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US Militaria Forum users Matty and Mayralphie are the same person -> Charles Cornett
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/141069-mayralphie/?hl=mayralphie
There is no feedback listing for ‘Matty’
Before jumping to the bottom, please read the entire contents of this message – this is a case of one thing leading to the next, with an eventual conclusion of which I am now sure. I will break the events into numerics for clarity’s sake, however it was only later that I pieced together the significance. If, after reading all of the following, the mods decide that all or part of this thread needs to be deleted or removed, I will bear no hard feelings towards the forum. Be that as it may…
1. I contacted US militaria forum member matty the middle of February 2014, regarding a US Navy DCU he’d posted previously. I thought perhaps he’d like to trade, and as such I asked to see what other tops he might have. He emailed me back using the name Charles Cornett and the email koho44@comcast.net.
2. Charles’ response included several photos of his possible trade DCUs, of which five were ‘winners’ in my mind. Pictures included.
3. I sent him roughly two dozen trades of my own, indicating specific interest in his 173rd jackets, the 101st DCU, and the 24th ID EOD DCU. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t offer junk jackets in hopes of a much nicer trade-up. Charles indicated the EOD DCU was a 1990-dated example used in the 1st Gulf war, at which point I lost interest in that specific top – more on the 24th ID EOD top later.
4. Despite several very nice tops, only one DCU of mine was of interest (an original SF top, which had the nametape restored at a later date). He indicated interest as: “I am getting very selective as I have really started to move away from allot of the Dcu stuff. More interested in the CCU and CU jackets, Dcu's and BDU's with stars on the jump wings. 173rd stuff. Knives from soldiers who were in Iraq and Afganistan. Vietnam uniforms and knives. Like I said the Special Forces uniform I am interested in but that's about it from your list. Charlie”
5. I offered several items of Vietnam vintage (admittedly more mundane), as well as a further dozen tops to include several not typically in my ‘trade’ pile. Still no interest. At the time I had no idea why.
6. I offered a CCU which was missing insignia. This specific item *was* of interest, and his offer was to trade his HUNTER 173rd DCU for the SF Top, CCU top, and CCU trousers. Think about that – that’s a lot of trade for a non-starred, desert-patched 173rd top. He later backed down to only the CCU top and bottom – still quite a bit. Why would he want so much?
7. This is where I’ll begin email quotes. I inquired on the history of the jacket. To combine several emails; “Have his full name, picture, and his name is on the 173rd jump manifest for Iraq jump 2003 . Corey Terrell Hunter chalk #7 he is listed on 173rd web site jump into Iraq 2003. I'll tell you what. If the pants with the CCU are CCU pants I will trade you the Hunter 173rd for the set. Does that work? Here is the picture of Corry Terrell Hunter from Afganistan in 2006. The shirt in the picture is not the one I have but one of his other shirts before he received his CIB. The shirt I have was obtained from Corry Hunter. Charlie. I got the Hunter jacket back in 2008. I got it from one of my co-workers who was a family friend of the Hunter family and a fellow collector. I asked them for a photo with the shirt and they referred me to the 173rd site for a picture of him. I have not had contact with them since 2008. Here is another photo. If you want to do the trade I am good to go. Let me know and if so send your address. Charlie. This is the only shirt I have from him. Charlie”
8. As you can see above, it appears to be a very desirable 173rd Airborne jacket with documented history and provenance. But even then, to trade away a CCU set for this? I wasn’t excited, but I didn’t have any other choice. The only thing weighing on my mind was the fact that the jump manifest is public, easily referenced by anyone interested. So is the 173rd website, and the DCU in question was never actually pictured being worn by SPC Hunter.
