Henry Hoeft Stole Combat Valor to Burnish Boogaloo Reputation

Hoeft's military records contradict the narrative he earned a Purple Heart in Afghanistan.

Henry Hoeft as an Indirect Fire Infantryman in the U.S. Army.

Henry Hoeft, the 28-year-old Ohioan who fled Ukraine almost as fast as he arrived as a foreign mercenary, has previously burnished his reputation in the burgeoning anti-government Boogaloo movement by telling fellow travelers he is a combat infantryman who earned a Purple Heart while serving in Afghanistan.

None of that is true.

Mike Dunn, another prominent figure within the Boogaloo movement who traveled to Ukraine with Hoeft, detailed Hoeft’s ostensible background last week in a video where Dunn debunked Hoeft’s own viral video about his escape that the Russians deftly spun into propaganda.

“I do know Henry is a combat veteran with a Purple Heart,” Dunn said in the video.

“He was shot in Afghanistan. I have seen the documents for that, so I will not call it cowardice. But I will say that none of the stuff he says happened in the video happened to me.”

Unfortunately for Hoeft, the U.S. Army designed an entire system for civilians to verify if some random asshole on the street is lying about or embellishing their military service. (If only The Columbus Dispatch knew about the service, we may have been spared this whole ordeal in the first place.)

Though Hoeft did serve as an infantryman in the United States Army, he served as an Indirect Fire Infantryman with no combat deployments, which means he did not earn a Purple Heart, either.

In four years of service, he never advanced past the rank of a private.

“Henry C. Hoeft, IV, served in the Army as an Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C) from Sept. 2012 to Feb. 2016,” Army spokesperson Matt Leonard told The Rooster. “We found no combat deployments in his record. He held the rank of private at the end of service.

“His awards are the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.”

As for the “documentation” that Hoeft could have shown Dunn, there are two things Hoeft could’ve used, though this is speculation:

• Hoeft raised $520 on GoFundMe in May 2021 to help “with bills after getting shot.” There is a picture, ostensibly of Hoeft’s wrist, that appears to show a bullet’s entry and exit wounds. The post does provide any details about how Hoeft suffered the injury. The Rooster would bet he accidentally shot himself if it actually happened.

• As noted above, Hoeft is the fourth Henry Charles Hoeft in his family. A Google search of “Henry Charles Hoeft Purple Heart” leads to this website, which features a Henry Charles Hoeft who earned a Purple Heart in World War II and died in 2000. If that’s a relative of Hoeft IV, it’s plausible he used that family heirloom as his own.

Hoeft’s lack of actual combat experience helps explain his hasty departure from Ukraine after his hosts expected him to do more for the Georgia Foreign Legion than make TikTok videos.

Lying about earning a Purple Heart with the intent to make money is a crime in America. Though it’s ultimately for a prosecutor to decide, Hoeft was able to raise at least $5,000 to travel to Ukraine in no small part due to his reputation within the Boogaloo movement, which he burnished with the false narrative he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan.

As noted in The Rooster’s previous coverage, Hoeft has since deleted all social media. His original GiveSendGo campaign, “#Vets4Ukraine” has been disabled as well.

Wherever Hoeft is going, it won’t be back to the Boogaloo movement. He might have been able to come back from lying about his reasons for deserting in Ukraine. He will not be able to come back from stealing combat valor.

The records speak for themselves.

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