The week before last was undoubtedly the worst of my life as my mother passed away on Easter Sunday. I have so many people to thank for their thoughts and prayers that if I listed them all I would end up leaving somebody out so I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in Acadia parish who has expressed their condolences to me. I believe I also learned something - Lafayette is my hometown but Crowley is my home.

I had prepared to write a column in honor of my mother this week but my father requested that I didn’t so I must respect his wishes. However, that left me with a dilemma - seeing as how my mind has been on only one thing the past couple of weeks what could I find write my column about?

It didn’t take long after I returned on Monday to find a topic.

About three weeks ago I wrote an article on a man named Shane Reed, a veteran of both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who had given a speech to Crowley’s Kiwanis Club and went into detail about some of his heroics as a Marine Corps Sniper.

I didn’t attend the meeting, but those who did, which included some of Crowley’s most prominent citizens, told me about some of Mr. Reed’s heroic deeds and suggested that I interview him. While speaking to him on the phone that night, Mr. Reed told of killing an enemy soldier from a mile away upon seeing him light a cigarette, and pulling out of a valley when he and his squad noticed that they were surrounded by 3000 Taliban soldiers. He then allegedly called in an airstrike which took out the Taliban soldiers.

While his stories did seem pretty incredulous, I had no reason not to believe him. After all I have no military background, and this man was the keynote speaker at the Kiwanis Club, which is a highly respected group of local citizens. He even had films of some of his exploits that he showed at the meeting.

Well, it appears we all may have all been fooled by Mr. Reed.

Upon returning to work Monday, I turned on my computer and found that I had a list of e-mails that ranged from critical to outright hatred. One man threatened to kill me if he ever saw me out in public - luckily he was from Idaho. That’s right, the Internet is a powerful source of information and I had comments on our website from people as far away as Virginia, Arizona, New Hampshire and yes, from our soldiers in Iraq.

Then I did a search on Google and that was when my jaw nearly hit the floor. Just use the words “Shane Reed Sniper” and hit search and you will see what I mean. There are, as of Friday, eight websites devoted to my article. Each website has hundreds of comments and about 95% blasted Reed’s claims. As of this morning (Thursday) I have received over 3000 comments on these sites. My article has been trashed by a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major, and two Captains in the United States military.

I have never felt more ashamed or humiliated in my life. The last thing I ever would want to do is to dishonor the members of our Armed Forces who are putting their lives on the line on a daily basis serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. To the members of the Armed Forces, all the veterans who have ever served our country, and our readers I humbly apologize and will do so to everyone who sends me each e-mail I receive.

Also, my father, who served honorably as a Naval Lieutenant, and I share the same name and now when our name is googled these websites come up before any mention of my father’s law firm. I had to tell him about this while he is still in mourning over the loss of my mother. I literally get nauseous when I think of this. However, he was very understanding and showed me a book he owns called “Stolen Valor” and apparently this type of “hero syndrome” is not uncommon among people who have served during wars and conflicts.

Now I must say that some of the comments on these websites say that it is possible that Mr. Reed did do some of the things that I mentioned in this article. However, they are outnumbered by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1 - and there’s no way I can argue with those numbers.

Now in Mr. Reed’s defense, he did earn the Purple Heart during his time with the service and that does command respect. I also cannot officially disprove anything that he has told me - I wasn’t there. However, after reading a comment by a Lieutenant Colonel on one of the websites, I have to believe that Reed may have, at best, stretched the truth, or at worst, simply outright lied.

I took the time to read and listen to some of Reed’s supporters and have heard things such as “the people who wrote these comments are just sitting around with nothing to do” and “Reed has an ex-wife who is out to get him.” However, I will never believe that a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major, two Captains, and the soldiers whom I have heard from in Iraq are just sitting around with nothing to do. And the sheer number of responses I have received simply cannot be ignored. If they have all been written by an upset ex-wife than she is officially the most p-----d off woman I’ve ever heard of. And I’ve seen some pretty upset women in my time.

Now in the Post-Signal’s defense, we cover these meetings regularly and when we do so we, as does every paper which covers such meetings, report the who, what, when, where and why. The article was based on a meeting. We simply quote the person who speaks at the meeting.

Similar to a press conference with a politician where the article is written only to find out later that the politician was lying.

Also, I have to say that I may have just found out how naive I am when it comes to certain things. I simply didn’t believe that a person - especially a recipient of the Purple Heart - would stoop so low as to make up these things while we are still at war.

Now Mr. Reed you have a Purple Heart which is obviously one of the biggest honors a soldier can receive. Was that not enough for you? Did you have to tell these tales to make yourself into Audie Murphy?

To quote one of the comments on what I am now calling my websites “a true hero will not boast of his deeds or actions and will definitely not try to bring attention to himself.” I now know that truer words have never been spoken.

To all the true heroes, veterans, and members of our armed forces you have my sincere apology. To the families of Seth Trahan and Ike Sinclair, both Crowley residents who lost their lives serving our country, I am sincerely sorry and want you to know that any lies that were in my article . . . well, there are no words to express my shame and embarrassment.

And to Mr. Reed himself, if these tales of glory that you told are all lies, well I am a Christian and I can forgive you.

I just hope you can forgive yourself one day.



Howell Dennis is a native of Lafayette, La. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he graduated in journalism and public relations.