Don Bendell;donbendell@gmail.com; wrote:
Dear Ken;
“I hate lies no matter who is telling them. Let the lawsuits commence so that
truth prevails!” I did want to add one last thought,
which I have BCCed to a few people, and since you are
now throwing out the litigation threats, I will start including some news media
in those BCC's. I am sure
your church hierarchy will really appreciate your challenges to us. You know I keep hearing from you and other Father Corapi apologists about the high standards you all
apparently hold for the Catholic Church and apparently do not want your church
to be embroiled in any other scandals. I am sure your
bishops or cardinals cannot be very happy about it. I
also have heard much talk about the Christian way to handle things. If we are going to be above-board and very Christian and
open in our discussions, and nobody wants to do anything else to make the
Catholic church look badly in the eyes of the public, or make Father Corapi look even worse; then instead of emailing me with a
CC to josepheaglefather@sbcglobal.net , why not use his real name and not his
alias: James J. Gorski of Kansas City, Missouri who has already corresponded
with me on this previously. And instead of using a
fake military address of Deacon.Orr@us.army.military,
why not name the actual recipient:Our
Lady of the Atonement in your location of
You cannot even be honest in the way you approached me and then threaten
litigation and think I am going to show you all my armament for such litigation? You are crazy if you think I operate that way. I owe you no explanations nor does the POW Network, the
principles of which are having lunch with me Sunday along with the heads of
www.homeofheroes.com and have been out-of- town and away from their computers,
but I will share this all with them at that time, and let them know they are
getting sued AGAIN along with me because another phony wannabe war hero wants
to try the intimidation route instead of the intelligent one.
I have told you people and Father Corapi, I am not
who you should worry about. The FBI and the US
Attorney looking at this case are who you should worry about.
Violations of the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 can be prosecuted as either a
felony or high misdemeanor, and can be punishable for very stiff fines or jail
time or both. I do not know if the FBI will choose to
prosecute Father Corapi, but like us, the FBI knew
about this before whoever swept the internet for memory on his claims. I know that they, like us, gather evidence to use before
memory is swept a very common tactic by wannabes and phonies.
Yes, we know that you (meaning Father Corapi
or whoever is covering for him) did an internet memory sweep to try to
eliminate all references that were there. Too late. Too bad. Find out the hard way
like all the rest always have.
So since you stupidly want to start throwing out threats to a real warrior,
before a judge issues a gag order, I will make sure the news media knows that
the Catholic church, which has been embroiled in so many ugly controversies of
late, has decided to try to shut up me, a 60% disabled Green Beret Vietnam
veteran who is trying to protect the honor, integrity, and legacy of all former
Green Berets and current Green Berets, such as my two sons who are now in
harm’s way serving our nation; or Chuck Shantag, head
of the POW Network, who is himself a Purple Heart recipient for wounds received
in the Vietnam War as a US Marine; or all the other Green Berets, current and
former, who stand behind me and by my side to protect our honor and our legacy;
and all the other honorable vets from other services who stand with us. I will
make sure that news media knows the Catholic church wants to take us all on, on
behalf of a priest who has in talks all over the nation made comments about
being a Green Beret, Vietnam veteran; when in fact, his personnel records
indicate he was a clerk-typist, who never even got close to Fort Bragg, North
Carolina or even Jump School at Fort Benning,
Georgia, let alone Vietnam. We took on the former
Mayor of Atlantic City Bob Levy who is no longer mayor and is now awaiting
sentencing next month to a federal pen, and he was at least a
You guys have sure represented the Holy Catholic Church admirably, haven’t
you? I bet your church leaders are really proud and
would love for the Pope to hear about how you stood up for your self-proclaimed
former Green Beret, former Black Belt, former Coke addict-turned- Beverly Hills
millionaire-turned outstanding man of God, SOLT priest Father Corapi, and all the efforts you all have been going through
to try to intimidate those who called him on the carpet for his phony charade
stealing the valor of our nation’s true heroes to aggrandize himself in the
name of the Lord God Almighty. Who knows? Maybe the
Pope will hear about this. Oh, and really brilliant
strategy, raising and waving more red flags even more to turn the FBI’s
attention to Fr. Corapi if they were not focused on
him already. Brilliant! Besides
the FBI, I already stated Father Corapi did this in
the name of God, and that is who he really needs to worry about. By the way, you notice I included your Cardinal for the
San Antonio Diocese in the To: line. I am sure he will
be really happy about the way the Catholic Church has been presented from day
one by you and Father Corapi’s defenders. I also BCCed many SOLT priests. I am sure not everybody in the leadership of the Catholic
