# Fake Marine in full uniform at his High School reunion is found out by classmate & arrested With pic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292 "2009-11-12T06:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/1 "2009-11-12T06:52:53Z")
[Per this story](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/1111091medals1.html) This guy has more medals than… well anybody. > [@](#): > > NOVEMBER 11–Just in time for Veteran’s Day, a California bank employee is facing federal charges for allegedly masquerading as a decorated Marine and wearing a host of bogus medals, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Navy Cross. Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to surrender tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California (Burton, who has never served in the armed forces, was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him with the unauthorized wearing of military medals). According to a search warrant affidavit, Burton’s charade was discovered after an actual Navy commander, Colleen Salonga, ran into Burton at their high school reunion. Online records indicate that Salonga and Burton graduated in 1988 from Alhambra High School in Martinez, California (and that their class’s 20th reunion was last October). Suspicious that Burton was playing dress up, Salonga asked to take a photo with him. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/2 "2009-11-12T07:37:19Z")
Guy’s a total douchebag idiot, but i’ll say again what i’ve said before: The simple act of falsely passing oneself off as a veteran in social settings should not be a criminal offense. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/3 "2009-11-12T10:28:18Z")
I just feel kind of sad that he feels his real life is so dull that he needs to pretend to be something he’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/4 "2009-11-12T10:31:39Z")
I kinda just feel sorry for him too. He should have just joined the services, but now he’ll never be able to (right? - criminal conviction means no military service doesn’t it?). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/5 "2009-11-12T13:59:57Z")
Interestingly, in picture #1, he’s an officer… can’t quite see what rank, but he has no chevrons on his sleeves, as he would as an enlisted Marine. In picture 32, he’s an E-9, Master Gunnery Sergeant. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/6 "2009-11-12T14:03:56Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The simple act of falsely passing oneself off as a veteran in social settings should not be a criminal offense. I was wondering about this. On Halloween, I saw geeky Fry’s workers dressed in BDUs, who otherwise looked like the closest thing they’ve often to military service was playing _America’s Army_ a few years ago. Was that breaking the law? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/7 "2009-11-12T14:07:25Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I kinda just feel sorry for him too. He should have just joined the services, but now he’ll never be able to (right? - criminal conviction means no military service doesn’t it?). No, but being 39 does. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/8 "2009-11-12T14:07:59Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Guy’s a total douchebag idiot, but i’ll say again what i’ve said before: > > The simple act of falsely passing oneself off as a veteran in social settings should not be a criminal offense. I don’t think it is. According to 18 U.S.C. § 704, is IS a criminal violation to wear a decoration or medal when you haven’t been awarded it. If he had showed up in civilian clothes and claimed to have been a Marine, I don’t think that’s a crime. He showed up wearing the dress uniform and sporting rows of decorations and honors. That was the crime. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/9 "2009-11-12T14:10:47Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Guy’s a total douchebag idiot, but i’ll say again what i’ve said before: > > The simple act of falsely passing oneself off as a veteran in social settings should not be a criminal offense. The act of passing one off as a veteran in social settings is not the crime here. The crime is [claiming the Navy Cross, Purple Heart, etc.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005) That I have no problem with. The guy can claim he’s Special Agent Orange for all I care, but he disgraces himself and dishonors others who actually earned the medals by being pretentious enough to think he has the right to wear them. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/10 "2009-11-12T14:21:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Interestingly, in picture #1, he’s an officer… can’t quite see what rank, but he has no chevrons on his sleeves, as he would as an enlisted Marine. In picture 32, he’s an E-9, Master Gunnery Sergeant. In the first picture he was passing himself off as a Lieutenant Colonel (silver oak leaves). The second one was what you said, a Master Gunnery Sergeant. Pretty good progress in either case, yes? More than anything else that’s what gives these phonies away. There is no way they could have attained the rank that they have in the time period that they claim to have done so. The services all have time in service/time in grade requirements. These guys upsell their “service” and make themselves immediately transparent to people who are in the military. If they’d simply claim Sergeant or Lieutenant they’d almost certainly never get caught, but the same ego that makes them invent their careers out of nothing compels them to exaggerate everything about it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/11 "2009-11-12T14:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > If they’d simply claim Sergeant or Lieutenant they’d almost certainly never get caught, but the same ego that makes them invent their careers out of nothing compels them to exaggerate everything about it. Probably true among civilians but I’m guessing Burton wouldn’t have been able to carry off an imposture as even an ordinary Marine with a genuine officer like Commander Salonga. ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/12 "2009-11-12T15:20:26Z")
