Stolen Valor, too many get by with it.

[Redbone]

It is a small problem to some......

Not to those who were out there earning it........

That's a bit a broadbrush.

I've done 20 years. three deployments...the whole nine.

I don't consider what I've done "sacred" or worthy of praise. I've done what I swore to do...my duty, and I've been paid pretty well for it. It's nothing special and I don't go around expecting anyone to thank or praise me for it.

Therefore, when someone lies about their service, I just consider tham liars I wouldn't want to associate with, and move on.

I was actually surprised the first time a civilian thanked me for my service. But though I retired in 93 that never happened until after 9-11-01.

Anyway it's OK to feel differently about the fakes. I don't consider myself any better than the average Joe on the street, but Miles above someone claiming false service.

I'd say you are lightyears ahead of such sorry pieces of scum. All honorable service members are whether they be current or retired military.

 

[waltky]

Stolen valor lands man in prison...

Fake war hero sentenced to year in prison
March 15, 2013 — He claimed he was a war hero injured in Iraq and bilked the Veterans Administration for thousands of dollars in medical care. He even persuaded the organization Vacations for Veterans to give him a free trip to Hawaii.

But the truth, federal prosecutors said, is that Danny Crane served less than three months in the Army and never fought on the front lines. At his sentencing hearing Thursday, Crane said he was remorseful for the web of lies he spun. "I'd like to apologize for my actions in this case," Crane, 32, said. "It's very embarrassing." Crane pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of theft of government money and making a false statement. U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington said if Crane's lies about his military service were his first offense, she could have been more lenient, ordering him to spend part of his sentence in a halfway house and receive mental health counseling.

But the Riverview man has a criminal record of fraud and identity theft dating back to 1999, the judge said. Covington then sentenced Crane to one year and a day in prison and three years probation. He also was ordered to pay back $7,042 to the VA, $2,093 to the veterans' organization that gave him the trip to Hawaii and $200 in court costs. During his probation, Crane also must participate in drug abuse and mental health counseling programs. "The crime that bothers me the most here is taking money from Vacations for Veterans," Covington said. "That's a vacation somebody else didn't get." Before the ruling, Crane's attorney had asked the judge to consider ordering his client to serve time in a halfway house instead of prison.

Staying at a halfway house would allow Crane to get a job and start paying back the veterans' groups, defense attorney Alec Hall said. "In this situation here, Mr. Crane wants to make it right," Hall said. Covington said Crane served only short stints of jail time for his past crimes and that sending him to prison is the punishment and wakeup call he deserves. "To take a vacation away from someone who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, that's pretty low," Covington said. "I felt this has to be a sentence of significance." Crane portrayed himself as "the most decorated veteran in Florida," U.S. Assistant Attorney Amanda Kaiser said. Crane had falsely said he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts, an Air Medal and other war-related awards.

He told local veterans' groups that "he was blind in one eye, had 24 metal plates in his face, took a bullet in his back and has post-traumatic stress disorder," Kaiser said. He bilked the VA for $7,000 in medical costs, "taking away treatment time from legitimate veterans," then told Vacation for Veterans he had cancer and was given the trip to Hawaii, Kaiser said. The prosecutor read aloud letters from veterans' groups describing Crane as a con man with "fake bravado" whose "lack of honor was apparent." Crane told the judge he no longer wanted to be deceitful. "It's time to change my life," he said. At the end of the hearing and at Hall's request, Covington amended her orders to allow Crane to stay in a halfway house for six months following his release from prison. "It's all my client needs to get him back to society," Hall said.

Fake war hero sentenced to year in prison - U.S. - Stripes

 

[rightwinger]

It is a small problem to some......

Not to those who were out there earning it........

I find it amazing how many people want to defend such liars and for what reason. Freedom of speech issue aside, it is obvious that some people think integrity and honor should be eliminated for the good of the new progressive culture. I guess according to some these worthless valor stealing clowns convincing people they are real and then acting badly should be applauded or ignored as if it were a small white lie about eating the last piece of gum.

There is a new push on to degrade patriotism and the military. Obama is all for it too.

I haven't seen anyone defending them. I and some others just don't get our asses in a knot about it when they do it.

I would suggest to anyone former Soldier is they really think they're so special as to consider anyone lying about service as some sort of moral afront, to get over themselves and move on with their lives and quit dwelling in the past.

Since the dawn of time, men have lied about their military exploits

It's a guy thing

 

[SFC Ollie]

It's a cowards thing.........

 

[ArmyCowboy]

It's a cowards thing.........

