Fake military guys & the Stolen Valor Act of 2005

"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:42:44 +0100, "William Black"
wrote:


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
. ..

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.

You miss my point.

1. Why do the fakers do it?

For the same reason people steal. They wish to have something of value
which they did not earn.

While they may have devalued military service in general and heroism
in particular they believe as well that they accrue some benefit by
claiming exceptional combat valor, courage and credentials.

Well then you have do some sort of 'risk/benefit' analysis then.

The risks seem high if people are spending their lives chasing them down.

There seem to be no material benefits.

Why bother?

Don't misunderstand, everyone's met the guy who claims to have served with
the SAS who turns out to have been a cook on a base where an SAS man once
turned up to give a talk on '"The Military Architecture of Hereford";
that's almost expected.

But who on earth claims significant decorations in the hope that no-one will
notice?

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.