# Stolen Valour: Another Scumbag **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 13, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531 "2014-11-13T15:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/101 "2014-11-20T01:15:57Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > :smack: > > I want to apologize to **Boyo Jim** for confusing his name with **Bozuit** ’s. Don’t know why the fuck I did that. :smack: Possibly because I pitted HBO’s _Concert for Valor_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/102 "2014-11-20T05:18:42Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Which wannabe, the Canadian or the wannabe assailant? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/103 "2014-11-20T12:38:13Z")
I knew you’d say that. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/104 "2014-11-24T21:49:37Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > Not even angry, just feel a little sad for someone whose life is that… empty. As a veteran, this. Putting on an act to get recognition, when _you_ know the person being recognized is not really _you_, just seems to me like something done by a broken and lonely person. Having spent a considerable amount of time broken and lonely, I’m more inclined to pity them. I wish something truly positive on them to give them some reason to be proud of who they actually are. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/105 "2015-08-18T11:54:21Z")
**Update:** [Franck Gervais, who wore illegal military gear, gets probation, community service](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/franck-gervais-who-wore-illegal-military-gear-gets-probation-community-service-1.3177867) > [@](#): > > The Quebec man who illegally wore a military uniform and medals during last year’s Remembrance Day ceremony has received a suspended sentence of probation and community service. > … > He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 50 hours of community service through the Collaborative Justice Program. > > Tuesday’s sentence followed the 33-year-old’s guilty plea in March to charges of unlawful use of military uniforms and unlawful use of military decoration while dressed as a sergeant. Two charges of impersonating a public officer were withdrawn. > … > On Tuesday in court, three veterans read victim impact statements. > > The court also heard the results of a restorative justice project that saw Gervais being taken on a tour of the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa on Aug. 1 by retired Major Gerald S. Wharton. > > “From the beginning to the end of our two and a half hours together, Mr. Gervais displayed appreciation for what the program had offered and was profusely thankful for my part in it,” Wharton wrote in his prepared statement, which was filed with the courthouse before his testimony. > > “He was attentive to what he was experiencing and attempted to explain the esteem in which he held the Canadian Armed Forces, his desire to be part of it and his frustration of being unable to penetrate that barrier.” ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/106 "2015-08-25T20:29:35Z")
[QUOTE=the law, apparently?] Every one who without lawful authority, the proof of which lies on him, (a) wears a uniform of the Canadian Forces or any other naval, army or air force or a uniform that is so similar to the uniform of any of those forces that it is likely to be mistaken therefor, [/QUOTE] That seems really broad. Is this really all it takes to be a criminal in Canada, to wear an outfit that ‘is likely to be mistaken’ for the uniform of any military force ever? Doesn’t this criminalize everything from uniformed actors on TV to Halloween costumes? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/107 "2015-08-25T20:58:19Z")
> [@TheSeaOtter](#): > > That seems really broad. Is this really all it takes to be a criminal in Canada, to wear an outfit that ‘is likely to be mistaken’ for the uniform of any military force ever? > Doesn’t this criminalize everything from uniformed actors on TV to Halloween costumes? No one on a TV show is likely to be mistaken for a real soldier. Ok, except to those who believe _24_ to be a documentary, but I hope they are few. Ditto for a Halloween costume; if someone wears a military uniform to a Halloween party, it’s pretty clear s/he’s not actually representing as an actual soldier, any more than the guy in the Obama mask is pretending to be a US President. Or are you seeing some other meaning of “likely to be mistaken?” I mean, I would think that context matters. . ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/108 "2015-08-26T01:39:43Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > …Franck Gervais, who wore illegal military gear, gets probation, community service… Thanks for the update. Seems like a good outcome to me. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/109 "2015-08-26T13:42:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > \ > > If you’ll examine his uniform, though, he doesn’t look like a cartoon. He bears only five medals, though one is the rare Star of Military Valour. He does have jumper’s wings. The uniform is otherwise pretty modest. He is also clean shaven, which almost all soldiers are. He doesn’t look like he’s _trying_ too hard. (That was post #48.) Sorry, but I found the (my own) bolded part amusing: > [@](#): > > Lt.-Col. Bill Fletcher holds a degree in civil engineering and **earned a master’s with his thesis on ‘how to influence people.’** The amusing part is that the caption is on a photo of a man, in military uniform, in front of an armored fighting vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/110 "2015-08-26T13:59:43Z")
Well, you can get more with a kind word and a loaded gun than you can get with a kind word. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/111 "2015-08-26T14:04:08Z")
Scumbag? You act as if going to a country that didn’t attack you, starting an invasion in which ~150,000 people are killed is somehow honorable. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/112 "2015-08-26T19:43:33Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Scumbag? > > You act as if going to a country that didn’t attack you, starting an invasion in which ~150,000 people are killed is somehow honorable. Someone who openly endorses the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Muslims might think twice before makes not such claims. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/113 "2015-08-26T20:24:08Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Well, we don’t have many Civil War re-enactors up here in Canada. 🙂 I once dressed up like a Louisbourg Grenadier and charged across the Plains of Abraham. Some picnickers called the cops. _Totally_ uncool. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/114 "2015-08-26T20:25:55Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Someone who openly endorses the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Muslims might think twice before makes not such claims. That’s a bit of a distortion, old man. Unfair. He proffered a hypothetical, and did not actually endorse it as a practical proposal. The thread about Kurita at Leyte doesn’t endorse the Japanese Empire extending the war by half a year; it only explores what would have happened. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/115 "2015-08-27T02:42:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s a bit of a distortion, old man. Unfair. He proffered a hypothetical, and did not actually endorse it as a practical proposal. > > The thread about Kurita at Leyte doesn’t endorse the Japanese Empire extending the war by half a year; it only explores what would have happened. Er… He’s been endorsing it for several pages. For the record, I’m not accusing him of bigotry against either group, though some of his comments are bigoted. Just making poorly thought out arguments about people he knows nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/116 "2015-08-27T04:50:11Z")
Word. I’m kinda hoping **Der Trihs** comes back soon to rein him in a little… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/117 "2015-08-27T08:52:10Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I once dressed up like a Louisbourg Grenadier and charged across the Plains of Abraham. > Some picnickers called the cops. _Totally_ uncool. :mad: There’s a story here - more info please! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/118 "2016-02-04T17:57:50Z")
Bumped. A Washington State state rep has resigned after being caught lying about his military service: [Military Daily News, Military Headlines | Military.com](http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/02/03/lawmaker-resigns-over-military-service-exaggerations.html) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/119 "2016-02-05T00:42:04Z")
That seems more calculated, for political advancement, than a pathetic wannabe. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531/120 "2016-02-05T00:45:45Z")
It’s hard to fathom how he could have thought he’d get away with telling such tales. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-valour-another-scumbag/704531.md?page=7)