Stolen Valor

[Sig_Sauer]

This guy Frank Gordon makes me want to throw up! This is why I'm so skeptical of war stories and claims of PTSD.

Look at this collection of phonies!

 

[dadsgm]

If anyone is shown/proven to be wearing medals he she did not earn or claiming to have served, or making false claims about their service, I say we should strip them naked and beat the living s--- out of them and then disclose their criminal act and expose them to all if the media will print the data.

 

[whitehall]

The Stolen Valor act of 2013 was passed overwhelmingly in congress and signed into law by president Obama. It makes it a federal crime to obtain tangible benefits as a result of fraudulent claims of Military Service. Bullshit war stories in bars aren't covered but politicians who claim a fraudulent award would be subject to the law as well as persons who obtain benefits or receive some kind of compensation for fraudulent Military service.

 

[williepete]

My big beef is with the panhandlers who hold up signs that read "Homeless Vet" or "Vietnam Vet", or the like and it's obvious they've never served. Or the guy that comes up to you on the street and asks, "Hey man, will you help out a Veteran?".

My first response is, "In what branch did you serve?" Invariably, it's the Army. Then I ask, "Where did you go through basic and what was your MOS?". When they have no idea what basic or MOS means, I let them know I realize they didn't serve and I think it's BS they're panhandling with a shtick that works but to me is disgusting.

The whole Vietnam Vet gimmick is so bought by pedestrian Americans, it's understandable why bums use it. Dumbed down America has no idea that someone who served in Vietnam is now over 60.

I was in Vegas several years ago riding to the hotel in a taxi. I had my window down and we were slowing down for a stop light. There was this young black guy in BDU pants and a T-shirt. His sign read, "Homeless Vietnam Vet". I was intrigued at how young he looked. He was getting money from a few of the cars passing buy. When my taxi came up to him, I asked him when he was born and he said 1972. I asked him if he knew the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1975. He didn't get the question. Then, he started giving me grief that I wouldn't support a Vet.

I'm not pissed at the bum. I'm pissed at how dumb Americans have become.

 

[whitehall]

Don't waste your time on bums and a-holes. Get a copy of Burkett/Whitley "Stolen Valor" to get a taste of what the government and the media bought about fake veterans and nut cases. The VA used to prescribe medication for loud mouth nut cases just to get rid of them. The V.A. depended on Hollywood's fictional version of the "average" crazy Vietnam Veteran and they broke the law by not even checking an I.D.

 

[regent]

My big beef is with the panhandlers who hold up signs that read "Homeless Vet" or "Vietnam Vet", or the like and it's obvious they've never served. Or the guy that comes up to you on the street and asks, "Hey man, will you help out a Veteran?".

My first response is, "In what branch did you serve?" Invariably, it's the Army. Then I ask, "Where did you go through basic and what was your MOS?". When they have no idea what basic or MOS means, I let them know I realize they didn't serve and I think it's BS they're panhandling with a shtick that works but to me is disgusting.

The whole Vietnam Vet gimmick is so bought by pedestrian Americans, it's understandable why bums use it. Dumbed down America has no idea that someone who served in Vietnam is now over 60.

I was in Vegas several years ago riding to the hotel in a taxi. I had my window down and we were slowing down for a stop light. There was this young black guy in BDU pants and a T-shirt. His sign read, "Homeless Vietnam Vet". I was intrigued at how young he looked. He was getting money from a few of the cars passing buy. When my taxi came up to him, I asked him when he was born and he said 1972. I asked him if he knew the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1975. He didn't get the question. Then, he started giving me grief that I wouldn't support a Vet.

I'm not pissed at the bum. I'm pissed at how dumb Americans have become.

Went over three years in the army and never heard of MOS.

 

[whitehall]

My big beef is with the panhandlers who hold up signs that read "Homeless Vet" or "Vietnam Vet", or the like and it's obvious they've never served. Or the guy that comes up to you on the street and asks, "Hey man, will you help out a Veteran?".

My first response is, "In what branch did you serve?" Invariably, it's the Army. Then I ask, "Where did you go through basic and what was your MOS?". When they have no idea what basic or MOS means, I let them know I realize they didn't serve and I think it's BS they're panhandling with a shtick that works but to me is disgusting.

The whole Vietnam Vet gimmick is so bought by pedestrian Americans, it's understandable why bums use it. Dumbed down America has no idea that someone who served in Vietnam is now over 60.

