Red Words

Redlanders and other East Valley residents may know the name of Gary Cherms. Cherms appeared before the Redlands City Council in July to ask that the POW/MIA flag be flown prominently at city buildings.

Cherms portrayed himself as a veteran and an advocate for both prisoners of war and the remembrance of America's wartime history. But there could be a big problem. Cherms may have lied when he told the East Valley and military veterans that he wore his country's uniform.

Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said a detective and police volunteer visited the American Legion Post 106 in Redlands Wednesday to investigate whether Cherms misrepresented himself. California law makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate a veteran with the intent to defraud or to use such a guise to solicit aid or sell property.

Cherms could not be reached for comment late Wednesday. He was a member of Post 106 but Post Commander Ron Riley said by telephone that he plans to send a letter to the American Legion's national leadership to have Cherms' membership terminated.

Riley confirmed details first reported by the Redlands Daily Facts, The Sun's sister paper. He said he learned Cherms faked his veteran's status while Cherms purportedly walking to Sacremento in support of a petition to have the POW/MIA flag flown over state buildings. Riley said Cherms' brother revealed that Cherms was not an actual veteran and that Cherms drove to Redlands on New Year's Eve and confessed to Riley that he never served in the U.S. Marine Corps, as Cherms claimed.

Post 106 gave Cherms a $250 donation to support his petition drive, Riley said. Cherms told Riley that he would continue his journey to Sacramento and it was Riley's understanding Wednesday evening that Cherms was near Visalia.

Riley said post members feel betrayed that Cherms reportedly lied to them about being a fellow veteran. The alleged fakery was also unnecessary because veterans would have supported Cherms' advocacy for POWs if he had simply represented himself as a private citizen.

"His cause is very just, the POW/MIA flag. He could have done that and not said he was a member (of the American Legion) and we would have supported him," Riley said.

Regarding the POW/MIA flag, Cherms won approval for his idea in Redlands, and he also convinced the Yucaipa City Council to support his idea. He also appeared at a Redlands event in September during which he told me he planned to walk to Sacramento on a sojourn to collect signatures in support of a petition to have the black-and-white POW/MIA ensign waive over state government buildings.

Cherms often wore a leather vest with the POW/MIA flag's image on the back. The famous flag shows the sillouhette of an American prisoner under guard in a Vietnamese prison camp. The flag bears the slogan "You are not forgotten."