not appear on the roster of those entitled to the Combat Action Ribbon for USS Cole," Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. John Daniels said.

Wearing those awards could land the senior chief in jail for up to a year under the Stolen Valor Act, which makes the unauthorized wear, manufacture, sale or written or oral claim of any military decorations and medals a federal misdemeanor.

Because Sparenberg is no longer in the Navy, formal charges would come from the FBI. But getting the FBI to pursue charges could be a challenge in itself.

"We have had mixed reactions in different jurisdictions," said Doug Sterner, who helped write the Stolen Valor Act and now maintains the Military Times Hall of Valor database.

Calls to the FBI were not returned.

Sterner was not surprised by Sparenberg's actions, which he said are fairly common, but was surprised such behavior came from a senior chief. "I would expect something better from someone of that caliber," he said.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has not launched an official investigation, but it is reviewing the matter to determine whether such an investigation is warranted, NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said. The decision is likely to occur by year's end, Buice said.

Sparenberg's home phone has been disconnected, and multiple messages left on his cell phone were unanswered.

The News Journal has since confronted Sparenberg. He told the paper he had documents to prove he was on the destroyer at the time of the attack, but he never provided them. He later e-mailed the paper saying he would no longer participate in the story.

Tall tales

The Sparenberg flag was to be a key artifact for the fledgling Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation, which is trying to raise more than $7.9 million to build a state military museum. Sparenberg told museum officials this was "the flag that the crew of the USS Cole slept, bled and cried underneath." The foundation decided to hold a special ceremony Nov. 5, Delaware Military Heritage Day, when the flag would be presented.

"It was an amazing event — he sounded credible and it never occurred to us we had to check out his story," said Bill Connelly, a retired reserve Army lieutenant colonel and member of the foundation's board of directors.

A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 turned out to honor the memory of the 17 sailors who died on Cole. "It was the idea of the flag that brought all these people there," Connelly said. "The fact it has turned out this way in the end is a shame."

Sparenberg's actions were particularly difficult for Lorrie Triplett and her two daughters.Lorrie's husband, Ensign Andrew Triplett, was killed in the terrorist attack. Now, she struggles to understand why someone would make such claims.

"This situation is not the place to seek glory," she said from her Suffolk, Va., home. "I feel like I'm back on an emotional roller coaster with our girls. Back where we were."

Lorrie Triplett was suspicious the moment she heard Sparenberg's claims.

In the original News Journal article, which ran on the paper's front page Nov. 16, Sparenberg said he was testing oil in the mid-ship lab with Triplett on the day of the bombing. He said he encouraged Triplett to go to lunch first, but the ensign instead sent the chief.

Sparenberg said it was moments later when he felt the explosion. Sparenberg described the "chaos" that followed: Being "chest deep in oil" trying to position a pump when he slipped and tore ligaments in his knee — an injury he said required many surgeries to fix. He said he managed by wrapping the leg in Ace bandages and taking "Vitamin M" — Motrin — for the pain.

But Lorrie Triplett knew better. Through diligent research of her husband's last moments, she knew that only two crewmen were with Triplett in the fuels lab. They survived, and she is well acquainted with both.

"When I read the story, I was disturbed because I never heard of this gentleman before," she said. "To say he was there with my husband in his final moments causes me a lot of heartache. Why would you want to say you were there?"

Cole survivors have the same question. Immediately after the newspaper's story hit the streets, crew members began contacting the museum foundation's officers.

"That was the first we had an inkling that something was wrong," said Kennard Wiggins, a retired Delaware National Guard brigadier general who at the time headed the foundation.

Wiggins said Sparenberg's story began to unravel as they talked with other members of the Cole's crew — including retired Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who also spoke to Navy Times about Sparenberg's claims."[Sparenberg] wasn't onboard at the time of the bombing," said Lippold, who was Cole's commanding officer the day of the bombing. "I remember this because we were told the day after the attack that we had people waiting in Bahrain to report to the ship. I'd just lost a good portion of my engineering department in the explosion, and when I heard there was a senior chief I told them to send him on."

According to the Navy, Sparenberg reported to the ship Oct. 16, four days after the attack. Lippold said Sparenberg was a stellar chief, a fact he backed up in a March 2001 fitness report obtained by Navy Times.

"A top senior chief who arrived days after the terrorist attack and helped restore the USS Cole for its return to the U.S.," Lippold wrote. "His leadership and organizational abilities were instrumental in overcoming severe battle damage."

Lippold also said that Sparenberg wearing a Bronze Star, Purple Heart or Meritorious Service Medal isn't accurate, at least for his time on Cole.

"I did put in a number of sailors for Bronze Star awards," Lippold said. "But they were all downgraded to [Meritorious Service Medals]— and the 'V' device wasn't even a possibility, as the Navy considered [the bombing] as occurring in peacetime."

Lori Austin was a yeoman third class on Cole the day of the attack and later typed up award recommendations for the crew. She remembers Sparenberg vividly, but differently than Lippold."I do remember him, but I know for a fact he wasn't onboard when we were attacked," she said. "But in a way this doesn't surprise me too much, as he always acted and talked like it was he alone who saved the ship. I'm sure he made contributions, but him making these claims like he has dishonors those who died and did work to save the ship immediately after the attack."

And of Sparenberg's flag, Lippold said, "I have no recollection of ever giving him any flag."Lippold said the flag that flew the day of the attack continued to fly for around eight days, until all the remains had been recovered.

"That flag remains today on the mess decks of the ship," he said. "I called yesterday to verify that fact — it is something that's very important to the ship's crew, and that's where it belongs."