Fox News has retracted a story about a man who claimed to be a decorated Vietnam War Navy SEAL and glass artist, after it was revealed his military record was entirely fabricated. The network aired the segment on 8 October, featuring John Garafalo, who said he served in Vietnam with the US Navy SEAL team and received two Purple Hearts and about two dozen other medals.
The retraction came 11 days later, on 19 October, after former Navy SEALs and Garafalo's own family contacted Fox News to dispute his claims. Don Shipley, a retired SEAL who tracks false military service claims, told The Navy Times he alerted Fox on 9 October, but the story remained on the network's Facebook page, amassing 1.5 million views.
In its correction, Fox News stated: 'All of Garofalo's claims turned out to be untrue. The fact is that he did not serve in Vietnam. He was never a US Navy SEAL. Even though he showed us medals, Garofalo was not awarded two Purple Hearts or any of the other nearly two dozen commendations he claimed to have received, except for the National Defence Service Medal.'
Military records obtained by The Navy Times show Garafalo served in the Navy from 6 September 1963 to 6 September 1967. He admitted to the newspaper that he had been lying for years, saying: 'It got bigger and bigger. What I did I'm ashamed of, and I didn't mean to cause so much disgrace to the SEALs.'
Fox News reporter Bryan Llenas had praised Garafalo in the original segment, calling him a 'Vietnam War veteran' who served seven years as a member of the first Navy SEAL team. Another anchor said: 'God bless John Garofalo. We certainly hope maybe the President is listening.' A Fox spokesperson said an on-air correction would air on Sunday.
