Turns out he DID give the young girl a fake name. He told her he was Tony Moore versus Michael Ward. She's a pretty crafty young jilted lover to track him down to pay her last respects. At what point did she know it was all a lie? Seems knocking on the door of a house under a different name than what you thought was your boyfriend's name would have been a pretty good tip off.
Perhaps he told her about the fake name at some point in time due to his "classified" work. She was already hooked and convinced by then so he felt safe telling her ...as long as she promised to keep it a secret as he was risking his life telling her.
There's still more to this story.
New Link :
Navy Commander Another article included this quote from the young woman:
"I don't want revenge here," the woman told The Day. "I want everyone to know the truth about Michael. He does not need to be commanding a submarine. He's a deceitful man."
Fox (cough) News StoryHere's a statement by the Navy in the same Fox story:
"Our Navy has a very clear and unambiguous standard regarding the character of our commanding officers, spelled out in the Charge of Command. I reviewed this charge with Cmdr. Ward before he assumed command. He understood the Navy's high standards for command leadership and he failed to uphold them," Navy Capt. Vernon Parks said in a press release.
Pepperband...I'm not gonna jump in an mourn the baby just yet. I fear it's likely this girl knew her boyfriend was a fake and drove down their to confirm it and the baby might just be a way to blow this up even more. I'm not certain...just skeptical. Even if she miscarried...she's implying it was associated with the scandal/trauma caused by Commander Ward but I'm not buying YET that they are related ...IF it happened at all.
Mr. W
edit to add: Another story had this to say:
"The woman told The Day newspaper in Connecticut that Ward used the name Tony Moore in his emails and that she only learned about his true identity when she met him in person."
This should have been a huge red flag...even to a 23 year old. Her response, apparently, was to have sex with him anyway. Still not sure about her.
Edit to add again...[each story seems to add details. He did use the nature of his work "special ops" to throw this young girl off]:
She told the paper that Ward sent her emails under the name "Tony Moore," claiming that he had to communicate under a false name due to the nature of his work. She clarified that he did tell her his real name when they met in person.
. Does that qualify my mind as "innocent"? If so, thank God I am innocent.
I'm just sayin' ..........