Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He could be found out and exposed on national television. This happened to someone I know. The humiliation was so unbearable that he committed suicide.
I am retired U.S. Army. I truly do not think about it much. There are sick, devious, mean, cruel, misguided people out there. I have never personally encountered these individuals who wrongfully claim to have been awarded Purple Hearts. I have met many who were actually awarded the medal. I have sat on more than one Courts-Martial board involving other crimes.
It is just a sad situation...
Quote:
Public Law No: 113-12 (06/03/2013)
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Stolen Valor Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to rewrite provisions relating to fraudulent claims about military service to subject to a fine, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both an individual who, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds himself or herself out to be a recipient of:
a Congressional Medal of Honor,
a distinguished-service cross,
a Navy cross,
an Air Force cross,
a silver star,
a Purple Heart,
a Combat Infantryman's Badge,
a Combat Action Badge,
a Combat Medical Badge,
a Combat Action Ribbon,
a Combat Action Medal, or
any replacement or duplicate medal for such medal as authorized by law.
Ist macht nichts. I don't know his motives. Maybe benign e.g. He was a Radar O'Riley-type company clerk who wanted to be more like the "Muddy Boots" guys he knew. Or perhaps a little more on the narcissist/personality disordered side. Who knows?
People tell "war stories" for all kinds of reasons. And even people with a perfectly legitimate award of a decoration will often embellish the retelling of events leading to it.
"There I was..." They don't get 5% of an award deducted for "embellishing" the facts
I am not in the military but have personally known two men who told lies about their military service and were publicly called out on it. (One was the man I dated that I mentioned above, who committed suicide). I used to work in a nursing home and it was quite common for elderly men with dementia to tell all kinds of exaggerated war stories. Their adult children told me the stories were not true. Dementia was definitely the cause or contributing factor.
However, with younger men, I think it's a symptom of mental illness to lie about things like this. So I do think you should be concerned that your son-in-law does this. It's not a good sign and it's not just a harmless little quirk.
The other man I knew who did this, was a rapist in college and years later, I heard a rumor that he had something to do with his wife's death. But it was only innuendos. But knowing him the way I did, I believed it was true. He also claimed to have been fighting overseas and a member of the rescue mission that rescued Jessica Lynch. Turns out he never even went overseas, although he had been in the Army. He was publicly called out online on several sites and his picture and name were posted as a "Military Faker".
I can imagine a family dynamic where there is excessive desire to hear a heroic story. Did he tell the lie to everybody or just some select family members?
^^^^^^ lol pONCHO NM ^^^^^^^^^^ Do you have a twitter account? i don't. but would appreciate it if you could forward that link to DJT or as i not so affectionately call him "he who shall not be named" in advance, thank you for this service to our country.
P.S. that article was great by the way!!!!!! thanks for posting it!!!!!!
Last edited by ceiligrrl; 09-04-2018 at 10:24 AM..
People tell "war stories" for all kinds of reasons. And even people with a perfectly legitimate award of a decoration will often embellish the retelling of events leading to it.
Those who have experienced combat rarely want to talk about it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
