In late August, former President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm by taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
In the immediate aftermath, headlines blew up about whether it was disrespectful, not to mention a violation of cemetery rules against using the space for politicking. The attention only increased when it came to light that a member of his team allegedly pushed a cemetery employee who was trying to stop them from taking photos and video at the nation’s largest military cemetery. It is a sacrosanct place to many; more than 400,000 veterans and their immediate family are buried there.
Not even Trump, who encourages conflict, could have predicted how much seeing his smiling visage among those headstones would tear apart the veterans’ community on TikTok.
Detractors in this community, commonly known as MilTok, called it a disgraceful campaign event made all the worse by Trump’s draft dodging and sneering comments about wounded and killed servicemembers. Fans felt he was simply paying his respects. In a twist of events, this led to accusations of stolen valor and questions about how a MilTok influencer obtained records of another’s service that are only supposed to be released to the veteran or their next of kin. Many MilTokers are now questioning whether the agencies responsible for maintaining their military records have sufficient safeguards in place to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
What sources say was once a community that mostly got along based on their shared experiences is now picking sides in an ongoing internet war.
From anger at Trump to accusations of stolen valor
MilTok influencer Matt Gordon (@usmcangryveteran) told the Daily Dot that he was among those who were pained to see the hallowed ground of Section 60, where casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, used for a political campaign.
“I also deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I know people who are buried there,” said Gordon, who served in the Marine Corps.
MilToker Russell Ellis (@jolly_good_ginger) was also peeved by the stunt. He reacted by posting a video to his 5 million followers accusing veterans and servicemembers who still supported Trump of disgracing the uniform. Ellis, a leftist who has described himself as a reformed racist, later apologized.
By then, his video had caught the attention of right-wing MilTok influencer Joseph “Joe” Redden. At the time, Redden (@theoldermillennial.1) had 1.4 million followers. His account was subsequently banned. Via LinkedIn direct message, Redden told the Daily Dot that a TikTok employee keeps banning his accounts without cause. He said he’s in contact with the platform and declined to comment further on what he characterizes as a “serious legal matter” that may lead to charges or lawsuits.
TikTok did not respond to an inquiry sent on Wednesday.
Redden subsequently made a post that included Ellis’ service records in which he accused him of lying about being a combat veteran. Resume padding is common, if frowned upon, for civilians. Doing the same about military experience, otherwise known as stolen valor, is far more serious. Being credibly accused of it can ruin a career or even land you in jail.
Ellis responded to Redden in a video noting that the Veterans Administration’s (VA) definition of a combat veteran includes anyone who deployed to a combat zone, which he did, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
“If you deploy to a combat zone, I consider you a combat veteran,” Ellis said in a TikTok stitching Redden’s post. He accused his critics of being purely motivated by their dislike for his leftist views.
@jolly_good_ginger This will be my only response to this ridiculousness.
♬ original sound – jolly_good_ginger
Many veterans on MilTok came to his defense.
Gordon is among them. He told the Daily Dot that, given that both men served in the Army, Redden was “either ridiculously uneducated or purposely lying” about Ellis’ service.
Redden characterizes the discrepancy as a “difference in terminology.”
“The VA standard for ‘Combat Veteran’ is for benefit status and analysis. All of the veterans I’ve worked with have always regarded ‘combat veteran’ as someone who has actually seen combat. Someone who had taken fire and returned fire,” he said.
“I also stated that someone who did not engage in combat doesn’t have any less honorable of service or deployment.”
Gordon and others disagree. They note that many who serve in critical positions in combat zones would not meet with Redden’s definition of a combat veteran.
“It would be highly insulting to tell all those battlefield surgeons that they’re not combat veterans,” Gordon said.
How did the records get out?
Redden’s post included Ellis’ certificate of discharge from the military, commonly known as a DD214.
All of MilTok wanted to know how Redden got his hands on the document. It’s supposed to only be released to the veteran themselves or their next of kin. In addition to a detailed accounting of their service, such as medals, deployments, and disciplinary actions, a DD214 contains personally identifiable information (PII) including their social security number (SSN) and their next of kin’s name and address at the time of discharge.
Redden told the Daily Dot he had previously seen it posted by other creators, but said his video got the most attention because of his million-plus followers at the time.
His stolen valor accusations against Ellis also made some curious to see how his own record held up to scrutiny. At least three MilTokers filed requests for public records of Redden’s service from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Creator MacPolitical (@macpolitical) was among them.