Church will try to shut us up and intimidate us but will actually want to do
what is right. You will also notice I added a couple
of your newspapers and a couple TV stations in
Oh, and by the way, the two heads of the POW Network.org happen to be very
staunch Catholics. Like me and many others BCCed herein, they simply protect the valor of our nation’s
true heroes, all our pals and sidekicks who died in foreign lands and knew
dying that we who survived would ALWAYS protect their memory and valor, NO
MATTER WHO TRIES TO STOP
Blessings,
Don Bendell
Please visit: www.donbendell.com www.bendellkarate.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Follis, Kenneth A SGT RES
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 10:25 PM
To: wannabeslayers-texas@yahoo.com
Cc: don@donbendell.com;
Subject: Re: RE: Fr. John Corapi Accusation
ALCON,
The following is in reference to this internet posting:
http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies344.htm There is no evidence,
circumstantial or physical, that has been provided to me by the POW Network or
Mr. Don Bendell that reveals that Fr. John Corapi claimed or implied that he served in the Vietnam War
or that he was a Green Beret. I have searched in vain
for anything to the contrary. However the internet is
replete with articles and statements that say such. If
there is just one example of Corapi's claiming it
other than one man's (Bendell) word versus another
(Gorski), I will shout it from the roof tops because very few others hate lies
in the name of Jesus more than I.
I will write every member of the Catholic War Veterans, San Antonio VFW and
San Antonio American Legion. In addition, I will contact
my bishop and his bishop and order. Last, I will tell
every person I know to beware that his whole story is suspect, if just one
example is provided.
I understand the anguish. If someone claimed to
serve in Iraq (OIF) and they did not, I would be livid. I
served in ARFOR-T in support of OIF I, spent a year prepping in the field, was
stop- lossed and returned for a year to OIF II.
I hate lies no matter who is telling them. Let the
lawsuits commence so that truth prevails!
However, if the evidence is not there, please remove John Corapi's name from your list of false claimants. If it is untrue, it is bearing false witness against a
neighbor while claiming he bore a false witness of himself. Even
if Corapi did state it or imply it before being
exposed, he no longer does. For the sake of mercy and
God's name, please resolve this.
Kenneth A. Follis III
"Saying it's your job, Boss, don't make it right!"
Cool Hand Luke
----- Original Message -----
From:
Date: Friday, May 16, 2008 18:18
Subject: RE: Fr. John Corapi Accusation
To: don@donbendell.com, "'Follis, Kenneth A SGT RES'"
Don:
We have seen his statements, then saw them changed after he was confronted
by e-mail. Because we were just watching this case as
professionals like the PoW Network chased, we have no
file on it, yet can state from memory and first hand inspection of the links
that came in, the claim(s) were made.
The most important question that needs to be raised in the light of the
wannabe's popularity is:
1. What is the PoW Networks animus for perusing his
false claims?
2. What was your animus for chasing some one you don't know or nevermet in your life? Sport? Hardly. You and all of us have much more
interesting; things to do in our short lives.
The animus and answer to the above is simple. Restoration
of stolen honor. That is the bottom line.
You statements on Corapi truly state his animus
for doing what he did, despite his "priesthood". (
what ever ). Because you are
a priest doesn't mean you are a saint, and that could apply to any cleric from
any faith.
To: Kenneth..
Thank you for your service and the time you are taking to investigate. You are correct in your observations below.
1. He did state it in a bio that was altered after he was confronted. 2. Not to correct ( and if he is worth the time and dime
all place on his biblical insight - there is no way he would have missed. The laws of nature are, if your name is mentioned or some
one is speaking about you, your attention span exceeds the norm and you are
focused ) introductions are just asdamning..and
in the end, where did the introducer glean that info?
Or do all just decide to create Green Beret's and Vietnam Vets out of thin
air as they introduce? It's time for Corapi to apologize and get on with doing what he does in
real time no the lala land aura he has walked in. If we are speaking legal action, please add us to any
witness list that may be generated to testify against Corapi.
God Bless and let Truth prevail once again.
Don Bendell;donbendell@gmail.com; wrote:
Dear Ken;
Thank you for your service and your letter. “Do you
have anything in print or cyberspace where he states for himself that he was a
Incidentally, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 provides not for litigation, but
for jail time and very stiff fines for convictions, and they can be either as a
felony or a high misdemeanor. The FBI and US Attorneys
choose which cases they are using to make an example of, and so far they seem
to be those who have enriched themselves or furthered their success by making
such phony claims. It would seem Fr. Corapi might be on their short list, but I do not know. I do not think judges care at all how dynamic speakers
might be, only whether they have broken the law or not and are convicted.
