Jessica Mathews / Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com


***Story has been updated


There’s still no response from the head of a local non-profit about accusations of stolen valor.

52-year-old Kirk Lanam is the founder of the non-profit Veteran Service Dogs Organization, based in Oceola Township. He's accused of misleading volunteers, donors, clients, and the media about his military service record and embellishing his rank among other allegations.

It all came to light following a special investigative report by WLNS Lansing. A link to the full report is provided.

The non-profit's Facebook page could not be accessed. A message stated, “This content isn't available right now. When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted”.

Lanam is alleged to have embellished rank and claimed to be a special operations member for the United States Air Force. Military records revealed Lanam served from 1990 to 1992 and had a rank of Airman Basic.

The Department of the Navy also had no record of “Lanam serving in the Navy, nor any records of him meeting with senior Navy leadership”.

A letter dated June 16th, 1992 stated Lanam was recommended for discharge for conditions that interfere with military service, specifically “personality disorder”.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has confirmed the organization is not registered to operate as a charity or to solicit donations with the department.

Livingston County Veteran Services Director Ramon Baca told WHMI “I have personally not had any interaction with him or that organization. When my staff and I spoke about that article this morning, no one has had any interaction with him either. It’s unfortunate what he did. Hopefully society doesn’t place judgement on true American heroes who actually earned their rank and awards. 99.9% of veterans are truthful about their service”.

Veteran and former volunteer Edgar Jones left the organization in June after mounting concerns, along with other veterans and volunteers.

Jones told WHMI everybody had little red flags going up as of late but they were willing to overlook them because the organization did so much good but concerns increased this past spring when a ton of huge purchases were made.

Jones stressed that the veterans, volunteers, and donors are innocent and they are the victims in all this. He said veterans and disabled veterans are a particularly vulnerable population and Lanam specifically targeted them but they will not be victims anymore.

Jones said Lanam would constantly tell them to “find purpose in your life, something that moves you, and something you’re passionate about that fulfills you”. To that, Jones now says “be careful what you wish for because they found a purpose”. He said that’s to expose Lanam for who he is and what he’s done. He added they’ll continue in any way possible to support their brothers and sisters - whether they’re part of the program, former students, or any veteran who needs help to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Jones said they had a choice - to put their heads down in shame and walk away or come together as a community and support each other the way they’re supposed to and promote each other’s physical and emotional health.

Jones said they’ve chosen to make sure this doesn’t happen again and that Lanam “doesn’t have the opportunity to victimize another veteran, donor, or dog - period”. He said it is sad but they are not going to be victims because “we’ve had enough of that”.


WHMI has reached out to Lanam for comment, but has yet to hear back.