Former Marine guards Calif. school

A former Marine applauded for voluntarily guarding a central California elementary school apparently misrepresented his service history, U.S. Marine Corps officials said Thursday.  

 

   Craig Pusley showed up for a second day of guard duty Thursday at Hughson Elementary School just southeast of Modesto, this time in civilian clothes after wearing military fatigues the day before. But he departed mid-morning as questions arose about his military background. 

 

   On Wednesday, Pusley told The Modesto Bee he was a sergeant in the Marine Reserve and had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

   But Marines spokesman Captain Gregory A. Wolf told The Associated Press on Thursday that Pusley never served overseas and was discharged in 2008 as a private after serving less than a year at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He also is not a reservist.

 

   Wolf said a Marine Corps order prohibits former Marines from wearing their uniform in public, except for military funerals, memorial services, weddings, inaugurals, and parades on national or state holidays. 

 

   Pusley did not respond to calls for comment from The Associated Press. 

 

   Pusley told the Bee that he had responded to a call on Facebook for veterans to help protect schools in the wake of the mass shooting in Connecticut last week.