"Stolen Valor"

[Normanton Lad]

Has anyone watched this guy exposing people who lie about being Navy Seals? If it was just lonely people making up stories it would be sad and unwatchable but most of these liars are trying to make money from their lies.

Stolen Valor

These “stolen valor” frauds make me sick. My brother served in uniform and he’s never been the same person since. Sometimes he just sits there with his thousand mile stare thinking about the horror of it all. He’s been to some horrible places and seen horrible things. He did twenty years and he claims he never misdelivered a single letter.

Nearly every old Scotsman I’ve chatted to will have been at the famous Real Madrid European Cup Final in 1960 at Hampden Park. They have told this lie so often that they’ve come to think it was true. Most of us tell lies to ourselves. I can remember reading Denis Law claiming that he spent much of his childhood in Aberdeen barefoot because his family couldn’t afford shoes. An Aberdonian the same age as Law told me that was nuts. If you went barefoot in Aberdeen you’d lose your feet with frostbite.

One guy in a pub about fifteen years ago told me he played for Wimbledon and he was on the bench for the Liverpool Cup Final in 1988. I didn’t want to embarrass him by asking his name – I know the names of most players from around that time – but I looked up the subs later and he certainly wasn’t one of them. Have you ever met any “stolen valor” footballers?

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

Ah, yes. Walter Mitty's as they are known in the UK. The village my wife used to live in had a bloke who would do an 'I used to be a Royal Marine Commando' routine in the local pubs to try and scrounge money and drinks off people. I went in there on leave one Christmas back when I was in the forces and asked him a few questions he couldn't answer. He soon cleared off.

[AndyinLiverpool]

8 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Ah, yes. Walter Mitty's as they are known in the UK. The village my wife used to live in had a bloke who would do an 'I used to be a Royal Marine Commando' routine in the local pubs to try and scrounge money and drinks off people. I went in there on leave one Christmas back when I was in the forces and asked him a few questions he couldn't answer. He soon cleared off.

Personally, I would say anything for a free drink.

I don't think I really get the stolen valour thing. It's American, right? (from the spelling). Does anyone here gain anything by pretending to have been in the Royal Marines or some such entity? We are not as martial a society as the US, so it just seems a bit crap doing that in this country.

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

It's not a huge deal for most people in the UK, but within the forces it is looked down on contemptuously. I didn't go through the training I went through to earn my place in the forces for some no mark down the pub to pretend he's done it to scrounge off people, nor would I ever use my former service in such a way.

I'm immensely proud of my time in the army, to see someone take the piss like that angers me.

Edited July 24 by JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta

[Normanton Lad]

I read somewhere that there are 300 fake Navy Seals for every real one. I think some of these people really believe they were Navy Seals. They are just nutters, but there are some who are just trying to make themselves look more interesting to women. There’s no doubt that a Navy Seal is a better catch than a guy who just has a boring job in a call centre. In fact, I would guess that you would stand more chance of getting a girlfriend if you said you were a bank robber rather than someone with a run of the mill job.

Some say that a real warrior would just keep it to himself, but the soldiers I’ve known have not been unduly modest about their accomplishments. I think they are right. As the Bible tells us : Don’t hide your light under a bushel.

One man I talk to most days had a very senior rank in the Army and then he reached the top in another field. He’s had many private conversations with Prime Ministers and other eminent people and he is not modest about this. How do I know he’s not making it up? The evidence is online and in old newspapers. But, then again, there is the slight possibility that he could be impersonating that distinguished ex-Army man. That was the case about 20 years ago when a man pretended to be an ex-Wolves or WBA player with the same name as him. I can’t remember the player’s name now, but he was just an average 1950s player. The fake player even gave public talks about his pretend career. In the end, the real player got wind of it and confronted the imposter. It all ended up in the papers for us to laugh or cringe at.

[ramit]

I served in the Icelandic navy, I served meat, fish, potatoes, pudding, there were three of us, I was the first mess boy

Okay, coast guard, but still