Stolen Valor.

Lager

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I think I might have experienced it and it made me a little bit upset. I work at a car dealership and I get a number of old guys in here sporting these colorful Vietnam War veteran baseball caps. Just the other day, I had one of these guys at my desk and I will give them the military discount . But this time during check out during small talk, I blurted out MOS ? He responded with " Huh", I asked him again " What was your MOS ?" he still had no idea what I was talking about and I left it at that. I see a lot of these guys wearing these hats now a days, Know what's funny ? When I asked them their MOS,they all say " Special Forces, Recon, LRRP or a Ranger" Ive yet to meet a cook or a truck driver that was in Nam.
Me, 68 F, aircraft electrician, attack helicopter unit 1975-1980 based in Germany. The closest I got was patching bullet holes in helis from the Soviets when we flew to close to East Germany.
 
I think it sucks, but it is today’s reality. Kinda like pretending to have been at Woodstock or the ‘68 democratic convention, people want to have been at important events.

Thanks for your service. While you may have been on a different continent, trading jabs with the commies was no joking matter in those days.

Now, what brands do you sell? My daughter has been bugging the carp out of me for a Toyota.

Jim

PS. Let me tell you, when we busted down the door to Hilter’s bunker I was the third guy in and you’ll never believe...
 
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I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

IPFJ_lg.jpg


Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?
 
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I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

IPFJ_lg.jpg


Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?
Only if it doesn’t keep you warm! I’ve got 30 years in and I rarely ask for any kind of a discount. I’ve got a couple Afghanistan tours and I’ve been around the world enough to know that even through all her flaws, the good old US of A is the greatest country on earth!
 
I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?
Back when I was in the Congo fighting the Germans with the 1st ranger division. I saw some punk wearing a army wind breaker. I said "simper hooooah" he didn't respond so I pulled out my AR-16 with a bazooka on the bottom. And I yelled sound off GI-rine he then told me he bought it at a surplus store, so I threw a cobra at his face. I didn't want to waste a bazooka bullet. Next thing I know the 2nd gunnery SGTs from the 101st airborne company is tearing me a new butt hole because that was his son and i had to peel potatoes for two months in Leavenworth.
 
I think it sucks, but it is today’s reality. Kinda like pretending to have been at Woodstock or the ‘68 democratic convention, people want to have been at important events.

Thanks for your service. While you may have been on a different continent, trading jabs with the commies was no joking matter in those days.

Now, what brands do you sell? My daughter has been bugging the carp out of me for a Toyota.

Jim

PS. Let me tell you, when we busted down the door to Hilter’s bunker I was the third guy in and you’ll never believe...
Toyota is a fine brand, I own two of them.. But my store sells Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep and Fiat..
 
I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

IPFJ_lg.jpg


Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?
Hell no. Not one bit. If you were wearing badges, rank, ribbons, or tabs I'd say differently. You're good. Just don't try to give it to me, thing is ugly
 
Back when I was in the Congo fighting the Germans with the 1st ranger division. I saw some punk wearing a army wind breaker. I said "simper hooooah" he didn't respond so I pulled out my AR-16 with a bazooka on the bottom. And I yelled sound off GI-rine he then told me he bought it at a surplus store, so I threw a cobra at his face. I didn't want to waste a bazooka bullet. Next thing I know the 2nd gunnery SGTs from the 101st airborne company is tearing me a new butt hole because that was his son and i had to peel potatoes for two months in Leavenworth.

Damn lucky you didn't bump into Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner while you were over there...:D
 
I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

IPFJ_lg.jpg


Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?

It's offensive regardless if one has served.....

Stolen Valor isn't 'just' wearing shit you didn't earn (and I am teasing about the windbreaker); really, it's about getting something leveraged on lying about your service like bennies, free stuff etc.

I don't have a problem with non-military people wearing service clothing or moto clothing, and the convo should go something like this: "Hey, cool shirt, bro. Were you a Ranger/SEAL/cook?" "No, but my friend/brother/dad is/was."

I do have a problem with this: "Hey, cool shirt, bro. Were you a Ranger/SEAL/cook?" "Uh, yeah man." "Cool, what unit? When were you in?" "Uh, 5th Ranger Battalion...dates are kinda fuzzy now...." BUSTED!!

Tats? Don't get me started. I have run into more people outed as fakes who had service tats.
 
I know a wild man in North Murder Beach who is the funniest AH you'll ever meet. He has a large scar on his right knee and I once asked Mr. AH what happened. He said it happened during the Korean War. I said I didn't know you were in Korea. He said he wasn't, he fell off his bicycle during the Korean War.
 
