Last week Fox News ran a story about a decorated Vietnam War Navy SEAL that had created a large presidential glass seal that he wanted to give the President. It was a seemingly heartwarming story about a veteran who was awarded “22 commendations” and wanted to show his support for the current president… except that it mostly all fake.
The Washington Post reports that 11 days after the story aired, Fox News had to retract the story because not only did the man, John Garofalo, never serve in the SEALs or Vietnam (he did serve in the Navy from 1963-67), he also never earned any special commendations for his service.
According to the Post, both the man’s family and the Navy SEALs contacted Fox to let them know the story was incorrect the day after it aired; however, it remained on the site. An official retraction was made Thursday on the station’s website.
“Unfortunately, all of Garofalo’s claims turned out to be untrue. The fact is that he did not serve in Vietnam. He was never a U.S. 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 Defense Service Medal,” reads the statement.
Garofalo is a glass artist, and has previously gifted seals to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.