9. Before agreeing, I did one final search for the veteran, “Cory Terrell Hunter”. Funny, the only other reference was…another post on the US militaria forum contained this same name, from a *DIFFERENT* member – mayralphie. It gets very interesting from here:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/124378-173rd-dcu-iraq-with-photo-of-owner/
To quote directly from mayralphie/matty in the previous post (should that content be changed):
“Picked this up today. Said to belong to this soldier in Iraq. Probably one of his without the CIB attached. That is what I thought. Wish I new the guys full name. When I purchased it I was advised where to find the photo online. The thrift shop failed to get the guys name when they purchased several of his uniforms. this was the only one they had left. To Nkomo: Thanks for the site. I think this Dcu was probably used in Afghanistan in 2005/2006 because of the modified pockets and tan insignia. Since he has a CIB he could have been in Iraq in 2003/2004 and jumped. The 173rd uniforms from 2003/2004 had standard pockets and mostly OD colored insignia. There is a very good posibility that this is the guy. Thanks”
10. Note that within this very thread, an unrelated forum member directly refers to mayralphie as ‘Charlie’ – the very same name as matty, aka Charles Cornett. The camo pattern is the same on both jackets, meaning this is the very same jacket! Let’s break down the differences:
INCONSISTENCIES??!4---->Email said jacket was purchased in 2008, thread says 2011. Email says it came ‘directly from the vet’, thread says some thrift store. For whatever reason thread says that the thrift store owner for some reason told the collector to CHECK THE 173rd WEBSITE FOR PHOTOS. That’s funny…I wonder how they’d know all those photos are on the website like that, given that they’re just a thrift store owner. Not to mention that the 173rd site also contains the jump roster, yet mayralphie acted as if he’d never heard of it until nkomo pointed it out. These are some major inconsistencies for something I’m being asked to trade a CCU for.
11. So, at best here, I have a lot of red flags. But this doesn’t fully ‘convict’ mayralphie/matty/Charlie as a fraudulent seller, merely someone untruthful. But wait, there’s more. I started researching previous post history, and there is another fabulous find of his, from May 2012.
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/upgradetest/index.php?/topic/144083-desert-storm-dcu-kia/
12. In May 2012, Charles posted that he’d had the unbelievable luck to find a Desert Storm/1st Gulf War 3-Color DCU to a KILLED IN ACTION Soldier. That’s incredible! 1 out of 190 KIAs in the entire gulf war. My mind immediately wondered how unlikely it was for one collector (who had only a dozen DCUs or so, that he’d posted) to have found 1x 173rd Iraq Combat Jump DCU, 1x 173rd Afghan Deployment DCU Named to the original owner (as shown in an image of said owner wearing a different DCU with different insignia) – and now this.
13. The GW KIA DCU was incredible for a few reasons. Firstly, it matched in pattern and insignia to the same 24th ID DCU Charles offered to trade with me on 12 February. Secondly, this was the SECOND DCU that USMF members ‘matty’ and ‘mayralphie’ had in common. Third, *THIS 24th ID EOD DCU DID NOT HAVE AN EOD BADGE WHEN MAYRALPHIE POSTED IT IN 2012*. For me, this is the smoking gun.
14. I emailed him, as follows:
“Yes, still here - exhausting day, to be sure. Which thrift shop did this come from? The thread says it was purchased in 2011, not 2008, and no mention of contact with family. I'm sure you can understand that the inconsistent stories immediately raise red flags to me. It's a nice jacket, but without solid documentation I can't justify trading a CCU for it.”
15. His response:
“Mike. There is a perfectly good explanation for the post just like I am sure there is a good explanation for you sending me an email and saying your name is Mike xxxx yet you posted a shirt on the forum sAying the shirt was yours from the 101st yet the name on the shirt is not xxxx. I did not jump to conclusions on that so maybe you should not jump to conclusions. I gather you are a soldier with the 101st and I have nothing but respect for what you are doing for our country. I am a retired police officer from montgomery county Maryland with 30 years of service I am not in the habit of being untruthful and I assume you are not either. Let's leave it at that. Charlie “
Further response, as I type this post:
"Totally understand. Here is the explanation on the Hunter. First of all I am all fouled up on the dates guess it was 2011 when I got this not 2008. I don't really keep track. My co- worker is a fellow police officer and collector. He moved in 2011, I think, to South Carolina after he retired. When he moved he sold a bunch of military stuff you a military thrift shop in Kensington Maryland. When I found out he sold the stuff I went down to the thrift shop to look. I found the 173rd in the shop and purchased it but had no idea it came from my buddy as he only collects Vietnam stuff. I got home and posted the shirt on the forum. About 6 months later I talked to my buddy and found out he sold this to the thrift shop with some Vietnam stuff which I also purchased .He told me where he got it and I was able to contact Hunter's brother who told me about the 173rd website. I never updated the post. Charlie" <---- And so now it wasn't from some thrift store, or the original family of the Soldier, but his friend who also collects Vietnam items and yet sells them for nothing to a thrift shop. I thought police knew to get stories straight...