I never served but have an army windbreaker from the surplus store. Bought it on a trip somewhere cold for like $10 when I didn't bring a jacket.

IPFJ_lg.jpg


Is this offensive to anyone that did serve?

I see a lot of grunt style clothing I like and want to wear. But almost feel like it's not made for someone who didn't serve. Like a mall cop type feeling.
 
Back when I was in the Congo fighting the Germans with the 1st ranger division. I saw some punk wearing a army wind breaker. I said "simper hooooah" he didn't respond so I pulled out my AR-16 with a bazooka on the bottom. And I yelled sound off GI-rine he then told me he bought it at a surplus store, so I threw a cobra at his face. I didn't want to waste a bazooka bullet. Next thing I know the 2nd gunnery SGTs from the 101st airborne company is tearing me a new butt hole because that was his son and i had to peel potatoes for two months in Leavenworth.

Hope you ain't judy chop him. Can't be goin' 'round ninjin' nobody don't need ninjin'.
 
Those Army PT windbreakers were a Godsend when they came out. So much better than the nasty grey sweats we had before, which sadly were a huge leg up from the old banana suits.

Gah! I HATED those windbreakers. Looked like something a 75 year old Granny / mall walker would wear. Fortunately most of the units I served with ditched them and we had unit sweatshirts (not hoodies). Seriously-- I wanted to burn that oversized trash bag with a zipper... Wearing that thing for a conditioning foot march was terrible. Wearing that thing going through an obstacle course? No-fecking-way.

Sorry man, other than the dumb-f-u-c-k-ing black beret fiasco, that was the worst uniform item the Army issued, in my opinion.
 
I don't care if people wear army, navy, marine surplus items. 90% of the stuff sold at surplus stores is sold to civilians. I don't even have an issue with the trend in the late 80's of girly men wearing tailored army cold weather jackets with bright shiny patches on them. I laughed at them but didn't care.

As said, stolen valor isn't wearing surplus. It is claiming to have served when you didn't. Having served but claiming honors and medals earned that you didn't and using any of this to receive things like discounts or upward career advancement.
 
I think wearing a shirt that says "Army" or the current grunt style clothing is fine. It just means you like it. No one complains when people wear NFL gear but don't play for a team.

@Chdamn is right, stolen valor is claiming you did something when you didn't.
 
I think one thing about Stolen Valor is how easy it is to actually do. I got one of those Condor "tactical jackets" a few years ago for Christmas, and its pretty awesome. Has pockets all over, comfortable, warm. A perfect NC winter coat. I do have a couple patches on it, a Flag and some other patch I cant recall at the moment, but not a unit patch or anything. I guess it does look "military" when I put it on, but as those of you who know me, >I< don't really bleed the "he is a vet vibe". So I wore it into a Sheetz one day to grab a drink and a hotdog and the guy behind the counter was like "Oh, hi, thank you for your service." it took me a second, and I was thinking "How drunk did I used to get that I 'served" this dude...sheesh..." then I realized he was talking about the military. I was like "Oh, no, I have never been in the service, just like the jacket."

I still like the jacket, and will continue to wear it, but I do sometimes get a "I don't want to be a douche and have people thinking I am a veteran" vibe from it.
 
I see a lot of grunt style clothing I like and want to wear. But almost feel like it's not made for someone who didn't serve. Like a mall cop type feeling.

I have a grunt style shirt. It was something the company gave to all the participants in a 3gun match that I shot at. The match was a benefit match for veteran charity.
I feel like they gave it to me to wear, so I wear it. I like it a lot.
But I guess it is very obvious it is a match shirt.
I also have a truespec hat in multicam I sometimes wear. It has the insignia of the Empire on it, lol. But I try not to buy or wear anything that even hints or looks like it could be actual US military. Because I respect it.

But I imagine most people, upon looking at me, assume I was a SEAL or Ranger or something, as I am that badass looking. Lol.
 
There's an older guy here in my town that claims to be the former CO of the 18th Airborne Corps. Retired Lt. General. First time I talked to him and he dropped that line, I thought "hey pretty damn cool." AS the conversation progressed, I quickly realized I'd been briefly hoodwinked. The few Generals I've interacted with all had a polished quality about them (I'm not saying they were all great individuals--I'm saying they all knew how to act the part of a CEO-level person). This guy had none of that.It irked me, but I thought no more of it....until he kept dropping the line every time he called/emailed me about something. Never in a direct attempt at trying to gain something from it, but still, putting it out there for all the world to oogle at it.