“All three of us got three different things,” MacPolitical, who asked to be referred to by his handle, told the Daily Dot in a recent phone conversation.
@macpolitical #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #oldermillennial #joereddensdd214 #foia #stolenvalor #bothsidessuck #jollygoodginger ♬ original sound – MacPolitical
MacPolitical subsequently posted a video that included purported screenshots of Redden’s NARA Form 13164. This is a less detailed document than the DD214 that is obtainable via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Leena (@leena.avarice) said she filed the same request as the others. Instead of a Form 13164, however, she received an unredacted copy of Redden’s DD214, complete with his SSN, date of birth, next of kin, and their address when he was released.
“All I had was his first name, his last name, his date of entry and his date of exit,” Leena told the Daily Dot. Leena asked to be referred to by her first name only.
She said that while she may not like Redden, a polarizing figure among MilTokers who is as beloved by some as he is loathed by others, no one should have their private information released. “That bothered me.”
Leena said she called NARA to let them know that they’d mistakenly given her his records and that the person she spoke with essentially blamed her for the mistake and ordered her to delete them, which she did.
Leena provided the Daily Dot with a copy of the cover letter she received from NARA.
Sharon Box, assistant director for military personnel records at NARA’s National Personnel Records Center, told the Daily Dot that the agency processed 1.5 million records requests in 2023 and is on pace to process even more this year. Of those, Box said, NARA has an exceptionally low error rate of about three in 10,000.
This means that in 2023, NARA improperly released records 450 times out of the 1.5 million its approximately 360 correspondence technicians processed. Box conceded that this figure only includes incidents that were reported.
“We still take each incident very, very seriously and we report it to our [Office of Inspector General] to address,” Box said.
In the event of an erroneous release, she said that a supervisor will also analyze what happened and that typically the responsible party will receive additional training and potentially administrative action—usually both.
Via email, Box later confirmed that Leena received Redden’s DD214 in error and said that NARA would pursue both training and administrative action. She said NARA had no record of Ellis’ DD214 being released but had previously noted that it is also possible to obtain these from the VA or service department.
In response to an emailed inquiry, Ellis told the Daily Dot, “I have an open case with the VA regarding how my DD214 was obtained. There were claims that it was posted by me, that is wholly untrue. I would never post my unredacted DD214.”
“I have also retained an attorney and will be pursuing all legal avenues available to me once the VA investigation is completed.”
Given the ongoing investigation, Ellis declined to comment further.
More stolen valor accusations
Using confidential military records as weapons online isn’t a new phenomenon.
People have been posting others’ DD214s online for years, Leena said, noting that usually it follows a bad breakup. In other instances, she’s assumed that people obtained them illegally, such as by impersonating the veteran. All you need to obtain a DD214 at present is their first and last names, and two of the three of their email address, ZIP code, and/or last four digits of their phone number. This isn’t exactly the most secure system, as it is possible to fake them. Box noted, however, that this constitutes fraud.
Box said that NARA is transitioning to ID.me next year. ID.me requires government issued identification and a video selfie to match your face to the ID.
She added that no matter how someone accesses confidential military records, they should not put them online.
“It is irresponsible for anyone to publicly post protected personal information whether received due to administrative error or other manner,” Box said.
Redden’s attack on Ellis left some curious to see if his description of his own service matches his records. Several hold that it does not.
Redden’s critics pointed out that he’s said he attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLI), received a Joint Service Achievement Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, and allege that he claims to have reached the rank of senior non-commissioned officer.
“If you look at his records, he never made it past staff sergeant,” MacPolitical said.
Redden said that DLI isn’t on his record because he went there but didn’t complete the course. He said he’s “never” claimed to have been a senior non-commissioned officer. “What my resume states is that I served in a Senior NCOIC position while deployed to Afghanistan.”
Regarding the missing awards, he said he doesn’t know and he doesn’t care why the military failed to include them on his record.
“What awards are listed doesn’t do anything in my real life and I’m certainly not going to take the time to deal with the Army to get awards put on a document that I’ll never use again in my life,” he said.
Not everyone is buying it.
Leena quipped, “The military is not terrible at keeping their cheese-eating awards.”
This dispute is the latest, but likely not the last, to divide MilTok’s ranks. Once a community built on camaraderie and shared experiences, like so many others, it’s been increasingly divided along political and other lines. They once wielded actual weapons in real battles; now they use service records and social media.
Marine Corps veteran Gordon opined of combing through military records for discrepancies between what someone has said they achieved and what they actually did, “All of this is dumb, but if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this.”
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