"Ever run into fake soldiers?" Topic

NOT on the internet where everyone is a navy SEAL CEO rockstar with a Canadian stripper girlfriend but face to face, in real life?

When I was at the soul-less corporation I used to work at, I had a guy report to me for a while who, put politely, had the gentle grace of Jabba the Hutt.

He initially made some remarks about being in the military at one point.
As time went on,the stories got more and more interesting. Apparently he used to parachute into communist Poland to assassinate people.
Sure sure.

Another guy was a pretty typical blowhard about everything he did (and an Amway drone on top of it all). He was apparently "in the Special Forces" (which turned out to be national guard service, nothing to be ashamed of but apparently not enough for him).

Any funny (or sad) stories to share?

Not to share – no!

If you ever spent a day in the actual military, these blowhard's BS is about as hard to pick up on as a feather in the palm of your hand

I had a guy tell me he was in the Special Forces. I then asked him what his second language was. He replied he didn't make it that far.

I had an Executive Producer who claimed to be an Apache Pilot. In reality he was barely a mechanic.

There was a guy who lived in my town called Charlie. Charlie had never been in the armed forces, not even the Home Guard!

However he used to tell strangers in the local pubs how he'd been at Dunkirk and how he volunteered to cover his buddies as they headed for the beaches. He would say how a street dropped down towards the beaches, and how he, armed with a Bren Gun, stood at the bottom of this street shooting the Germans as they came over the top of the hill. His body count was so high, the Germans finally had to get ladders to try to climb over the bodies of their dead comrades.

And then there was the time when he was standing on a haystack to get a better view, when a "German Messerschmitt" (just in case anyone might have thought it was a British Messerschmitt) came in so low, he had to take his helmet off to avoid being hit!

I don't think he told these tales to make himself out to be a big man or hero, just to get the odd free drink.

OK Here's one for the books.
I was interviewing a guy just before his felony sentencing.
He actually lied about getting a dishonorable discharge from USMC
He never served at all – even though it was obvious – I checked with the Dept of Navy. Here are the "holes" in his story.
1) Couldn't name his outfit (just Bravo company)
2) Couldn't name what country he was in (just "sand box")
3) Couldn't name first drill sergeant
4) Didn't know USMC birthday
5) Didn't know what "pig" or "hog" meant (claimed he was a sniper)
6) Claimed his personnel records destroyed in fire
7) Said he was USMC "Special forces"

Now why anyone would lie about a dishonorable discharge is still an unsolved mystery

I feel like not even coming up with a country you supposedly went to war in, is the least you could do, if you were lying about your military service :)

I mean, you're already a crook, let's not add lazy to it!

I used to play 40k with a guy who said he was a marine. I never spoke much to him about his service (becuase he was a very annoying person) but a mutual friend said he was told by the former Marine that he still had his M16 from when he was in the Marines. Granted my 'service' was short and ended after bootcamp, but I do know that there is virtually no way you're going to manage to smuggle out a rifle when you get discharged. It made me wonder if he was ever in the Marines. In the same group was a fellow who served in both the Marines and the Army, who didn't seem to suspect anything about the other Marine. Without really caring about the answer I just chalk up the confusion to my friend being told he had AN M-16 (clone) and don't bother to think about it further.

On the same subject though I heard a story about a fellow claiming to have been in the military and dishonorably discharged for 'war crimes' and then having been proven to be lying. I was always fascinated at the fact that the guy was lying about being dishonorably discharged, and not making up some story about being a war hero.

I also used to play a lot of paintball (wasn't good, just enjoyed it) and every once in awhile there would be someone who would drop hints about their military service waiting for someone to ask questions, my favorite being the fellow who bragged that he kitted out his paintball marker to be the same weight as his M4 and it was just as accurate.

In my experience the people I know who have been in the military and were deployed to Afghanistan of Iraq are never as eager to talk about it…

Yes, and most were happy to quickly throw the lie out in front of you. Usually I just give them and "Oh really" and politely move on as it is a waste of my time to expend any on them.

My grandmothers third husband – had a real military record, and didn't want to talk about it..

Eventually we found out why..

He was employed as a pioneer, in the UK and after D – Day was shipped to France to do digging and Mining duties.