The rules back then for the GCM was 4 years active duty. One’s
social security number makes one’s name a moot point, and yes, he did publicly
state while speaking that he was a Green Beret and
I do not put anything on or take off of the POW Network. I
do not belong to it. Just work alongside. They choose what goes up on their site. They
also do not put up everything they have, nor do I ever show all that I have. They have been sued plenty and so have I.
I have received death threats and so have they. I
have had my websites and email attacked and invaded and assume they have, too. Been there, done that. As I said,
I always cover myself to insure I always come out on top. I
learned that long ago by not always coming out on top.
I have been very surprised that Fr. Corapi has not
been wise enough to offer such an apology (immediately), but as I said, “A man
should do what a man chooses to do,” and either arrogance or stupidity seems to
be attached to all these cases.
Thanks again for your letter.
Blessings,
Don
Please visit: www.donbendell.com www.bendellkarate.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Follis, Kenneth A SGT RES
Subject: Fr. John Corapi Accusation
Don,
Thank you for your response and the continued dialogue. I
believe truth matters. There are many teachings by Fr.
John Corapi that are challenging and inspiring. However the same can be said for provably false preachers
like John Todd, Todd Bentley, Alberto Rivera and Mike Warnke,
who I heard speak on many occasions. God doesn’t need
our help in showing His redemptive grace by exaggerating our past sinful
behavior. The Church doesn’t need charlatans any more
than rap music needs Vanilla Ice with his “Lies, lies, baby”.
This is deceptive and is usually motivated by a lust for dollars. It also taints the parts of; their testimony that are true
and hinders the reception of the > Gospel in the heart of the hearer.
As a Christian, I am sure you will agree.
Do you have anything in print or cyberspace where he states for himself that
he was a
Here is an indicator of the example you first use on your website
(http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies344.htm) where the Las Vegas Marian
Center put this ad piece of Corapi’s bio together of
their own accord:
Source: http://www.lasvegasmariancenter.com/Fr_Corapi.htm ---Father John Corapi is a priest and a religious, a perpetually professed
member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity ---Born in Hudson,
New York, in 1948 ---Green Beret Special Forces during the Viet Nam war
---Millionaire in Las Vegas……..multi-millionaire in Hollywood………..friend of the
stars, mansion on the beach, yacht, Ferrari…..
As you know, Fr. John was born in 1947. Based on the
discrepancy in the birth date, it is safe to assume that someone other than Corapi wrote this blurb. That
person got the birthdate wrong and they got his
veteran status inaccurate.
However, I have Fr. Corapi’s testimony on tape
from years ago and will listen to it to see if he states he was a Green Beret
and/or fought in
He should also be aware that as of 12/20/2006 the Stolen Valor Act makes it
illegal to promote lies of military merit and can be sued. However,
the opposite can be done. If the POW Network continues
to publish that Fr. Corapi lied when in fact he did
not, then they can be sued for slander. If Fr. Corapi’s history is an indicator of his ability, then it is
safe to assume he is not adverse to a libel suit.
Additionally, I worked with the Fullness of Truth (FOT) ministry last year
providing a platform for motivational speakers like Fr. Corapi. Corapi, without question, has
been the most popular speaker in years past. His
degree and ordination are legitimate.
His ability to tell it “like it is” has been appreciated. However,
like you, I wish to verify the apparently over-the-top stories of Green Beret
Fr. John Corapi has a bishop that he submits and I
am well acquainted on the procedures for dealing with those who persistently
state something that is fallacious, especially after the recent scandals that
have plagued the Catholic Church. In the end, an
apology will help bring creditability and notoriety to the Commander he now
serves under.
Thank you for your passionate appeal for truth. (http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies1056.htm) I do have a simple request of you. In
your first letter, you mentioned that this Johyn Corapi received an ARCOM award. However
the DD214 has a GCM for Johyn Corapi. Could you change the error in your first letter that is posted?
I do wonder how Johyn Corapi,
who exited the military 3 months shy of 36 months service, could have a GCM? Perhaps the criterion was less than 3 years back then?
Also, are you sure this Johyn and Fr. John are, in
fact, the same one? It could be a typo. For example,
However it is possible we are talking about two
different people.
What are your thoughts?
Kenneth A. Follis III