With the exception of the late fraud king Eddie Allen, I can't recall anyone who has burned more trusting people and made more enemies out of former allies than Michael Scott Kerr. You remember him: the guy who wanted to help troops and their children to the point of neglecting to pay child support, falsifying his résumé, making ridiculous promises, not properly registering a charity, and many, many more lies. But the chameleonic Kerr could always charm his way with veterans, who unfortunately don't get as much respect as they should and who Kerr has a Holmes-esque boner to surround himself with them.
Leave it to Kerr to screw up that connection as well.
This latest controversy started innocuously enough on New Year's Day, when Kerr's wife and fellow huckster Jeannie sent out a email to an unknown group of people detailing their 2009, which included a trip to Maui while Kerr owed thousands of dollars in child support. She claimed her husband was the creator and producer of the Honor Run, a cross-country motorcycle trip designed to raise funds for a host of troop charities for which Michael served as executive director.
“While the economy did not render the financial support everyone had hoped for, there were over 10,000 participants, and lives were changed and spirits were lifted,” Jeannie Kerr wrote.
That drew a stinging rebuke from Major Bill Moriaga, popularly known as Monsoon, a Vietnam and Gulf War vet who sits on the Honor Run board of directors. He forwarded an email from the treasurer of the Honor Run's sponsoring charity, the 1st Marine Division Association, who wrote, “The Honor Run was a creation of Carl & Joeny Smith and a group out of Texas …not Mike Kerr and the Honor Run was patterned after the Texas Honor Ride,” he wrote. “The difference between The Honor Run and the Texas Honor Ride is that Mike Kerr has never been involved in the management and direction of the Texas Honor Ride, thus it is a financial success.”
And it gets better from there.
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Jeannie's brash email drew another rebuke from Roy White, former chair of the Snowball Express, the charity Kerr started to ostensibly honor the families of fallen soldiers but which he nearly ruined from the beginning. It was thanks to the due diligence of White and others that the Snowball Express is now a legitimate, wonderful charity.
“Monsoon, thanks for including me on this email and shedding light on the the actions of Mike Kerr to those on this email tree,” White wrote. “My apologies for 'replying all' but the emails being distributed by the Kerr's in re-writing history is a pattern that has become all too familiar since I first met Michael Kerr on June 30, 2006 during a phone conversation. It must stop or others will be hurt by their actions.” White goes on to remind Monsoon that he warned the Honor Run about the Kerrs, not to gloat but to warn the others in the email tree never to work with them.
“The Kerr's need to find some other means to contribute to society and earn a living; doing it on the backs of veterans will no longer be tolerated and we all need to take a firm stand against it,” White continued. “The fear of public humiliation has not thwarted their continued string of failures and distortions but those of us who know the truth must not sit still and not shine the light of truth to others.”
Kerr's response? He accused Monsoon of trying to ride coattails!
“Impugning Monsoon will bring the wrath of many on your head,” an aghast White responded.
More–much more–on this in the coming days, but we'll leave you with the words of Monsoon in another email: “We need to get this out to every organization and non-profit so Mike and Jeannie Kerr can never destroy the very essence of who we are as a free nation.”