He thought sod this for a lark and got back on a ship to England.. and when he was eventually caught got the option of spending time in a military jail, or longer in a military jail. (he took the longer option – hoping war would be over before he came out)

My Grandfather (fathers side) did have some war stories – but he only told them to me the day before he died.. I wish I had time to ask for more information.. but he had already seen hell, and clearly didn't want to talk about it.

I don't like fake soldiers.. I have found one or two in my time..

I routinely lie about having fought in the Vietnam War. I am in my early 40s.

In reality I served in the army (1990s) but has never seen action, although a rumour of me charging a tank on foot during an exercise somehow circulated in my old unit.

Every once in a while these guys get caught out – attending ceremonies in "uniform" – and every time I just think it's sad. Some just lose their and want these guys charged with a crime ("impersonating a soldier") and all I can think is, they need a shrink, not a jailer.

I never served, but grew up son of a 20 year army vet.

I have plenty of friends who were in Nam, and the guys that saw the most combat were the quietest about it. One of my best friends was home two years before he ever opened up about it and said he didn't like talking about it as he was still having nightmares about his time over there.

Same thing with my Father in Law as he has all daughters and none of them new how much combat he saw in WWII as he never told them about it. An extremely religious man, I think that's what got him threw it. Heavily decorated vet 2 Silver stars, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart, part of the 35th Infantry Division.

So I have never believed anyone who boast about their combat experience.

Worked with a young man in the 80's who talked about being in Vietnam. He said he was there in 76.

It just wasn't worth the effort to call bull****.

"In my experience the people I know who have been in the military and were deployed to Afghanistan of Iraq are never as eager to talk about it…"

Not so much true any more with this generation. With more and more education about PTSD, they are told its better to talk about it, than keeping it bottled up. A friend of mines father was a LRRP in vietnam. He not only talked aobut it all the time. But showed us pictures while out on patrol. Would show us kids his medals and citations he earned while in vietnam. Now my stepfather was infantry in ww-II. he rarely talked about it unless asked. When he was in his mid-50's he started having issues. Doctor told him he needed to talk about it, not bottle it up. So he started talking about it. My stepfather said the main reason why he never talked about it, is because people looked at him like he was either nuts or was full of . So after being home for a couple years, he stopped talking about it.

So the next time someone is telling a war story, they could be a poser or they just might be a vet wanting to vent! For me, I talk to people who served cause they have gone through the same thing and know how it is.

Ha, I was on the balcony, so were 11,797 others!!

Tally Ho!

I worked with a bloke in the sixties who had a magnificent handlebar moustache and a very plummy accent (well, it counted as plummy in Liverpool). He claimed to have been a squadron leader in the Battle of Britain flying Spitfires (naturally). The silly thing was, there were others working there who knew him in the war and thus knew that. although he was in the RAF, he actually spent all his time driving supply trucks from the docks to depots.

I suppose the thing about him was that he was an amusing charcter and so it was possible to forgive him a lot.

Doug

Cuchulainn – I wonder why your friend felt the need to fantasise a WW2 combat record when he could simply have bedazzled pub-goers with tales of his pivotal role in the Vietnam War.

A few years ago, I was team medic on a Royal British Legion wheelchair record attempt, cycling beside the wheelchair users from Land's End to John O'Groats.

In Devon, we had a pit stop in a pub car park.
While the wheelchairs were being seen to, I was enjoying a swift half with one of the support vehicle drivers. We were approached by a guy in his mid-forties, built like he was smuggling a beach ball up his jumper.
He said he'd seen the RBL badging on the vehicles, and how it was a cause dear to his heart, him being a long term regular and all.

We didn't bite, but unbidden he started to expound on his subject, how he was the backbone of 2 Para.
My companion observed that he was a long way from his unit (2 Para being part of Op. TELIC at the time).
Without missing a beat, he explained how he'd recently left, but how the Regiment wanted him back, and wheels were in motion to expedite his return.
(We refrained from asking what happened to his Category A reserve liability.)

It was fish in a barrel, but I couldn't resist asking what his role was in 2 Para.
No hesitation: "Air-mobile armour".
We were speechless. Taking our silence for ignorance, he added helpfully: "Tanks".

I don't know what he was thinking: WWII-style glider-borne tanks maybe, or US-style LAPES-deployed vehicles.
Either way, pure fantasy for the Parachute Regiment in the noughties.

He'd moved on to tales of bawdy barrack-room japes when we saw the team was ready to get back on the road, and made to leave.
As we did so, I couldn't resist referring to my companion by his rank: "Staff Sergeant Harrison". (Queen's Own Yeomanry)
The colour drained from our new friend's face as he realised we'd known from the start he was a complete Walt.

