# Scott O'Grady, former war hero and now conspiracy theory proponent **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 5, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270 "2020-12-05T05:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/1 "2020-12-05T05:26:44Z")
Yeah. That Scott O’Grady, who was shot down over Bosnia in the mid 1990s and survived by eating insects and drinking from puddles, is now a full-fledged conspiracy theorist in the Trump Administration, and it doesn’t help that he went trophy hunting a few years ago. > **[Scott O’Grady, Texas war hero and Trump defense nominee, spreads conspiracy...](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/12/04/scott-ogrady-texas-war-hero-and-trump-defense-nominee-spreads-conspiracy-theory-alleging-biden-coup-on-twitter/)** > > Scott O’Grady, a war hero from Texas and current Pentagon nominee, has stirred up controversy on Twitter by spreading debunked conspiracy theories and... It sounds like some of his brain cells must have fallen out when his plane crashed. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/2 "2020-12-05T14:01:06Z")
I can’t recall where I read it, but from what I gather, the crash itself was largely due to his disregard for procedures and just being a cowboy douchebag. He apparently wasn’t all that well regarded by people who worked with him. I could be wrong and reading too much partisan twitter these days, but that’s what I read recently. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/3 "2020-12-05T20:18:36Z")
I wouldn’t say he was ever characterized as a “war hero.” His shootdown and dramatic rescue made him a “war celebrity”. But not really a hero any more than any other GI who somehow found him/herself in the spotlight then is duly lionized by first the press and then the public “for their service.” cf. > **[Jessica Lynch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lynch)** > > Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class. > On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi troops during the Battle of Nasiriyah; Lynch was seriously injured during the offensive and captured by Iraqi soldiers shortly afterwards. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. special oper... Quoting myself in another thread: > [@The American Coup: 11.9.2020 -](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/814): > > ISTM that “Losers get shot down; I don’t like losers” doesn’t have quite the sting it did 4 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/4 "2020-12-05T20:23:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I can’t recall where I read it, but from what I gather, the crash itself was largely due to his disregard for procedures and just being a cowboy douchebag. That may be a misrepresentation by the movie _Behind Enemy Lines,_ which was loosely based off of O’Grady but used a different aircraft, different crew, very different storyline and personalities. O’Grady filed a defamation lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/5 "2020-12-06T04:11:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wouldn’t say he was ever characterized as a “war hero.” His shootdown and dramatic rescue made him a “war celebrity”. But not really a hero any more than any other GI who somehow found him/herself in the spotlight then is duly lionized by first the press and then the public “for their service.” In fact, at the time [O’Grady himself was at the forefront of people making that distinction](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-scared-bunny-and-his-appetite-for-ants-downed-us-pilot-in-tears-as-he-tells-his-story-of-survival-1585833.html): > [@](#): > > SCOTT O’GRADY said yesterday he was a “scared little bunny” as he hid from Bosnian Serb troops for six days, eating grass and ants and wringing out his wet socks for something to drink. The US pilot told a press conference: “Most of the time my face was in the dirt, just praying that no one would see me.” […] > > He insisted he was no hero. “Everyone is saying ‘you’re a hero, you’re a hero’. All I was was a scared little bunny rabbit trying to survive. The guys who rescued me were the heroes.” Sad that his critical thinking abilities have apparently deteriorated since then. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/6 "2020-12-07T06:26:55Z")
Sketchy choice for a nomination - to be a fly on the wall hearing his colleagues constantly tearing him a new one. Wonder how much traction his Veterans For Trump thing ginned up. If I worked in the Pentagon and some newly-appointed senior official came up and blathered on about how great Michelle Taylor Green is (or X state should do a 17th recount) then I’d be inclined to scoff harshly with leather gloves slapped across his face. (I _wish_) I find this vaguely frightening, making me wonder if his toxic influence might find safe harbour in others working there if he somehow got nominated. He’s given agency to a lot of CTers (or just CTs?) in spewing all his copious crap - they see a senior pentagon official nominee backing them, providing grist for their disinformation crusade. from **OP’s link** : > [@](#): > > But any encouragement of martial law could prove an obstacle during confirmation for O’Grady since his nomination is to the Pentagon. doh! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/7 "2020-12-07T08:26:54Z")
You wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall for that conversation; he’d probably try to eat you. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-ogrady-former-war-hero-and-now-conspiracy-theory-proponent/927270/8 "2020-12-07T15:04:14Z")
…or _slowly_ pick my wings off, JR style.