Even FURTHER response, again as I type this post:
"Mike: ill tell you what. In honor of your service I will send you the Hunter jacket for your collection. I would be proud to have one of your old jackets whatever it is. If you don't have an old one to send that's fine the Hunter is yours to keep. Charlie" Suddenly it goes from needing a CCU set in trade, to giving it away for free...
16. For anyone interested, my Afghan deployment 101st Jacket had the name changed via photoshop, as I’d prefer not to have my actual name openly associated with my military service. You can see it below, though my name isn’t *actually* Gandalf:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19518-show-your-dcu-acu-jackets/page-64
My personal conclusion:
This individual is at a minimum embellishing jackets using research gleaned from USMF and the OEF OIF forum. He obviously knew about the basic elements of DCU wear and issue in both GW and OIF/OEF, however in both threads people begin to question small inconsistencies. The 173rd DCU may have been partly original, but has likely had the name tape replaced. The EOD DCU has certainly had the EOD badge added (no mention of this in trade), and possibly more than that as well. He used the mayralphie account until something caused him to switch to matty, in late june-early july of 2012. If you collect and have purchased something from him from ANY timeframe, take a second look and double check what you have. I’ll include pictures of his other possible ‘trade’ items below, though I make no claims to the authenticity of these items. Am I on crazy pills? Buyer beware.
P.S. If someone has an actual 173rd DCU or even ACU they would be willing to trade or sell for a reasonable price - keeping in mind that a jacket is just a collection of items unless condition or historical provenance make it otherwise - please PM me.
PICS OF REST OF ITEMS
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/141069-mayralphie/?hl=mayralphie
There is no feedback listing for ‘Matty’
Before jumping to the bottom, please read the entire contents of this message – this is a case of one thing leading to the next, with an eventual conclusion of which I am now sure. I will break the events into numerics for clarity’s sake, however it was only later that I pieced together the significance. If, after reading all of the following, the mods decide that all or part of this thread needs to be deleted or removed, I will bear no hard feelings towards the forum. Be that as it may…
1. I contacted US militaria forum member matty the middle of February 2014, regarding a US Navy DCU he’d posted previously. I thought perhaps he’d like to trade, and as such I asked to see what other tops he might have. He emailed me back using the name Charles Cornett and the email koho44@comcast.net.
2. Charles’ response included several photos of his possible trade DCUs, of which five were ‘winners’ in my mind. Pictures included.
3. I sent him roughly two dozen trades of my own, indicating specific interest in his 173rd jackets, the 101st DCU, and the 24th ID EOD DCU. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t offer junk jackets in hopes of a much nicer trade-up. Charles indicated the EOD DCU was a 1990-dated example used in the 1st Gulf war, at which point I lost interest in that specific top – more on the 24th ID EOD top later.
4. Despite several very nice tops, only one DCU of mine was of interest (an original SF top, which had the nametape restored at a later date). He indicated interest as: “I am getting very selective as I have really started to move away from allot of the Dcu stuff. More interested in the CCU and CU jackets, Dcu's and BDU's with stars on the jump wings. 173rd stuff. Knives from soldiers who were in Iraq and Afganistan. Vietnam uniforms and knives. Like I said the Special Forces uniform I am interested in but that's about it from your list. Charlie”
5. I offered several items of Vietnam vintage (admittedly more mundane), as well as a further dozen tops to include several not typically in my ‘trade’ pile. Still no interest. At the time I had no idea why.