I think people play so much Call of Duty, they actually feel they served. LOL.

The most convincing one was someone I actually knew who got himself kitted out as an officer marched into the barracks and comandeered some trucks and drivers and drove off for Scotland with loads of marquees. Bought the lads a pint, sold the tents, and sent them home.

He was a very convincing conman. The last I heard of him he was being an Arab Sheikh robes and all. His military service was limited to two weeks in the FFL when he was 15. His family got him back.

He was tried and convicted for the comandeering episode and I have to say I was amazed he did not come out of the Court with a promotion.

He should have set up a school for Walts it would have kept him out of prison.

Can't recall meeting any fake soldiers and the real ones I know – including a gunner who landed at D-Day with the 19th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, a platoon commander from the 101st Airborne who served in Vietnam and a Special Forces medic who did two tours in Vietnam – and none of them shared any of their experience as soldiers until we had become good friends – certainly not with strangers at public events

I served but never in combat. I was recently shocked when I was called by the government(Canadian) can't recall which specific department. About a WW II medal I was entitled to. I was in total shock as was not born during WW II. Being honest I quickly explained they had the wrong person. But now like to tell about the WW II medal I almost got.

In university I had a buddy who somehow ended up sharing a townhouse with three very attractive female students, so I spent a lot of time there… One of the girls had an American boyfriend (this was in Canada) who claimed to be Special Forces, and my buddy and I once spent an evening out with him listening to his war stories from the late 80s and early 90s. As the night went on, we got more and more suspicious about how much he was telling us – not so much because we were expecting PTSD-like reluctance (which we were too) but because we didn't think a SF guy would reveal that much about their activities.

I also knew a guy in high school who told Rambo-esque stories about his father in Vietnam.

I have been friends that have served and one does like to talk about his time in Iraq, but never combat episodes just base stuff. He would get home and then pull every string he could to go back. Another friend served in Vietnam as an MP, and all he has ever said is he shouldn't have been given a rifle when he was 18.

I worked with a guy for several years who claimed he'd worked on "top secret" projects while in the Navy. He'd also been involved in the USS Liberty incident and served in just about every hot spot of the late 60's and early 70's. A few times, I asked him about ports he claimed to have visited, places that I knew well from my civilian travels. He always responded "we only pulled in at night to refuel and weren't allowed on shore due to our high security clearances".
Recently, he's been posting on Facebook about his music career during the same period. He must have had those gigs in-between missions to save the Free World.

I used to meet an 'ex Dambuster' every Friday night in Tesco, while on my way home in uniform. He'd introduce himself every time as if he hadn't met me before:

link

Being a trusting soul, the first time I met him, I took what he was telling me as the truth. I then just mentioned in passing that RAF Scampton was one RAF Station I'd never been to. He looked at me blankly – he'd never heard of Scampton… Ah…

Here's everything you ever needed to know about the species, courtesy of ARRSE (The ARmy Rumour Service):

arrse.co.uk/wiki/Walts

Nick,

I WAS the balcony (covert recce).

I knew a guy who was 'almost a semi-pro paintballer' once.

I'm with Crispy on this, I'd just think 'How sad this person has to lie about their life' and not give it a second thought after that. I'd feel that way no matter what someone lied about though.

Never ran into one but did watch a vid of two US vets 'outing a fraud. It was so cringe worthy watching this guy squirm. it was like viewing a crash, you want to look away but can't.

I've run into a few here and there. Never called on out on it.

Check out "Stolen Valor" Review linked.

warbirdforum.com/valor.htm

I had a friend who passed away recently – service at Arlington this Friday. He never spoke about what he did other than that he was in Psy-Ops in Bosnia and Afghanistan. He couldn't talk about what he was into either as soldier or civilian though he would regularly make trips out of the country. At his funeral service at our church his entire unit came from all over and a 3-star and 1-star came and spoke about him as a person and what great service he performed. Even afterwards nothing about what they did.

My dad also served in Vietnam, but it is hard to get him to talk about what he went through. Granted he worked in a MASH unit, but he was there during TET and went with soldiers up to Hue shortly after the major fighting, so it was an eventful time to be there.

Apparently there's a bloke on here called foxweasel who claims he was a JTAC in the RAF Regt, big time Walt😁. Anyway, I was in the room taking pictures of them coming through the window from the balcony!

