How do I find out if my friend is lying about his military career and achievements?

2019-01-31T21:01:09-05:00

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2019 9:04 PM

2019-01-31T21:04:30-05:00

What are they saying to set your sensors off?

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2019 9:17 PM

2019-01-31T21:17:32-05:00

Cpl Jay Wells If he received a less than honorable discharge, He would not be accepted back into the Marine Corps, unless he somehow had his discharge upgraded. Why not just drop him as a friend if you are having doubts?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jan 31 at 2019 9:28 PM

2019-01-31T21:28:21-05:00

FOIA request for his records

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Jan 31 at 2019 9:32 PM

2019-01-31T21:32:21-05:00

I find that interesting on sevl levels, not the least of which is that, purely out of interest, I watch a good many YouTube videos on such things, if only out of curiosity, at least when I'd started...some of those I watch frequently tend to border on the patently absurd, I've also seen a few threads on here about such topics, from various standpoints...what the others said who'd answered 9n here for your thread thus far are certainly true, having more info would help, obviously, what you'd noticed, per se, either in conversation, possibly any uniform appearance oddities and/or inconsistencies...one channel I'd seen on the whole topic on YouTube, the one who does the videos on it occasionally goes into instances outside his own svc, though he mainly stays on his, for the most part...evidently, he files, or at least that's what I've seen, as well as newspapers and TV stations doing the same, to send in a FOIA request to NPRC in St. Louis, a good many of the YouTube videos I've seen recount such FOIA printouts, either that or actual units and/or organizations are either called and/or written to, to see if someone went through a given school or training, as well...I've delved into the whole topic a good deal, and the reasons involved for such behavior often seem quite varied, I'd even read of one instance awhile back, where the one involved had been on a national level, I've also seen instances discussed in the UK, where such instances are often termed "Walter Mitty" cases, after the famous movie character, I'd even seen at least one video, possibly more, from Australia, so I'd suppose the whole problem seems to he endemic to multiple countries, evidently, I just figured you might find those thoughts of interest, I'd certainly be interested in hearing more, as well, whenever convenient, by all means...there'd been a Supreme Court decision I'd read of to invalidate the initial recent Federal law barring such behavior, which was why, I'd gathered, a new version was past, more focused on preventing commercialization of such things, which I gather was apparently a more legally palatqgle version...I've even read quotes from George Washington about warnings he'd apparently given about watching for such instances, as well, at least two such quotes I'd seen references on, in any event, those are my thoughts about the whole topic, such as they are, many thanks....

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2019 10:00 PM

2019-01-31T22:00:35-05:00

If he's on social media, are there any pictures of him i uniform, at Marine Corps Balls with other marines, any pictures or statuses of him getting promoted or anything like that? If not, he probably is lying. Just about everybody shares this stuff. If you see pics of him at a Ball, that would give you an idea of how much and where he's served based on his ribbons/medals. Just an idea.

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2019 11:28 PM

2019-01-31T23:28:40-05:00

Tell him to show you his ERB.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2019 9:14 AM

2019-02-01T09:14:36-05:00

Cpl Jay Wells So you know some specifics about your friend, and you know the Green Machine culture.
So a few thoughts, although I think you have already answered your own question.
Here we are many years hence and you have reacquired contact after a period of time without it. I know this since in order for there to be a time for him to be back in the Corps and you to be uncertain about it means you weren't talking for a while. It has also been nearly a decade since we left Iraq.
For the two of you, your relationship's foundation is the period he was in the Corps with you and went AWOL. His dishonorable conduct during that time, for whatever reasons he may have had to absent himself, poisons your foundation.
So what does he do? Tell tales of redemption and service. That way he can reconnect with that time from before, and try to rebuild his own personal honor.
As surely as I type this, it is a damn lie. Not just to you, but to himself.
Were I to make a wager, he went to get his discharge upgraded - notable is the "gets medical benefits" comment, meaning a General Discharge is likely the case. Also possible is the "Honorable for VA purposes" designation.
I see these often in my work for VA, and the Veteran behind such discharge upgrades is militant in making the case that they were ever so unjustly treated by their old Chain-of-Command. They talk about little and less other things.

Know that this doesn't make your old friend a bad person. Many learn from their mistakes and find value in their lives in other ways; they just aren't cut out for the military. If you value him as a person, this is a conversation you must have with him. Otherwise you will be forever doomed to listen to tales of his "exploits" while his AWOL adventures get diminished and wallpapered over.
You should not suffer a fool and his self-delusion.

Response by SSG Dale London made Feb 1 at 2019 6:13 PM

2019-02-01T18:13:45-05:00

Simple: Ask to see his DD214 but you need to be prepared to find a new friend. There are three possible outcomes from querying his honesty: 1 - He's cool about it and proves his bona fides. 2 - He's not cool about it and tells you to pound sand (find a new friend). 3 - He gives you a bullshit answer and doubles down (find a new friend).
If somebody did this to me, I'd like to think I'd be cool about it but it really depends on how it is approached. If it was a genuine query, I would be okay -- if I was called a liar, I'd tell him to pound sand and I'd find a new friend.