6. I offered a CCU which was missing insignia. This specific item *was* of interest, and his offer was to trade his HUNTER 173rd DCU for the SF Top, CCU top, and CCU trousers. Think about that – that’s a lot of trade for a non-starred, desert-patched 173rd top. He later backed down to only the CCU top and bottom – still quite a bit. Why would he want so much?
7. This is where I’ll begin email quotes. I inquired on the history of the jacket. To combine several emails; “Have his full name, picture, and his name is on the 173rd jump manifest for Iraq jump 2003 . Corey Terrell Hunter chalk #7 he is listed on 173rd web site jump into Iraq 2003. I'll tell you what. If the pants with the CCU are CCU pants I will trade you the Hunter 173rd for the set. Does that work? Here is the picture of Corry Terrell Hunter from Afganistan in 2006. The shirt in the picture is not the one I have but one of his other shirts before he received his CIB. The shirt I have was obtained from Corry Hunter. Charlie. I got the Hunter jacket back in 2008. I got it from one of my co-workers who was a family friend of the Hunter family and a fellow collector. I asked them for a photo with the shirt and they referred me to the 173rd site for a picture of him. I have not had contact with them since 2008. Here is another photo. If you want to do the trade I am good to go. Let me know and if so send your address. Charlie. This is the only shirt I have from him. Charlie”
8. As you can see above, it appears to be a very desirable 173rd Airborne jacket with documented history and provenance. But even then, to trade away a CCU set for this? I wasn’t excited, but I didn’t have any other choice. The only thing weighing on my mind was the fact that the jump manifest is public, easily referenced by anyone interested. So is the 173rd website, and the DCU in question was never actually pictured being worn by SPC Hunter.
9. Before agreeing, I did one final search for the veteran, “Cory Terrell Hunter”. Funny, the only other reference was…another post on the US militaria forum contained this same name, from a *DIFFERENT* member – mayralphie. It gets very interesting from here:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/124378-173rd-dcu-iraq-with-photo-of-owner/
To quote directly from mayralphie/matty in the previous post (should that content be changed):
“Picked this up today. Said to belong to this soldier in Iraq. Probably one of his without the CIB attached. That is what I thought. Wish I new the guys full name. When I purchased it I was advised where to find the photo online. The thrift shop failed to get the guys name when they purchased several of his uniforms. this was the only one they had left. To Nkomo: Thanks for the site. I think this Dcu was probably used in Afghanistan in 2005/2006 because of the modified pockets and tan insignia. Since he has a CIB he could have been in Iraq in 2003/2004 and jumped. The 173rd uniforms from 2003/2004 had standard pockets and mostly OD colored insignia. There is a very good posibility that this is the guy. Thanks”
10. Note that within this very thread, an unrelated forum member directly refers to mayralphie as ‘Charlie’ – the very same name as matty, aka Charles Cornett. The camo pattern is the same on both jackets, meaning this is the very same jacket! Let’s break down the differences:
INCONSISTENCIES??!4---->Email said jacket was purchased in 2008, thread says 2011. Email says it came ‘directly from the vet’, thread says some thrift store. For whatever reason thread says that the thrift store owner for some reason told the collector to CHECK THE 173rd WEBSITE FOR PHOTOS. That’s funny…I wonder how they’d know all those photos are on the website like that, given that they’re just a thrift store owner. Not to mention that the 173rd site also contains the jump roster, yet mayralphie acted as if he’d never heard of it until nkomo pointed it out. These are some major inconsistencies for something I’m being asked to trade a CCU for.
11. So, at best here, I have a lot of red flags. But this doesn’t fully ‘convict’ mayralphie/matty/Charlie as a fraudulent seller, merely someone untruthful. But wait, there’s more. I started researching previous post history, and there is another fabulous find of his, from May 2012.
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/upgradetest/index.php?/topic/144083-desert-storm-dcu-kia/
12. In May 2012, Charles posted that he’d had the unbelievable luck to find a Desert Storm/1st Gulf War 3-Color DCU to a KILLED IN ACTION Soldier. That’s incredible! 1 out of 190 KIAs in the entire gulf war. My mind immediately wondered how unlikely it was for one collector (who had only a dozen DCUs or so, that he’d posted) to have found 1x 173rd Iraq Combat Jump DCU, 1x 173rd Afghan Deployment DCU Named to the original owner (as shown in an image of said owner wearing a different DCU with different insignia) – and now this.