I really don't see the difference between lying about military service, lying about being an athlete or lying about being wealthy.

A lie's a lie.

 

[Synthaholic]

More Stolen Valor.

 

[Mushroom]

More Stolen Valor.

Actually, he was.

He completed the Army Ranger course in 2005, and as such is indeed entitled to call himself a "Ranger" and wear the tab reflecting such on his uniform.

So no stolen valor at all, simply some trying to stir crap. Just as if they tried to scream somebody was not "Airborne" unless they served in an "Airborne Unit". That name has nothing to do with the unit one served in, but their training.

And really, you brought back a 9 year old thread for this kind of garbage?

 

[frigidweirdo]

Nothing irritates me more than scum that lie to try to steal that which so many military have sacrificed to defend. Those that tell lies about having served or having accomplished heroic deeds while serving are out there and on the internet. They for their own twisted sick, ego driven insanity dishonor our military and all the decent people that they deceive.

There are clues that point such people out. One primary clue is they always find excuses as to why they can not give evidence to back up their false claims. They become evasive when questioned and plead memory loss or change the story to try to cover for their mistakes.

We have such people often on the internet . There they dishonor our military heroes with their lies. We as decent people should always seek to expose such vile deceit. We should at least attempt to protect our military as they have sacrificed so much to protect us.

If you know anybody doing this wicked and vile crap speak up about it, question their story. Do not be an ally or pretend it does not matter. It matters, just as those that honorably served and sacrificed mattered to all of us that they protected. We owe those men and women at least that respect. We owe them more than we can ever truly pay but by defending their honor we can do our part , small as it may be.

Is it honorable to just ignore such lying scum? Pretend it matters not?

Stolen Valor

It takes the heart of a Warrior to find deception and take it down

It starts off simple enough. A casual mention of military service. And, oh by the way, a Purple Heart and a few other honors earned. How can you not trust a man who served his country so gallantly?
From there, confidence builds, one story weaves into even more glorious tales until, at some point, the fabrication is woven so tightly you begin to suspect...
How can one person achieve so much in such a short time? It's almost too good to be true.

You create some mythical thing about the military, and then expect people not to jump on the bandwagon.

And what do these people protect in Afghanistan and Iraq? Oil prices!!!!
How much is your cheaper oil worth to you? How many thousands need to die in order to allow you to have cheaper oil?

 

[Mushroom]

And what do these people protect in Afghanistan and Iraq? Oil prices!!!!

Oh yes, because we all know how critically important that oil in Afghanistan is.

And also Iraq. Because everybody knows that without Iraqi oil, the economy of the world would collapse.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Oh yes, because we all know how critically important that oil in Afghanistan is.

And also Iraq. Because everybody knows that without Iraqi oil, the economy of the world would collapse.

You think Afghanistan wasn't about oil?

Take a look at a map of Iran.

The US held Iraq. They have Saudi Arabia as an ally. Pakistan was an uncomfortable ally. Afghanistan in US hands meant the US would have left and right on Iraq.

The US has spent the last 20 years trying to get at Iran, threats of invasion, real and heavy sanctions. Why?

Four OPEC countries opposed the US strongly in 2001.

Venezuela. The US helped a coup against Hugo Chavez there in 2002. It failed after a week. Heavy sanctions have existed for a long time now.

Iraq. Invaded in 2003, foreign oil companies put in to pump Iraq dry.

Libya. Bombed in 2011, the leader was deposed and now it's a nothing country with civil war going on, ignored by the west for eleven years.

Iran. Heavy sanction and lots of threats of invasion.

It's not about taking oil. It's about reducing the power of OPEC. In 1999 Hugo Chavez got OPEC leaders together to talk about how they could control oil prices in the world. Bush, Halliburton, the right, did not like that.
So they went after those four countries pushing for this change. And they did it. My KILLING, invading, bombing, sanctions.
They still want to take out Iran's leadership, but clearly Biden can see that after 20 years, it's not going to happen any time soon.

 

[Mushroom]

You think Afghanistan wasn't about oil?

Right. Do you know what the annual production of oil in Afghanistan is?

Simple. 0 barrels per year. In fact, it has been remarkably stable at 0 barrels per year since forever.

And there is oil in Iraq, big deal! In case you are not aware, that is a different country.

Heck, look no farther than Israel to see how stupid your claim is about Iraq. Israel is surrounded by some of the richest oil fields in the world, yet ranks 95th in the world for oil production because it has so little oil.

