Questions about the phenomenon of impostors claiming phony military heroics

[Fell_through_the_Ice]

So hey AT, any updates on the phony you outed, that chef dude? I see his blog is still down. Did anyone contact Marriot about the fraud and if so, is he still employed there?

[Sailboat]

@Argent_Towers

1. How recent is this phenomenon? Did it exist half a century ago?

Well, it seems to have been anticipated at least as early as 1599:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

He that shall see this day and live old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispin’s:’

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

But he’ll remember with advantages

What feats he did that day.

Then shall our names,

Familiar in their mouths as household words,

Harry the king,

Bedford and Exeter,

    Warwick and Talbot,

        Salisbury and Gloucester,

Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember’d;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

**And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap** whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Bolding mine.

“But he’ll remember with advantages” seems to refer to exaggeration of accomplishments; and obviously people who “Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,” might be inclined to pretend otherwise.

[Yarster]

3. Can anyone offer some speculation as to why and how this phenomenon became so widespread? Does it have something to do with the internet? I want to say it does, but so many of these people’s deception went way beyond online stuff and involved convincing the people around them.

How it became so widespread? That’s easy. During and following any war, there is generally praise (or at least pity in the case of Vietnam) that gets veterans treated better than the average citizen in the form of free drinks in bars, attention from the ladies, admiration from children, and perhaps even greater consideration for a job. In any big war, even if you served, you are probably only going to know your immediate platoon, chain of command structure, etc. If someone claims to be from a different service, can you really be sure they are lying? And aren’t you made to feel like a jerk for even questioning it and investigating it to some degree? How bad would you feel if you turned out to be wrong? If anything, I would think the Internet has made this less of a problem over time because of the ease in fact checking. Your question makes it sound like the problem shouldn’t be occurring because there is no benefit to lying about military service or exaggerating it if it you did serve. I see a HUGE benefit to people believing you are a veteran/badass, whereas being uncovered as a fraud generally has very minimal downside.

[Argent_Towers]

@Fell_through_the_Ice

So hey AT, any updates on the phony you outed, that chef dude? I see his blog is still down. Did anyone contact Marriot about the fraud and if so, is he still employed there?

He deleted his blog and his IMDB account. I suspect he was not actually a chef for Marriott either.

[Mangetout]

I think quite a lot of people claimed they were Spartacus.
(Sorry)