His war stories are shot down

The judge's tone was sympathetic, bordering on sorrowful. He listened as the former mayor of Atlantic City described how he assisted an elite unit behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War, insisting it was real, that he was there, and lived through it.

But before and after Robert Levy spoke in a federal courthouse in Camden yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle cited evidence from prosecutors and Department of Veterans Affairs officials that it couldn't have happened, that Levy was making up important parts of it.

That's what got Levy in trouble in the first place. He admitted last fall that he had lied about his Vietnam War service, embellishing it to include dangerous exploits with elite special operations forces in order to fatten his veterans benefits check.

Simandle let Levy off without a prison term, although the disgraced former mayor will have to repay the $25,198 he wrongly got from the government, plus a $5,000 fine, and serve three years' probation.

"This case is ultimately a sad case of human failure that was provoked and promoted by being asked as a 17-year-old to do some very difficult and dangerous duty on behalf of their country," Simandle said.

Known as the "Missing Mayor" because he dropped out of sight for two weeks last fall, Levy later admitted to lying about what he did in the war in order to obtain the extra veterans benefits.

He stepped down as mayor in October, after admitting his two-week absence was to attend a clinic for treatment of substance-abuse and mental-health issues.

During yesterday'shearing, Simandle said Levy unquestionably suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The judge said Levy continues to exaggerate his military service, specifically by saying he did work for an elite pathfinder unit, which set up landing zones during the war and made other combat preparations in enemy-controlled territory.

Levy insisted he had done several missions with the unit even though he was not a member of it.

"I wasn't no hero, running around like Rambo," Levy said. "I was scared to death. I was running around with a radio on my back, doing the best I can."

But Simandle noted that Veterans Affairs officials interviewed commanders and members of the special unit Levy claimed to have served with, and none remembered him.

The judge said afterward that "there's no record and no recollection of his service [with the special unit] other than Mr. Levy's."

"The V.A. is saying it couldn't have happened this way," the judge said.

Yet Levy insisted that he had helped the pathfinder unit from time to time.

"I didn't go out all the time," Levy told the judge. "I never parachuted in. There were some [missions], but not that many.

"Being young, 17 years old, I wanted to help and do whatever I could for my country," Levy said. "I just volunteered and went. There were no orders; I picked up my M-16 and my radio and went along. On occasion, they would ask me, and I said yes. I was 17 - young, strong and dumb."

Levy's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, said Levy got permission from his parents to enlist as a 17-year-old. Levy is now unemployed, without an income (the Veterans Benefits Administration has stripped him of all benefits, including those he had been receiving for physical injuries) and still dealing with mental health issues from the war.

Simandle repeatedly praised Levy's service, which included two tours in Vietnam that left him with serious psychological ailments that went untreated for years. The judge said Levy continues having trouble determining what is real and what is not.

Jacobs said Levy emerged from the war "with severe psychological wounds."

Since leaving the Army in 1984, Levy has grappled with anxiety and depression, Jacobs said. Those problems worsened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The stress of running for and serving as mayor - he falsely claimed in campaign literature to have served with the Green Berets - also took its toll.

"He couldn't function as mayor," the judge said. "All the other stuff was catching up to him. What he went through was a crisis. He didn't come out of it well." *