I got curious one day and Googled him. I figured something as important as that position would certainly ping. Nothing. no mentioned anywhere on Airborne websites (official and privately-run). I called the 18th Airborne Coprs office at Bragg and asked if they knew the name. Of course they'd never heard of him.

A couple weeks later, he must have really crossed someone's line because This Ain't Hell blog got ahold of him: https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=79170

I don't get it--the guy was a "real" Lt. Colonel, but still felt the need to embellish, and quite liberally so. I guess if you're gonna go big, swing for the fence.
 
There's an older guy here in my town that claims to be the former CO of the 18th Airborne Corps. Retired Lt. General. First time I talked to him and he dropped that line, I thought "hey pretty damn cool." AS the conversation progressed, I quickly realized I'd been briefly hoodwinked. The few Generals I've interacted with all had a polished quality about them (I'm not saying they were all great individuals--I'm saying they all knew how to act the part of a CEO-level person). This guy had none of that.It irked me, but I thought no more of it....until he kept dropping the line every time he called/emailed me about something. Never in a direct attempt at trying to gain something from it, but still, putting it out there for all the world to oogle at it.

I got curious one day and Googled him. I figured something as important as that position would certainly ping. Nothing. no mentioned anywhere on Airborne websites (official and privately-run). I called the 18th Airborne Coprs office at Bragg and asked if they knew the name. Of course they'd never heard of him.

A couple weeks later, he must have really crossed someone's line because This Ain't Hell blog got ahold of him: https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=79170

I don't get it--the guy was a "real" Lt. Colonel, but still felt the need to embellish, and quite liberally so. I guess if you're gonna go big, swing for the fence.

That's ballsy, lying about being a GO. I mean, Admiral Boorda was screwed by misinterpreting rules on how to wear a "V" device of a ribbon.

My general story, but this one turned out cool: about 3 months ago, I received a message to call a patient. He left his name and number. The name rang a bell; it was the same name of a former chairman/JCS. So I call and ask to speak with "Mr. XXXX," he replied, "speaking." I said, "you know, sir, you have the same name of a big 4-star Army general." He laughed, said "yup, guilty...that's me."

What should been a 2-minute convo turned into a 30 minute, fun, and enlightening conversation.
 
There's an older guy here in my town that claims to be the former CO of the 18th Airborne Corps. Retired Lt. General. First time I talked to him and he dropped that line, I thought "hey pretty damn cool." AS the conversation progressed, I quickly realized I'd been briefly hoodwinked. The few Generals I've interacted with all had a polished quality about them (I'm not saying they were all great individuals--I'm saying they all knew how to act the part of a CEO-level person). This guy had none of that.It irked me, but I thought no more of it....until he kept dropping the line every time he called/emailed me about something. Never in a direct attempt at trying to gain something from it, but still, putting it out there for all the world to oogle at it.

I got curious one day and Googled him. I figured something as important as that position would certainly ping. Nothing. no mentioned anywhere on Airborne websites (official and privately-run). I called the 18th Airborne Coprs office at Bragg and asked if they knew the name. Of course they'd never heard of him.

A couple weeks later, he must have really crossed someone's line because This Ain't Hell blog got ahold of him: https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=79170

I don't get it--the guy was a "real" Lt. Colonel, but still felt the need to embellish, and quite liberally so. I guess if you're gonna go big, swing for the fence.


What a loser.

Mint Hill? That was a flag right there...all the retired Corps GOs live out around Southern Pines / Pinehurst...hell, even Odierno built a house out there and retired there in '15.

NOTE: Allowances should be made for occasional profanity use in the Veterans Corner...just sayin.
 
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I think I might have experienced it and it made me a little bit upset. I work at a car dealership and I get a number of old guys in here sporting these colorful Vietnam War veteran baseball caps. Just the other day, I had one of these guys at my desk and I will give them the military discount . But this time during check out during small talk, I blurted out MOS ? He responded with " Huh", I asked him again " What was your MOS ?" he still had no idea what I was talking about and I left it at that. I see a lot of these guys wearing these hats now a days, Know what's funny ? When I asked them their MOS,they all say " Special Forces, Recon, LRRP or a Ranger" Ive yet to meet a cook or a truck driver that was in Nam.
Me, 68 F, aircraft electrician, attack helicopter unit 1975-1980 based in Germany. The closest I got was patching bullet holes in helis from the Soviets when we flew to close to East Germany.
11ACR?
 
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