Oil Production by Country - Worldometer

List of world countries by Yearly Oil Production in million cubic feet (MMcf)

www.worldometers.info

But please, tell us all about that Afghan Oil. In fact, please link to us the historical records of oil production in Afghanistan since 1900. In fact, how about for any period of time ever.

In fact, how about taking this entire nonsense to another thread. Because it obviously does not belong here.

 

[westwall]

Actually, he was.

He completed the Army Ranger course in 2005, and as such is indeed entitled to call himself a "Ranger" and wear the tab reflecting such on his uniform.

So no stolen valor at all, simply some trying to stir crap. Just as if they tried to scream somebody was not "Airborne" unless they served in an "Airborne Unit". That name has nothing to do with the unit one served in, but their training.

And really, you brought back a 9 year old thread for this kind of garbage?

It's synthy. A special kind of stupid.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Right. Do you know what the annual production of oil in Afghanistan is?

Simple. 0 barrels per year. In fact, it has been remarkably stable at 0 barrels per year since forever.

And there is oil in Iraq, big deal! In case you are not aware, that is a different country.

Heck, look no farther than Israel to see how stupid your claim is about Iraq. Israel is surrounded by some of the richest oil fields in the world, yet ranks 95th in the world for oil production because it has so little oil.

Oil Production by Country - Worldometer

List of world countries by Yearly Oil Production in million cubic feet (MMcf)

www.worldometers.info

But please, tell us all about that Afghan Oil. In fact, please link to us the historical records of oil production in Afghanistan since 1900. In fact, how about for any period of time ever.

In fact, how about taking this entire nonsense to another thread. Because it obviously does not belong here.

Fun. You say "right" and then you launch into something which I've explained already and isn't relevant. We don't need to talk about Afghanistan's oil production.

And what I said initially belonged her. People doing their service, protecting oil prices, rather than the USA.... relevant. You going off on one about Afghanistan's non-existent oil production, not relevant. Sort your life out.

 

[Mushroom]

Fun. You say "right" and then you launch into something which I've explained already and isn't relevant. We don't need to talk about Afghanistan's oil production.

And what I said initially belonged her. People doing their service, protecting oil prices, rather than the USA.... relevant. You going off on one about Afghanistan's non-existent oil production, not relevant. Sort your life out.

Fine, take it to a thread that deals with that. Or better yet, make up your own.

Preferably in the "Conspiracy Theory" area. Because it sure as hell does not belong here.

 

[AZrailwhale]

ABikerSailor

1a. "My MOS/unit? That's classified."

Anyone actually involved in classified work will not bring it up only to tell you they can't talk about it. They just won't bring it up, or will speak only in vague terms if they must talk about a unit/assignment.

I was EOD during Vietnam. To this day, I’m careful about what I say or describe about American military weapons. I’m not sure what is still classified. I can tell a lot of funny stories, but I get really vague about specific details. I’ll say things like there is a fuse that you have to screw the bomb off of instead of unscrewing the fuse. I won’t hesitate when describing foreign things.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Knew a guy in Florida. He bragged about getting on a military installation because he had a sticker on his windshield which was a certain color reserved for officers. He claimed that he would be saluted. Every base I have been on requires a positive ID check. I asked him about that, he folded and was a laughing stock. He did not come around anymore. What a douche.

Well when I served during Vietnam, you almost never got stopped for an ID check. If you had a sticker, the MPs just waved you through. But that was a very different time.

 

[AZrailwhale]

I never saw a seperate sticker for officers either

In the Army there were three different bumper stickers. One color for civilian employees, one for enlisted and NCOs and another for officers. That was Vietnam and the late seventies.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Blue for officers red for enlisted. Today ids are scanned. No more stickers. The stickers were used for vehicle registration on post, the ID check to verify that the person coming on the base was authorized to do so.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I didn’t want to list the colors.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Real war stories suck because you have to remember them while you tell them. I would much rather talk about whats going on in America.

The “war stories” I tell are about training. More funny things happen than in combat, or so I guess. I was on levy for Vietnam as EOD, got to Fort Lewis, the processing sergeant saw that I could type and he pulled me from levy and I was stuck there for nearly two years. The guy my unit sent to replace me on levy was killed by something that wouldn’t have killed me. To this day, I wish I had gone instead of my friend,

 

[Mushroom]

I didn’t want to list the colors.

It no longer matters, because they are no longer used. They were determined to be a security risk so were phased out.

But back in the day, red was enlisted and blue was officers. Green was for civilian DoD employees, white was for contractors and black was for contractor vehicles. And senior NCOs (E-8 and E-9) and Officers (O-6 and above) had a sticker showing their rank.