I was in Vegas several years ago riding to the hotel in a taxi. I had my window down and we were slowing down for a stop light. There was this young black guy in BDU pants and a T-shirt. His sign read, "Homeless Vietnam Vet". I was intrigued at how young he looked. He was getting money from a few of the cars passing buy. When my taxi came up to him, I asked him when he was born and he said 1972. I asked him if he knew the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1975. He didn't get the question. Then, he started giving me grief that I wouldn't support a Vet.

I'm not pissed at the bum. I'm pissed at how dumb Americans have become.

Went over three years in the army and never heard of MOS.

Three years in the Army and you didn't know what your MOS was?

 

[regent]

My big beef is with the panhandlers who hold up signs that read "Homeless Vet" or "Vietnam Vet", or the like and it's obvious they've never served. Or the guy that comes up to you on the street and asks, "Hey man, will you help out a Veteran?".

My first response is, "In what branch did you serve?" Invariably, it's the Army. Then I ask, "Where did you go through basic and what was your MOS?". When they have no idea what basic or MOS means, I let them know I realize they didn't serve and I think it's BS they're panhandling with a shtick that works but to me is disgusting.

The whole Vietnam Vet gimmick is so bought by pedestrian Americans, it's understandable why bums use it. Dumbed down America has no idea that someone who served in Vietnam is now over 60.

I was in Vegas several years ago riding to the hotel in a taxi. I had my window down and we were slowing down for a stop light. There was this young black guy in BDU pants and a T-shirt. His sign read, "Homeless Vietnam Vet". I was intrigued at how young he looked. He was getting money from a few of the cars passing buy. When my taxi came up to him, I asked him when he was born and he said 1972. I asked him if he knew the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1975. He didn't get the question. Then, he started giving me grief that I wouldn't support a Vet.

I'm not pissed at the bum. I'm pissed at how dumb Americans have become.

Went over three years in the army and never heard of MOS.

Three years in the Army and you didn't know what your MOS was?

Just looked MOS on Google, something to do with job specialty? My training for my job specialty with the infantry was seven words, "Follow the guy in front of you." Some specialty.

 

[hardrock]

Went over three years in the army and never heard of MOS.

Three years in the Army and you didn't know what your MOS was?

Just looked MOS on Google, something to do with job specialty? My training for my job specialty with the infantry was seven words, "Follow the guy in front of you." Some specialty.

FWIW during the Vietnam era the MOS for infantry was 11B10.

Don't ask me how I know and I didn't use google

I don't know about now but when I was in the army, it took 10 support troops to put 1 frontline combat soldier in the field.

So for every 1 that saw combat....10 others didn't. Take any war story in that light

 

[williepete]

You can get the picture though. What branch were you in? Where did you serve?

Army: MOS: Military Occupational Specialties
Search Through Careers in the Army | goarmy.com

Air Force: AFSC: Airman Air Force Specialty Codes
Air Force AFSC (Job) Listing -- Enlisted

I was approached by a bum on Beale Street in Memphis by a guy wanting a handout for a Vet. He couldn't tell me where or what basic was and couldn't tell me his unit or post. I confronted him and he admitted he had never served then still wanted money.

 

[whitehall]

Here's one for the books. The lawyer for a former Marine, Charles Allen Chavous convicted in Augusta Ga. of a decade old murder, produced Chavous's DD214 in court prior to sentencing. The DD214 indicated that Chavous received the Navy Cross and was an escaped Vietnam POW and retired as a 1st Lt.. The judge was so moved by Chavous record that he sentenced him to the equivalent of community service and Chavous walked out of court. The judge apparently went back to his 5th of Jack Daniel and patted himself on the back for his compassionate days work. You guessed it. The DD214 was so flagrantly fraudulent that the word "gallantry" was even spelled wrong and the fonts on the document were laughingly different. Chavous was a USMC Vet who spent a year in Vietnam and was discharged as a Lance Cpl.

 

[Sgt_Gath]

Got to love it. These morons just grab any random medal they can find, and stick them all together in a giant mess because they think it looks cool.

Any real vet worth their salt can usually pick them out as a fraud almost immediately for that exact reason.

 

[Sig_Sauer]

Don't waste your time on bums and a-holes. Get a copy of Burkett/Whitley "Stolen Valor" to get a taste of what the government and the media bought about fake veterans and nut cases. The VA used to prescribe medication for loud mouth nut cases just to get rid of them. The V.A. depended on Hollywood's fictional version of the "average" crazy Vietnam Veteran and they broke the law by not even checking an I.D.

I've read the book and its excellent. I've never known a veteran of that war that fit the stereotypical image.

