CHEYENNE — Retired Navy Master Chief Mike Archer has a message for whoever stole a trailer holding an extensive collection of thousands of military decorations from in front of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1881 last week: “Don’t piss off a bunch of old veterans and guys with guns.”
Whoever it was, caught on video in broad daylight backing up to the trailer, hitching it up and driving off, “better hope it’s the law that catches up with them,” added Archer, president of the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) Wyoming Branch 59.
The FRA owns the trailer and the estimated $30,000 to $50,000 worth of almost irreplaceable military decorations, limited-edition photos, coins, flags and other memorabilia, Archer said.
He and the group’s co-chairman spent the last 25 to 30 years gathering a collection that included every medal and decoration for every branch of the service for every war dating back to the Civil War, Archer said.
That includes four Medals of Honor, which were the only pieces of the collection that weren’t in the trailer when it was stolen last Thursday, he said.
“The only thing they didn’t get are the Medals of Honor. We had them in a separate medal case stored somewhere else,” Archer told Cowboy State Daily on Monday, adding that each represents a branch of service that awards the medal.
“Over the last 25 to 30 years or so, me and my co-chairman — he’s a retired master sergeant out of the Air Force, Al Buss — gathered all of that stuff,” he said. “Most of the time, we’d pay for it out of our own pockets.
“We privately funded it and put a lot of money and time into it over the years.”
Archer calls the theft of the fully-loaded white 16-foot cargo trailer “the ultimate stolen valor,” because each of the decorations for the group’s exhibit — which takes 50 tables to display — represents a veteran’s sacrifice.
“When I think of people who take away the valor that other people have worked for, that others gave their lives for, this is really f***ing low,” said Archer, who describes himself as an old Navy vet who curses like a sailor.
“These are from the guys who are crippled, the guys with no legs or arms, then they take that shit from you,” he added. “You had no right touching that stuff.”
‘Breaks My Heart’
The Cheyenne Police Department is investigating the theft, which was caught by a surveillance camera mounted on the VFW post building and pointing right at the trailer.
It had been parked right in front of the building next to a telephone pole because of that camera, Archer said, adding he believes it was stolen by someone who knew what he was taking.
“Well, first of all, they knew it was here, OK? I have a feeling somebody had been eyeing it for a long time,” he said. “It's well-known in there (at the VFW post) what it was for, between the FRA and the VFW. You know, a lot of people knew what it was there for.”
Archer said that while the trailer had been locked up tight, he didn’t put a hitch lock on it. That’s something he regrets but doesn’t think would’ve stopped the thief.
“I didn’t put a hitch lock on it, but that ain’t gonna stop someone from stealing it with how easy you can get those hitch locks off now,” he said.
He then expressed a rhetorical message for whoever stole the trailer.
“Why do you got to be so goddamn low?” Archer said. “You know, if you want a trailer, bring all our stuff back and I’ll give you the f***ing trailer. That stuff meant a lot to us.”
Cheyenne police are asking anyone who knows anything about the theft to call Detective Hedum at 307-633-6643. Or, people can report anonymously through the Silent Witness program, which doesn’t use caller ID, at 307-638-TIPS.
The video shows a gold passenger vehicle drive right up to the trailer and back up to it. A person then gets out, hitches up the trailer, unblocks the wheels and drives off.
Archer, who spent 31 years as a Navy aviator, said the flags, medals, photos and other items in the trailer represent hundreds — if not thousands — of other careers and patriotic sacrifices.
He said it “breaks my heart” to think about someone trying to sell those decorations online.
“It’s stolen valor, that’s what it is,” Archer said. “They stole the valor of all the active-duty, retirees, disabled veterans or past veterans who are gone now.
“I just want to kill the son of a bitch. I just want to wring his f***ing neck.”
Contact Greg Johnson at greg@cowboystatedaily.com
Retired Navy Master Chief Mike Archer has a message for whoever stole a trailer holding a $50,000 collection of thousands of military decorations from in front of a Cheyenne VFW Post last week: “Don’t piss off a bunch of old veterans and guys with guns.” (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Retired Navy Master Chief Mike Archer has a message for whoever stole a trailer holding a $50,000 collection of thousands of military decorations from in front of a Cheyenne VFW Post last week: “Don’t piss off a bunch of old veterans and guys with guns.” (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Retired Navy Master Chief Mike Archer has a message for whoever stole a trailer holding a $50,000 collection of thousands of military decorations from in front of a Cheyenne VFW Post last week: “Don’t piss off a bunch of old veterans and guys with guns.” (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