A sensitive area. If I met any I would be likely to become verbally abusive. If I were younger, I would be tempted to beat the crap at them.
After having to listen to the Vietnam protestors and having eggs thrown at me during Veteran's Day parades, it is still a sensitive subject.
They should be castrated or at the very least flogged.

My folks' nextdoor neighbor claimed to have served as a tanker in Vietnam. He is a paranoid control freak who enjoys jerking people around for his amusement. If a telemarketer calls, he will invariably make them hang up on HIM, being at first agreeable, but then asking stupid, pointless questions for fifteen, thirty minutes. Seriously, I've witnessed this.

Anyway, he claimed to have to deal with "little, green, highly-venomous snakes" all the time in 'Nam, that would crawl up on the tank, or around the eaves of buildings, or whatever.

One day, he calls the house and tells me there is a huge, dangerous snake (I want to say he identified a species, but I can't remember now) in the bushes in his front yard. I grabbed a rifle, and went to see. It was a five-foot white oak snake- a harmless bird and vermin-eater. I pinned him down to avoid being bitten (which still hurts, venom or no) and carried it over and tossed in the woods behind our house.

It was like I was a circus performer to this guy. By then I had not only serious doubts as to whether he has ANY dealings with snakes, but firearms as well.

I wished my dad had tried to interrogate him on his service (he was in the air force in the early sixties), but he never did.

While visiting Washington DC with my wife and walking past the Supreme Court building, there was an individual begging on the steps with a sign saying he was a Vietnam Vet. I told my wife that he looked way younger than me and I wasn't in Vietnam.

There was an individual that use to boast that he was the rear gunner on the lead aircraft during the low level Polesti raid. At a function he was brought over and introduced to Col. Kane, who was the raid commander and pilot of the lead aircraft. The poser at least had the respect to shake the Col. hand and introduce himself as the biggest liar east of the Mississippi.

Worked with a young man in the 80's who talked about being in Vietnam. He said he was there in 76

Now don't be so hasty. Do you know what side he was on?

there's quite a few where I live, mostly Militamen and "Modern Military Reenactors"

So I have never believed anyone who boast about their combat experience.

Ah, but you must not have met one of the very rare breed who actually enjoy killing. I had a friend who stated flatly that he enjoyed it, and had a handful of the very same stories to tell about his favorite killing. He inevitably finished retelling his stories (not to us, but to the "new guy") by relating that he had been wounded out of the Rangers, first by taking five rounds of hard point rifle fire through his back, with three rounds managing to exit below his brisket. He was not conscious when the grenade went off nearby and threw him "twenty feet". He was also not conscious when an orderly in the morgue noticed that he wasn't quite dead. An emergency operation followed. Then returned consciousness. Then over a month later he phoned home and made his mom faint, as his parents had already received the news that he was killed. I probably heard him relate his stories a dozen times over several decades, and he enjoyed telling them, and they were always the same. No variation worth mentioning. Sometimes he recalled a detail, sometimes he omitted a detail, and sometimes he didn't have the opportunity to get into a full-blown retelling and had to be satisfied with a short version. But he truly enjoyed his two tours to Nam in the Rangers and volunteered for both. He's the only vet I've ever encountered in over half a century who liked what he did and liked talking about it. Oh, and a rehash of how he was presumed dead was followed by pulling up his shirt and showing his back, then turning and showing his front scars. The three exit wounds were clear as day, and the entry wound was just a mass of scar tissue. He should have died. And failing that, he should have been paralyzed from the middle of his back down. Instead he got "lucky" and his spinal chord was missed. The way he died, was overeating until he could hardly move and wouldn't leave his apartment out of shame. But otherwise, this man had no physical fear of anything, biffed on his Ninja motorcycle several times that I knew off, at speed, and nearly blew his foot off with a .30-06 getting down out of a tree stand deer hunting. His limping got more pronounced as he got older and had more life-threatening accidents. The last time I saw him was in my gameroom, after which he took some GW dwarves to paint up for our next battle in our fantasy campaign. He left me with a copy of "Wooden Ships and Iron Men", and never returned. Two years later he was dead….

It's too bad the US has been at war nearly every decade of my life, or this parade of fake veterans would dry up over time, as the REAL vets went to their rest. But now with all the more recent conflicts, there's always going to be service vets around here during my lifetime. So the fakers will still be able to stay in business.

