Fake military guys & the Stolen Valor Act of 2005

On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:14:56 -0700 (PDT), frank
wrote:

What advantage accrues to someone in the USA if they pretend to have had a
distinguished military career?

Unfortunately the US has evolved into a nation in which few of the
general population have ever served or even known anyone in the
military. The result is that someone can claim the outrageous and
easily pass for years as a hero of a war that no one cares much about.
There have been an incredible number of outrageous public officials
who have run for public office and been elected on totally fabricated
military records.

OTOH, I'm always interested in seeing how Vulcans and neocons with
Viet Nam draft birthdates handled that character check.
UNQUOTE

The current euphemism in favor is "Vietnam-era Veteran" which usually
means never left the States but was in a sort of uniform for a few
months during the period in question.

True. I worked with a guy who was head North American test pilot. We
didn't find out until after he retired from NA and the B-1B program
that he was a test pilot on the Have Blue program (F-117 precursor).
Never talked about it, even after it was declassified somewhat. Was
almost a footnote in the standard retirement biography that was
brought up when serving punch and cake. Same with a lot in SF, SEALS,
other operations.

That very secrecy is what many of the poseurs depend upon. They allude
to secret operations and clandestine organizations which have secured
their records from public scrutiny.

But, in the US, there is still a bit of I guess national shame over
how the Vietnam vet was treated. not that this has translated into a
decent fix of the VA and all the benefits and facilities, but
still... So, if you were in Vietnam, you were seen to have served
under adverse political conditions at home. With the later wars, there
is more and more acceptance of military service.

One of the most egregious I saw was in Colorado where a Veteran's day
celebration had Sen. Ben Campbell on stage with a guy in USAF
Colonel's uniform wearing an AF Cross, several Silver Stars and a
number of DFC's. He professed to have been a POW and escapee from
Hanoi as well as a fighter pilot hero.

He was blissfully unaware that sharing the stage was retired Navy
Captain Mike McGrath, former POW and then president of the Nam-POWs
who had never seen the guy before and quickly outed him.

And, it does help in politics or public service, you can see it in the
national elections right now. In American history, saying you were a
Union vet and fought in the Civil War was a big badge of honor.

The terminology was "waving the bloody jacket"--if you had been
wounded in the Civil War, you were most assuredly an election winner.

I don't know if overseas there is this sort of emotional reaction that
you get in the US. From some of the posts, its more something you
don't brag about. But, we scatter over here. I can count a good five
or six places I've lived in the past dozen years, from one side of the
country to another. IF the town is small enough, then you know all the
local boys and families and how they were, but start getting a bit
larger town or city, its not as easy.

Chuck and Mary Shantag, mentioned in the original post, are the
premier sleuths in digging up the facts on these folks. The poseurs
and wannabes are despicable and should be prosecuted to the maximum
extent of the law. Chuck and Mary do a great job of that. They come to
the annual River Rats reunions and are well supported by all of us.

Here's a good source for checking out POW claimers:

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies1082.htm

The roster is incredibly long which demonstrates the magnitude of the
problem.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
www.thundertales.blogspot.com
www.thunderchief.org