The Native American man filmed facing off with schoolboys at the Lincoln Memorial is not a veteran of the Vietnam war, as had been claimed.

Service records obtained by DailyMail.com show Nathan Philips served in the Marine Corps Reserves from June 1972 until May 1976 when he left as a private after disciplinary issues.

He was an antitank missileman between October 1972 and February 1973 but was never deployed himself and spend the remainder of his service working as a refrigerator technician until 1976 when he left service following disciplinary issues.

It was not immediately clear whether he was honorably or dishonorably discharged on Thursday morning.

In interviews since the conflict, Phillips has never said that he served in Vietnam but instead called himself a 'Vietnam times veteran.'

On Facebook, he has described himself as a 'Vietnam vet' and shared photographs of a his Warrior Medal of Valor which is an unofficial medal given to Native American veterans.

In a January 2018 video on his account, he said: 'I don't talk much about my Vietnam times,' but said he had been honorably discharged.

He has also posted a photograph of a badge he has which reads 'Vietnam veteran.'

Nathan Phillips, shown in one of the interviews he has done since the video went viral where he referred to himself as a 'Vietnam times veteran' never deployed, as had been claimed

Philips (pictured at the Dakota Pipeline protest) was a member of the Marines during the time the war was being fought, but was never deployed and spent most of his time in the military as a fridge technician

An organization representing him - the Lakota People's Law Project - described him as a Vietnam veteran in a press release.

In April this year, Phillips gave an interview to Vogue while protesting at the Dakota Pipeline, where he said: 'You know, I’m from Vietnam times. I’m what they call a recon ranger. That was my role.'

Phillips posted this on Facebook in November last year

An antitank missileman is a type of infantryman whose responsibility is the use of certain weapons.

Daniel Paul Nelson, a leader in the Lakota People's Law Project, told the Washington Post that his group made the error and that Phillips never said he served in Vietnam.

But Nelson said he had 'trusted what we had seen' in previous stories about Phillips, some of which incorrectly referred to him as a Vietnam veteran.

Questions were raised about the claim after it emerged that Philips is 63, meaning he is not old enough to have been on active duty during the war

As a teenager, he also made local news after escaping from prison.

At the time, he was 19 and had been put behind bars for being drunk and destroying property.

He paid a fine once he was recaptured, according to The Epoch Times.

In May 2017, he was given a certificate from the Native American Nations of the USA to illustrate he had been awarded the Warriors Medal of Valor - a medal specifically given out to Native American veterans

Philips (right) and Nick Sandmann (left) found themselves thrust into the middle of a national debate about race after footage of their face-off at the Lincoln Memorial went viral

The students were widely condemned at first, but it has since emerged that Philips inserted himself into a confrontation between them and some other African American activists

Philips and schoolboy Nick Sandmann found themselves thrust into the middle of a fast-moving and heated national debate around race after footage emerged of their confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial.

While Philips said he felt threatened by the boys, Sandmann has since pointed out that the Native American waded into a confrontation that was already taking place between the school students and a group of African American protesters.

Sarah Sanders became the latest high-profile name to speak out over the controversy, saying she has 'never seen people so happy to destroy a kid’s life'

Those protesters, who describe themselves as 'black Israelites', were filmed shouting slurs such as 'cracker' and 'f****t' at the boys before the altercation started.

More videos have seen emerged appearing to show boys from the same school shouting at women around the Lincoln Memorial before any of the protesters became involved, further muddying the waters.

Sandmann has since spoken out to deny being confrontational, saying he was simply unsure of what to do as Philips began beating a drum in his face.

He has offered to have a sit-down with Philips to discuss the issue, which the Native American has rejected.

Philips has said the issue is now bigger than the both of them and said the debate should be between indigenous communities and the Catholic church.

Speaking to TMZ, he suggested that Pope Francis should mediate a discussion at the Vatican, which he would happily attend.

The row has sucked in multiple prominent figures from the political left and right, including liberal commentators who have been denounced for reacting too quickly and too harshly to the footage.

Comedian Kathy Griffin and Disney producer Jack Morrisey were lambasted online after the former called for the students' names and accused them of throwing Nazi signs, and the latter tweeted a cartoon of them being put through a wood chipper.

Sandmann has since admitted that he should have walked away from Philips, but denied he was being deliberately confrontational

Comedian Kathy Griffin deleted a tweet on Tuesday showing a photograph of Covington Catholic High School basketball players who were 'throwing up the new Nazi sign'

Jack Morrissey, the film producer whose credits include Beauty and the Beast and movies from the Twilight franchise, deleted this tweet about 'MAGA kids going screaming, hats first, into the woodchipper'

Morrissey later tweeted an apology, writing: 'Yesterday I tweeted an image based on Fargo that was meant to be satirical - as always - but I see now that it was in bad taste. I offended many people - my sincerest apologies. I would never sincerely suggest violence against others, especially kids. Lesson learned'

Morrisey's tweet included the caption: 'MAGA kids go screaming, hats first, into a woodchipper.' He has since apologized, saying he meant to be satirical.

President Trump and his son, Donald Jr, have also inserted themselves into the debate, siding with the schoolboys.

Trump tweeted that 'Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be' while his son said they had been misrepresented by the media.

'[The media] want a bunch of nice Catholic kids, who happen to be white, they want them to be the enemy,' he told Fox News.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders became the latest person to speak out in defense of the students on Wednesday, saying she had 'never seen people so happy to destroy a kid’s life.'