have you been lied to? stolen valor

[bedbugbilly]

Seems to be a common ploy for some who "panhandle". My wife and I have seen it in a number of places as we travel back and forth to Arizona. Have also seen :handicapped" who sit in a wheelchair claiming to be disabled . . . until they get up out of the chair to take a smoke break. Those who claim to be veterans who aren't are the worst sort IMHO.

[Land Owner]

I know what I know. I know what I don't know. I served the USCG while this country fought in Vietnam. I have "global" memories, a medal, a service ribbon, and a DD214. I wasn't sent to Vietnam. The benefits and freedoms earned by my brothers in arms still give me pause today. I used the GI Bill toward an education after service. That I earned. I don't try to unravel someone else's convoluted story. I'm not "smart" like that. I don't care about them or their story and I'm especially not giving them charity. I am living my own life and seek no attention for Vietnam-era service, although I lived the days of "Sailors and Dogs Keep Off of the Grass". I didn't earn under fire the "blank check for freedom" patch, though I did write a "blank check" if it had come to that, and once, nearly got checked...but it doesn't compare in my mind.

[rancher1913]

as with everything, if something is rewarded it is turned into a money maker. with the flood of lucrative service charities comes the flood of scam artists looking to ride the coat tails.

[fatnhappy]

I don't rightly know how to tell this one. I used to work for the gas and electric company sub-contractor during the summers in the 90s when I was in college. So did my brother. We're both vets, he Marine, myself Army. One of the foremen was a Marine vet, Vietnam era draftee and generally a dope smoking low life. During conversations back then he told he spent his entire Marine Corp service as a lifeguard in Florida. He lived in a small town southwest of Rochester.

Fast forward almost 30 years. One of the places I hunt is a dairy farm in south west of Rochester. Standing around shooting the breeze with the owner and his buddies between drives somebody mentions Howie over at the Legion at 10 am because as he tells it "his PTSD is acting up."
Sure as heck.... it's the same guy. I said something to the effect that "what did he get naped with sun tan oil?"
He'd been telling guys for years he was a Vietnam vet which I very quickly disabused.

He is now thoroughly ridiculed in his rural small town to the point a guy who had no shame as the 10 am town drunk is too embarrassed to go to the legion.

[lightman]

I was in a concealed carry class with a guy that claimed to have been a Navy Seal. He was a soft looking Dough boy looking guy with a roll of fat around his waist big enough to make it difficult to draw his handgun. He had trouble figuring out how to make his Kimber work and could't hit the target at 7 yards. We pretty much laughed him out of class. Seals! They're everywhere!!!

[Kraschenbirn]

Yep, sure have!! And, one of the worst was Commander of a small-town American Legion Post with whom I'd worked back in the late '60s-early '70s. During the time he claimed to have been in Viet Nam, he was a Reservist, a quartermaster corporal, but thirty-some years later he was claiming to have been a Gunny Sergeant running a Recon Team out of Dong Ha. He didn't remember me from the old days and I never called him on his stories. Doesn't matter now cause he passed a couple years back but it still irks me to see that plaque behind the bar in the Post clubroom.

Bill

[KenT7021]

I believe that Kerry wounds were a result of his improper use of an M-79.Self inflicted.

[Winger Ed.]

I believe that Kerry wounds were a result of his improper use of an M-79.Self inflicted.

A Corpsman at the time said he fixed one wound with a band-aid, and Kerry insisted on getting a Purple Heart for it.
He seemed to have gotten what he came for in Viet Nam, and after 3 Purple Hearts,
you could apply to leave early- which he did after being in country for four months.

His deal; and it is what it is, but his actions also cheapen the decorations for those that really earned them.

[EMC45]

Seen tons of them. The wife and I were recently in Nashville for our anniversary and I commented to her that every bum I saw had a veteran/disabled veteran sign. Saw one that said "Navy Veteran". I almost asked him where he went to boot and A School.....