More than anything else the thing that jumped out to me in both of those pictures… that guy looks way to soft. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/13 "2009-11-12T16:39:02Z")
It’s the eyes and the mouth. A modern Marine in uniform sees a camera and automatically assumes a boot-camp expression: eyes dead, brows down, lower lip thrust. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/14 "2009-11-12T17:15:29Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > It’s the eyes and the mouth. A modern Marine in uniform sees a camera and automatically assumes a boot-camp expression: eyes dead, brows down, lower lip thrust. Certainly that’s the most common, but there are occasionally the [awkward smiles](https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=2078&PERSON_TYPE=General) and the [fuck it, I’m a general who lives in Hawaii](https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=108&PERSON_TYPE=General) expressions. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/15 "2009-11-12T17:20:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t think it is. > > According to 18 U.S.C. § 704, is IS a criminal violation to wear a decoration or medal when you haven’t been awarded it. > > If he had showed up in civilian clothes and claimed to have been a Marine, I don’t think that’s a crime. > > He showed up wearing the dress uniform and sporting rows of decorations and honors. That was the crime. > [@MsRobyn](#): > > The act of passing one off as a veteran in social settings is not the crime here. The crime is [claiming the Navy Cross, Purple Heart, etc.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005) > > That I have no problem with. The guy can claim he’s Special Agent Orange for all I care, but he disgraces himself and dishonors others who actually earned the medals by being pretentious enough to think he has the right to wear them. I stand corrected on the legal issue. I amend my position as follows: wearing a bunch of metal on one’s chest should not be a criminal offense. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/16 "2009-11-12T17:26:45Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I stand corrected on the legal issue. > > I amend my position as follows: wearing a bunch of metal on one’s chest should not be a criminal offense. It’s not the metal, it’s what it represents. He’s claiming honors that others have suffered and died for. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/17 "2009-11-12T17:27:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > According to 18 U.S.C. § 704, is IS a criminal violation to wear a decoration or medal when you haven’t been awarded it. Interesting. Now, before I tell the following tale keep in mind both my friend and I are Canadian and live in Canada, so our mileage may vary, but I don’t think the law would be that different here. Yesterday (Remembrance Day - Veterans Day to you Yanks) I met a friend of mine at a restaurant for brunch. When I saw him, he had a couple of war medals on his jacket, right below his poppy. This immediately jumped out at me, as I know he’s never been in the war (heck, he’s half Mennonite and therefore a pacifist), so I asked him about it. He proceeded to tell me how they were his father’s (obviously not the Mennonite side of his family) that he won in WWII. My friend wanted the medals after his dad passed on to remember him by, and so was wearing them on Remembrance Day in his honour. Now, besides the difference in locale, the other difference here is that my friend wasn’t passing them off as _his_ medals, but was freely telling me they were his dad’s (and using them as a conversation starter). However, the post made me think that if a random person saw my friend on the street, without talking to him, they might think they are his. So, if this happened in the US, would what my friend did be considered a criminal act? (Although, I’m thinking that, since it wasn’t even on a military uniform, but on his ordinary jacket, the most he’d get was a talking to from the police officer about what the law is). Those of us that have medals from deceased serving relatives, are we doomed never to wear them in public and keep them in a container? (My link to that sentence - my middle name is named after my dad’s brother, who was killed in WWII. My dad said that since I got his brother’s name when I was born, the medals would have been passed down to me, but his mother (my grandmother) wanted to be buried with them, and she passed away three years before I was born … ) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/18 "2009-11-12T17:29:44Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > It’s not the metal, it’s what it represents. > > He’s claiming honors that others have suffered and died for. And that makes him a complete douchebag, as i’ve already said. He deserves all the scorn and ridicule that he is getting. It still shouldn’t be a criminal offense. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/19 "2009-11-12T17:48:29Z")
Relatives’ medals - depends which side you wear them on. In some countries it is acceptable to do this (I wouldn’t, though). If I saw WW2 medals on someone who is obviously much too young, I’d assume this was what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292/20 "2009-11-12T18:16:23Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > And that makes him a complete douchebag, as i’ve already said. He deserves all the scorn and ridicule that he is getting. > > It still shouldn’t be a criminal offense. I’m inclined to agree, at least in this case. It’s just so damned pathetic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-marine-in-full-uniform-at-his-high-school-reunion-is-found-out-by-classmate-arrested-with-pic/517292.md?page=2)