13. The GW KIA DCU was incredible for a few reasons. Firstly, it matched in pattern and insignia to the same 24th ID DCU Charles offered to trade with me on 12 February. Secondly, this was the SECOND DCU that USMF members ‘matty’ and ‘mayralphie’ had in common. Third, *THIS 24th ID EOD DCU DID NOT HAVE AN EOD BADGE WHEN MAYRALPHIE POSTED IT IN 2012*. For me, this is the smoking gun.
14. I emailed him, as follows:
“Yes, still here - exhausting day, to be sure. Which thrift shop did this come from? The thread says it was purchased in 2011, not 2008, and no mention of contact with family. I'm sure you can understand that the inconsistent stories immediately raise red flags to me. It's a nice jacket, but without solid documentation I can't justify trading a CCU for it.”
15. His response:
“Mike. There is a perfectly good explanation for the post just like I am sure there is a good explanation for you sending me an email and saying your name is Mike xxxx yet you posted a shirt on the forum sAying the shirt was yours from the 101st yet the name on the shirt is not xxxx. I did not jump to conclusions on that so maybe you should not jump to conclusions. I gather you are a soldier with the 101st and I have nothing but respect for what you are doing for our country. I am a retired police officer from montgomery county Maryland with 30 years of service I am not in the habit of being untruthful and I assume you are not either. Let's leave it at that. Charlie “
Further response, as I type this post:
"Totally understand. Here is the explanation on the Hunter. First of all I am all fouled up on the dates guess it was 2011 when I got this not 2008. I don't really keep track. My co- worker is a fellow police officer and collector. He moved in 2011, I think, to South Carolina after he retired. When he moved he sold a bunch of military stuff you a military thrift shop in Kensington Maryland. When I found out he sold the stuff I went down to the thrift shop to look. I found the 173rd in the shop and purchased it but had no idea it came from my buddy as he only collects Vietnam stuff. I got home and posted the shirt on the forum. About 6 months later I talked to my buddy and found out he sold this to the thrift shop with some Vietnam stuff which I also purchased .He told me where he got it and I was able to contact Hunter's brother who told me about the 173rd website. I never updated the post. Charlie" <---- And so now it wasn't from some thrift store, or the original family of the Soldier, but his friend who also collects Vietnam items and yet sells them for nothing to a thrift shop. I thought police knew to get stories straight...
Even FURTHER response, again as I type this post:
"Mike: ill tell you what. In honor of your service I will send you the Hunter jacket for your collection. I would be proud to have one of your old jackets whatever it is. If you don't have an old one to send that's fine the Hunter is yours to keep. Charlie" Suddenly it goes from needing a CCU set in trade, to giving it away for free...
16. For anyone interested, my Afghan deployment 101st Jacket had the name changed via photoshop, as I’d prefer not to have my actual name openly associated with my military service. You can see it below, though my name isn’t *actually* Gandalf:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19518-show-your-dcu-acu-jackets/page-64
My personal conclusion:
This individual is at a minimum embellishing jackets using research gleaned from USMF and the OEF OIF forum. He obviously knew about the basic elements of DCU wear and issue in both GW and OIF/OEF, however in both threads people begin to question small inconsistencies. The 173rd DCU may have been partly original, but has likely had the name tape replaced. The EOD DCU has certainly had the EOD badge added (no mention of this in trade), and possibly more than that as well. He used the mayralphie account until something caused him to switch to matty, in late june-early july of 2012. If you collect and have purchased something from him from ANY timeframe, take a second look and double check what you have. I’ll include pictures of his other possible ‘trade’ items below, though I make no claims to the authenticity of these items. Am I on crazy pills? Buyer beware.
P.S. If someone has an actual 173rd DCU or even ACU they would be willing to trade or sell for a reasonable price - keeping in mind that a jacket is just a collection of items unless condition or historical provenance make it otherwise - please PM me.
PICS OF REST OF ITEMS