See, this is a problem people in, say, Sweden don't face. Not combat vets, anyway.

I arrested a guy creating a disturbance in a movie theater, standing and screaming and waving his arms. He and his girlfriend said it was PTSD he got from his time in Vietnam. I checked his ID and he was younger than me and I am too young to have served there. Nice try. I made sure to rat him out to his girlfriend he was never there.

I served between Vietnam and Iraq and never in any operational capacity, reserve duty only. I have too much respect for those I know who did serve in combat to tolerate the stolen valor types.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Years ago, while I was stationed at Torrejon AB, Spain, I encountered a guy who started coming to our gaming club.

Until the day he recounted, as his own experiences, the plot of a teen oriented novel written by W.E. Butterworth (he of W.E.B. Griffin fame). It was about the recovery and rebuilding, followed by use of, a B-17 from the ice of Greenland.

I actually let him hang himself, by finishing the story for him, then naming the book and author.

Whitestreak, I had a very similar situation occur years ago. This blowhard in my dorm was telling me he was a marine sniper in Vietnam (I was pretty sure he was a couple of years younger than me and I was too young to serve in Nam). Then he goes on to tell me about how he killed a North Vietnamese general quoting the event chapter and verse from a book I had just finished reading a few days before. After naming the book and author as well, he spent the rest of his time there avoiding me

I served between Vietnam and Iraq and never in any operational capacity, reserve duty only. I have too much respect for those I know who did serve in combat to tolerate the stolen valor types.

Hear, hear
Plus I was in the National Guard so even if I had stayed in till Gulf War I, there was almost no chance I would have served there. I had a lot of buddies who were in the guard then who begged and pleaded for the chance to go but they didn't need the reserve component for that one.

This one lady I sometimes see on the bus. A bit of a con artist in general. Claimed to have been an MP at Ft. Polk in Louisiana ca. 1980's. I've been mistaken for a veteran a few times myself. I've set them straight on that. But I do admire the legit real deal.

Whitestreak,

When were you at TJ? That was my first duty assignment (1978-80). I was a bomb loader in MMS.

Years back a guy at work was full of tales. A bunch of us at lunch and his tales of Saigon were going. My buddy Ken who was quiet about his service (4th Division) said he didn't recall any such thing. The guy had no idea he'd been there and asked him how often he'd been to Saigon. Ken said about once a month for 12 months. The guy went silent.

"the hat"
with Vietnam becoming "nostalgic", i am seeing more and more of the vietnam vet baseball caps. as always, i ask who were you with or the usual when, where, who's your Daddy. last year i saw a guy in a local big box store, looked about my age, lot shorter,lot grayer, and a lot heavier than i am. asked the question…."i was a navy seal, i shot 20 generals".
i stood there a few seconds, dumbfounded and just shook my head. another one, having my tires replaced, one of the owners Dad is a retired Navy corpsman. again, 'nother hat comes in. i ask this one same thing. navy….danang. try to pry, answers evasive. on leaving, he wishes me "welcome BACK". the guy probably heard both of us laughing hysterically after he walked out the door.

i admit, i wear my hat too, three times a year. as well as my red Once a Marine cap during cold weather, and if it rains and is really crappy, an old utility cover.

seems this is happening more and more RECENTLY. only ran into two wannabees from 1980-1992. shows to go you,,,,back then it wasnt so "cool". there have been some others who were questionable. like the posts above, when the tales get taller, you know.

have to add a "tale" of my own to this, even if its a little OT. its 1966, i am a college sophmore, madly in love/heat with this great looking girl. talking marriage and all that stuff! her Dad was a "great white hunter"(not that i disapprove, but eat what you kill and no need to brag about it). served in those dangerous years of 46-48, ready to go at a minute.
meeting of the families. potential father in law asks my Dad,
Newman, you're an "X-GI", you got to be a pretty good hunter. do you hunt?
to which, an answer, i still chuckle about, smile and can hear clear as a bell right now.
"only if its hunting me back"
room got kinda quiet and the wimmenfolk as they specialize deftly changed the subject and location. Dad was in the Battle of the Bulge.
a year later, partied out of school and was in the Marines.
funny,,,,got a dear John from my true love. when i got home, saw her. not too friendly and found out later that her brother and dad encouraged her not to wait. hurt like heck at the time.

but then again. in time…all things turn out for the best.
Glad she did.