# Is this guy guilty of stolen valor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136 "2019-10-22T14:48:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/21 "2019-10-22T18:16:58Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Wasn’t in the service and haven’t seen any John Wayne movies, but I’ve certainly heard of the Seabees. ISTM they had a prominent role in the success of the Allied effort during WW2, and were mentioned in history lessons about that war. Not only that, they had a couple of hit songs, including “Staying Alive”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/22 "2019-10-22T18:17:56Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not only that, they had a couple of hit songs, including “Staying Alive”. :D:D Thanks for that laugh. Brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/23 "2019-10-22T19:11:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I guess I’m odd. I’m an American civil engineer and didn’t know what Seabees were. My dad was a SeaBee. During the days prior to WWI. So he spent plenty of time on ships dozing airstrips BEFORE the war got there. And who could forget the Duke as “Wedge.” As they go over thhe top - “Let’s show them what construction engineers can do!” Yeah - the guy in the OP sounds like a BSer. I often wonder why people choose to sell a particular line of BS if they can’t even withstand the most basic inquiry. Hell - read a book! I am not military, but my impression is that you are right - no one who was in forgets their unit and other prominent units. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/24 "2019-10-22T19:14:57Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My dad was a SeaBee. During the days prior to WWI. So he spent plenty of time on ships dozing airstrips BEFORE the war got there. Dude how old are you?! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/25 "2019-10-22T19:22:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I didn’t say he couldn’t have heard of it, but a lot of people could miss the rare mention of it in modern times, and a lot of people have forgotten everything they learned about history, often right after the class is over. I happen to also recall one of the characters in the comic strip Gasoline Alley enlisted in the Seabees, and I’ve heard mention of the group in the news about modern conflicts, but I still wouldn’t expect that many people to have noticed. My younger brother is a Civil Engineer and I wouldn’t just assume he had heard of the Seabees. > > I never was in a history class that covered WWII, at best we’d get up to WWI before the end of the school year. Let’s not forget Ward Cleaver, father to The Beaver. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/26 "2019-10-22T19:25:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I was going to post that “anyone who has seen John Wayne movies knows what the Sea Bees are.” I was going to say something similar. In fact, I would have assumed anyone claiming they were in the SeaBees recently was bullshitting because it was an “olde tymie” unit that’s called something else now and they were just parroting something they saw in an old movie. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/27 "2019-10-22T19:32:35Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > … > > 1. Nobody who has actually spent time in the service forgets what units he/she was attached to, or is ignorant of other units… Maybe if one spends a career, as you use in your second point, but I was ignorant of many units outside of my own in the USAF and only knew of my Navy and Army counterparts because we shared training. Marines also shared, but they really, really kept to themselves outside of training. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/28 "2019-10-22T19:36:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Let’s not forget Ward Cleaver, father to The Beaver. [How about that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cleaver#Background)! Never knew that before. If I hadn’t seen the Duke in the movie when I was a little kid I don’t know if I would have ever noticed any other references. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/29 "2019-10-22T19:40:02Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I was going to say something similar. > > In fact, I would have assumed anyone claiming they were in the SeaBees recently was bullshitting because it was an “olde tymie” unit that’s called something else now and they were just parroting something they saw in an old movie. The guy wasn’t claiming to have been in the Seabees. He claimed to have been a CE in the Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/30 "2019-10-22T20:00:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Be kinda weird if his WIFE didn’t know where he was for 23 years. I assumed she was his wife. Perhaps she was a friend, or perhaps a second spouse. I could have told my present wife any sort of story about my past and she would likely not have known whether it was truth or fiction. By the way, a nitpick to others: it’s “Seabees”, not “SeaBees”. The [cartoon bee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabee#/media/File:USN-Seabees-Insignia.svg) with a machine gun and tools was drawn by a file clerk at Quonset Point, Davisville, RI, which was home to Seabee battalions for many years before being closed