 

[whitehall]

Don't waste your time on bums and a-holes. Get a copy of Burkett/Whitley "Stolen Valor" to get a taste of what the government and the media bought about fake veterans and nut cases. The VA used to prescribe medication for loud mouth nut cases just to get rid of them. The V.A. depended on Hollywood's fictional version of the "average" crazy Vietnam Veteran and they broke the law by not even checking an I.D.

I've read the book and its excellent. I've never known a veteran of that war that fit the stereotypical image.

Hollywood loved the image of the angry psycho Vietnam Vet and bikers who never served in anything except the boy scouts embraced it and promoted it. They made dozens of grade B films about the psycho Vietnam Vet and that's the way it stuck even though Vietnam Vets went back to work, got their degrees, raised a family and still respected the Flag.

 

[9thIDdoc]

Three years in the Army and you didn't know what your MOS was?

Just looked MOS on Google, something to do with job specialty? My training for my job specialty with the infantry was seven words, "Follow the guy in front of you." Some specialty.

FWIW during the Vietnam era the MOS for infantry was 11B10.

Don't ask me how I know and I didn't use google

I don't know about now but when I was in the army, it took 10 support troops to put 1 frontline combat soldier in the field.

So for every 1 that saw combat....10 others didn't. Take any war story in that light

The problem with that is that infantry are certainly not the only troops who see combat.
Medics (who may be awarded a Combat Medical Badge), armor, artillery, chopper crews, engineers (CBs) and others may see as much or more combat than the average 11B. "Support" by no means equals non-combat. This was especially true in Vietnam where there were no front lines.

 

[Steven_R]

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - put dem rascals inna pokey...

Report: Court rules wearing unearned medals a crime
October 30, 2014 ~ Lying about receiving a military medal is protected speech, but there’s no right to wear a combat decoration that hasn’t been earned, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

The difference, said a divided panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is that lying is speech, but wearing a medal is conduct, according to a report in the San Francisco Chrnonicle. The decision in an Idaho case returned the court to a controversy that led to a 2012 Supreme Court ruling and a rewriting of the law by Congress in 2013.

The defendant, Elven Swisher, served in the Marine Corps from 1954 to 1957, the Chronicle reported. In 2001 he applied for disability benefits, claiming he had been wounded in a secret mission to North Korea in 1955, after the Korean War ended. The Department of Veterans Affairs granted the request in 2004 after Swisher submitted what appeared to be a military document saying he had been awarded a Silver Star and other medals for his actions.

But the VA learned in 2006 that the document was forged and ordered Swisher to repay the benefits, the paper noted. He was later convicted and sentenced to a year in prison on charges that included stealing government funds and wearing unauthorized medals at a veterans’ event.

A Purple Heart Medal. The Purple Heart is one of the oldest commendations in American military history, dating back to the later years of the Revolutionary War and was originally designed as the Badge of Military Merit.

The appeals court upheld Swisher’s conviction in 2009, but he filed a new appeal after the court, in a 2010 case, struck down a federal law that made it a crime to lie about earning military decorations. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, agreed with the Ninth Circuit in June 2012 that the law violated freedom of speech. But three months later, in another case, a different Ninth Circuit panel upheld the ban on wearing unearned military medals.

Congress has since rewritten the law to prohibit lying about military honors for financial gain, while repealing the ban on wearing medals one hasn’t earned. But the repeal didn’t help Swisher, whose conviction under the former law was upheld Wednesday.

Report Court rules wearing unearned medals a crime - News - Stripes

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Don't waste your time on bums and a-holes. Get a copy of Burkett/Whitley "Stolen Valor" to get a taste of what the government and the media bought about fake veterans and nut cases. The VA used to prescribe medication for loud mouth nut cases just to get rid of them. The V.A. depended on Hollywood's fictional version of the "average" crazy Vietnam Veteran and they broke the law by not even checking an I.D.

I've read the book and its excellent. I've never known a veteran of that war that fit the stereotypical image.

Hollywood loved the image of the angry psycho Vietnam Vet and bikers who never served in anything except the boy scouts embraced it and promoted it. They made dozens of grade B films about the psycho Vietnam Vet and that's the way it stuck even though Vietnam Vets went back to work, got their degrees, raised a family and still respected the Flag.

I know a guy who fits the stereotype to a tee. He was in the Navy in intelligence, says he spent some in countries not named Vietnam fighting over there, and frankly I believe him, and he is fucked up. I mean I see the guy at least once a week, and on days where he hasn't taken his medication, I just walk away from him.