ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994                   TAG: 9401280068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO                                LENGTH: Short

ARMY TO HONOR VETERAN FOR VIET SERVICE FOR PAL

Paul Mahar served 406 days in Vietnam, earned a chestful of medals and rose to the rank of sergeant - even though he never enlisted, was never drafted and was physically unfit to serve.

Now, the Army is taking the extraordinary step of recognizing the service Mahar performed after he assumed the identity of a friend who went AWOL.

The Army's Board for Correction of Military Records said Thursday it will create a file to show that Mahar received an honorable discharge and a citation for saving a soldier from drowning while serving in Vietnam in 1966-67.

Mahar assumed the identity of boyhood friend Frank L. Clouse Jr., who was drafted and went through basic training, but failed to go to Vietnam as ordered. - Associated Press 


 by CNB