down in about 1974. The officers of the Seabees are members of the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), but are generally also referred to as Seabees. It’s not at all unusual for civilians not to have heard of the Naval Construction Force. I once had someone tell me that he thought they had been disbanded after WWII. People are always shocked when I tell them that in 23 years in the Navy, I never set foot on a ship. As someone else mentioned, Seabees did travel as part of the amphibious force for many, many years. One of the first priorities for them was to build airfields when they arrived at a new deployment site. By the time I joined in 1967, the only site without commercial or military air service was Diego Garcia. Seabee battalions took care of that in 1971. Seabees also serve in Antarctica and in UDTs (Underwater Demotion Teams); in the State Department, at Camp David and in other support billets. I helped build schools and shelters after the 1976 Guatemala earthquake, helped secure a plane crash site in St. Thomas in that same year, worked for the Dept. of State, and many other jobs. My first assignment was on a Marine base in Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/31 "2019-10-22T20:02:11Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Dude how old are you?! Shit - left off a I. Sorry for the capitalized B. Haven’t looked at his uniforms for a while. And yeah, I always thought it amusing that Ward was a Seabee - tho might have missed it if my dad weren’t one. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/32 "2019-10-22T20:17:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And yeah, I always thought it amusing that Ward was a Seabee - tho might have missed it if my dad weren’t one. Just a brief tangent here, but it’s interesting that a character like Ward Cleaver in the 1950s would have needed military service in his background story. Everybody’s father was in the war. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/33 "2019-10-22T20:27:53Z")
Maybe the dude was mostly Prime BEEF and couldn’t remember if he was RED HORSE or not. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/34 "2019-10-22T20:49:43Z")
> [@Nauplius](#): > > Maybe the dude was mostly Prime BEEF and couldn’t remember if he was RED HORSE or not. The guy was dumb enough to make a jab at the Marines to the server, who promptly replied “At least when we pick up a rifle, we know what to do with it.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/35 "2019-10-23T01:29:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Me: Well, I was never on board a ship, because I was a Seabee. > (He looks totally lost and smiles vaguely.). Would a Seabee really never have been on a ship? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/36 "2019-10-23T02:02:08Z")
> [@EdelweissPirate](#): > > I agree with your inference that this guy wasn’t in the military. But I don’t think he was a civil engineer, either. I’m a mechanical engineer who has never served in the military, and even I know the Seabees are the navy’s civil engineering/construction group. I can’t imagine an American civil engineer not knowing that, whether ex-military or not. Heck man, I took engineering in _high school_ and we learned what the Seabees were. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/37 "2019-10-23T02:14:39Z")
I, too, would have expected a genuine engineer (even a civilian one) to know who the Seabees were. Even if you never served, a non-negligible fraction of your colleagues would have. And absolutely certainly a member of one of the other services’ engineering corps should know who they are. But then, my perceptions might be skewed, because my father was a Seabee, too. > [@](#): > > Would a Seabee really never have been on a ship? You’ve got to get to your deployment point somehow, after all. And even if some of them are flown in, the ones who built the airstrips certainly weren’t. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/38 "2019-10-23T02:24:18Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Heck man, I took engineering in _high school_ and we learned what the Seabees were. > > ~Max Hell, I never took engineering anywhere and I knew who the Seabees were. I even had one of their radios for a while. d&r ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/39 "2019-10-23T02:26:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I, too, would have expected a genuine engineer (even a civilian one) to know who the Seabees were. Even if you never served, a non-negligible fraction of your colleagues would have. And absolutely certainly a member of one of the other services’ engineering corps should know who they are. > > But then, my perceptions might be skewed, because my father was a Seabee, too. > You’ve got to get to your deployment point somehow, after all. And even if some of them are flown in, the ones who built the airstrips certainly weren’t. OK, so it was a joke. Just checking! Thanks 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136/40 "2019-10-23T02:43:40Z")
I’ve read that something like 90% of US military personnel are clerks. (I essentially was, at first.) Does anyone have a statistic on how many Naval personnel never board a ship larger than a ferryboat? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-guilty-of-stolen-valor/842136.md?page=3)