Posted on Jun 7, 2015
Stolen Valor by a real Veteran...how would you address this situation?
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Question
I have run into on multiple occasions a Veteran who was discharged (medically from my understanding ) who wears his dress blues ( USMC ) everywhere.
Initially I was amused as he is in his 70s then as I looked at his uniform I realized he is wearing the following awards that really got my attention
-Navy Cross
-Navy and Marine Corps medal with combat V
- Silver star
- Bronze star
- navy commendation medal with v device
- 4 Purple Hearts
And on and on
I decided if this guy who has all the nations highest awards is among my midst I should be able to find the real citations and get a street or a park or even get a street named after him
That's a real Bona fide hero
After looking through the Internet and the various databases I could not find anything, hey it was Vietnam paper gets lost
he ended up giving me some paperwork to back up his claims, I was looking through it and found discrepancies so I did a FOIA request
Long story short he did earn a Purple Heart and a navy commendation medal
I gave the info to the local military unit that had a lot of contact with him and I said if I see him still wearing this I am going to call him out
What are your thoughts ? I would especially like to hear from Any active duty Marines
I have vetted this through Doug who is considered the subject matter expert, through Mary who is also considered another primary source
The issue is No one that has day to day dealings with him has the guts to stop him following is an exact quote" he's an old man who is he hurting"
So rally point what are your thoughts ?
I have run into on multiple occasions a Veteran who was discharged (medically from my understanding ) who wears his dress blues ( USMC ) everywhere.
Initially I was amused as he is in his 70s then as I looked at his uniform I realized he is wearing the following awards that really got my attention
-Navy Cross
-Navy and Marine Corps medal with combat V
- Silver star
- Bronze star
- navy commendation medal with v device
- 4 Purple Hearts
And on and on
I decided if this guy who has all the nations highest awards is among my midst I should be able to find the real citations and get a street or a park or even get a street named after him
That's a real Bona fide hero
After looking through the Internet and the various databases I could not find anything, hey it was Vietnam paper gets lost
he ended up giving me some paperwork to back up his claims, I was looking through it and found discrepancies so I did a FOIA request
Long story short he did earn a Purple Heart and a navy commendation medal
I gave the info to the local military unit that had a lot of contact with him and I said if I see him still wearing this I am going to call him out
What are your thoughts ? I would especially like to hear from Any active duty Marines
I have vetted this through Doug who is considered the subject matter expert, through Mary who is also considered another primary source
The issue is No one that has day to day dealings with him has the guts to stop him following is an exact quote" he's an old man who is he hurting"
So rally point what are your thoughts ?
Posted in these groups: 
Stolen Valor
Stolen Valor
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 22
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Kudos SFC Daniel Faires for approaching this reasonably and checking the facts first! We definitely don't need a repeat of last week's botched call out where the individual and a police officer got aggressive and got it wrong. Vets claiming stolen valor, to me, is worse than anything because they should know better and they are committing an injustice against their own community. There was a discussion last year about a senior AD NCO, a SGM, I believe, who got busted and forced out for wearing awards he didn't earn. Shameful. Be proud of your service for what you did. "Be all that you can be", not all that you think you should be.
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In my humble opinion, calling someone out for stolen valor is a slippery slope. On one hand, the interests and legitimate accomplishments of true service members and veterans are trying to be protected. On the other hand, the majority of the time the accuser comes across looking like a complete ass. The incident last week with the veteran being harassed is a primary example. However, I will also point out a video I saw earlier this week where I guy filmed himself calling out a man wearing Air Force ABUs and a boonie hat. He had the rank (TSgt) and the SF badge on the uniform. The guy asks him what his AFSC (job identifier) and he completely botched it up. The man questioning him soon goes on a profanity-laced tirade as he called him everything under the sun. In the end, he made himself look just as bad by losing his composure and thinking he was doing something good. I know veterans are proud of their service, but the cases of stolen valor serve as the reason why we're told during that final out-processing briefing not to wear our uniform.
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Speak to him privately and reveal your findings and kindly ask him to fix his uniform. If he refuses, call him out in public, citing all your sources.
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SGT Richard H.
This is where I come down on the issue as well....the public calling out assumes, of course, that he's proven to be a poser beyond all doubt.
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PO1 John Miller
SGT Richard H., that is why it is so important to make sure the person is in fact a poser and not some old timer who forgot every little detail about properly wearing his uniform and medals 50 or so years since they last served.
SGT Jinger Jarrett, thanks for the link/story.
SGT Jinger Jarrett, thanks for the link/story.
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