Media Feeding Frenzy on Phony General Story Erupts as Fermijon Marrero Cracks, Admits Lies But Adds More

Fermijon Marrero's pile of lies has come crashing down around him as media outlets from around the New York area have picked up the story after Talk of the Sound reported that the man honored as Grand Marshall of the 2011 Memorial Day Parade was not a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army or Vietnam POW. In fact, Marrero is an outright fraud, discharged from the Army in 1976 as a private after 9 months of service. He never saw combat or served overseas, spending his entire time in the service stationed as bases in the United States Talk of the Sound's based its reporting on information published on John Lilyea's This Ain't Hell Blog and research done by Mary and Chuck Schantag of the POW Network site after the Daily New Rochelle reported that Marrero claimed to have been a Vietnam POW. The POW Network specializes in outing phony claims on POW status. WCBS-TV, WABC-TV, Cablevision Channel 12, the Journal News and others are now reporting on Marrero's fraud. When Channel 2 News reporter Catherine Brown pressed Marrero he grabbed her microphone and shouted that he left the Army in 1987 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and that the Brigadier General was his title in the Cadets. That claim is also false. Last night on Talk of the Sound Radio, Colonel Joseph Land, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Cadet Corps categorically denied Fermijon Marrero was ever associated with the Army Cadets Corps or that his rank of Brigadier General was an honorary rank as a member of the cadets or that Marrero. "There is only one Brigadier General in the U.S. Army Cadet Corps, my boss", Land told Talk of the Sound. "I don't think he will appreciate Marrero sitting in his chair." Land went further stating that although Marrero had contacted him several months ago, Marrero was never associated in any way with the U.S. Army Cadets. The matter began to come to ahead after the Daily New Rochelle reportedMarrero's tall tales of eating maggots and being locked up in a tiger cage as a Vietnam POW before escaping. The POW Network team suspected the story was false, researched Marrero and labeled him a "phony" on their web site. The Daily New Rochelle ran a new story on Marrero being a fraud but has yet to correct or clarify the original story. List of News Reports on Fermijon Marrero: Channel 12 News: Memorial Day parade leader accused of being fake general WCBS-TV: Westchester Man Masquerading As Brigadier General For Years Finally Outed By True Veterans Journal News: POW-general, grand marshal's record of service fails to materialize Daily New Rochelle: Supposed Army General, POW Exposed The Journal News story has been reprinted in the Army Times.