Another character used to come into the local hardware store when I worked there. He wore a BDU top with pins and flash all over it. Said he was a "green beret" at 16 and JFK put his beret on his head. Said he was the youngest Green Beret in history. He would often try to impress everyone with stories from Viet Nam, but I couldn't stomach it. Another younger fella that I worked with there was on and on about the guy and all his exploits one day when I told him his was a phony. I let my co-worker read "Stolen Valor" by B.G. Burkett. He got schooled real quick.

[akajun]

When the Chris Kyle movie came out you couldn't go to a bar without someone claiming to be a "sniper". When I would ask them what a KD range was, wind drift or reading mirage most didn't have a clue.

HAHAHA yep
That Mirage is a hell of a car for tokyo drifting

[akajun]

My dad was in the Seabees in Vietnam in 68 as a surveyor/engineer and is quick to tell you he never fired a gun in anger. He has a knack for remembering maps, roads, territory layout forever and it transferred to his civilian life as a surveyor/civil engineer and on those issues he is never wrong. He can usually spot the phonies by talking to them about cities, roads, layouts, maps, etc. Ive never seen him call one out, but after we leave hell say that guys full of it.
That said IDK if any of you watch Don Shipley on Youtube, he was questioning a suspected fake Seal from Italy whose info didn't match up and Don was getting frustrated and short with him. However he did find the guys name but his class number was wrong. Listening to the rest of the clip i believe the guy may be going through early stages of Alzheimer's and was having trouble remembering everything. As our veterans age that is something we need to be aware of that they " important details" will be fuzzier than they used to be so it may not always be stolen valor as much as old age.

[jonp]

Several. When I was more active in Patriot Guard Riders we kept a sharp eye out and caught a few. Mostly it was right at the start of Iraq when everyone wanted to be a hero. One guy with us served during Vietnam and was a Vietnam Vet but he always took great pains to make it clear he was a Vietnam Era Vet and did not deploy.

[jonp]

When anyone mentions Stolen Valor I always immediately think of the King Of All, Nick Androvsky AKA "MSGT Soup Sandwich"

Dude showed up at his step sons graduation at Ft Benning dressed up like a Halloween Project. Even had an Antarctic Service Medal which you have to over winter to get and a SF "Shark Hunter" Dive Medal. Reportedly the Watch Sgt took one look and went into the OIC's office and said "Sir, you gotta come see this" after which MP's showed up to escort him off post. Stolen Valor is out there and guys wear ribbons for all sorts of reasons but it takes a special type of stupid to set foot on a military base like this guy did.

[Walks]

I Don't say anything about when, where, what or why. Only other person in My family is my bil, air force. Our experiences were so different, there is Nothing to talk about.
IME, the people who talk about it, weren't there. If asked, I just say: "I was in the service" and nothing else.

[warren5421]

Ever talk to a Navy Vietnam Era Vet that worked supply for Cubin Exiles? Think 73-74.

[Winger Ed.]

Ever talk to a Navy Vietnam Era Vet that worked supply for Cubin Exiles? Think 73-74.

Closest I can come to that is I knew a 2nd Class Parachute Rigger when we were both at NAS Lakehurst for PR 'C' School in '77.
He'd been in about 6-7 years- maybe more, and had spent most of his Viet Nam war years at 'Gitmo'.
If he had any fond memories of the place, he never told me about any of them.

[cwtebay]

You know, I am starting another counterpoint post. Humble Valor.

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[Winger Ed.]

You know, I am starting another counterpoint post. Humble Valor.

It will have to include one of my uncles.
During WWII. as a USN issue LtJG, he was very proud of the fact that while he was the Officer In Charge of the Library
at US Navy base Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico----
Largely due to his efforts, the Germans never conducted a successful invasion.

[cwtebay]

It will have to include one of my uncles.
During WWII. as a USN issue LtJG, he was very proud of the fact that while he was the Officer In Charge of the Library
at US Navy base Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico---- The Germans never conducted a successful invasion.

Love it Winger Ed!

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[Winger Ed.]

That'll be a long thread.
Here's another entry:

The comic George Gobel was on the old Johnny Carson show one time.
They were talking about some of the Hollywood types there who were veterans.

George told him that while he was a Flight Instructor in Fallon Nevada during WWII-
Not one single Japanese bomber made it through their defenses.