# Why do so many people pretend to be ex-military? What do they get out of it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602 "2009-05-16T02:28:20Z")\ **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:** [May 16, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/1 "2009-05-16T02:28:20Z")
[Yet another military ID faker exposed](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30768735/). Being in the military is certainly an honorable choice of occupation, but I’m fascinated by the [endless stream](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1128583.ece) of military wannabes [posing as veterans,](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/587370/posts) and especially how several of them have managed to get to fairly high levels of public visibility and influence without anyone catching on. What is the driving motivation for most of these wannabes? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/2 "2009-05-16T02:37:48Z")
I can see why that guy did it. He’s a putz, moron, dumbass, con-man, you name it. Where I’m lost is when you say, “Why do so many people…” This is… common? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/3 "2009-05-16T02:47:10Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I can see why that guy did it. He’s a putz, moron, dumbass, con-man, you name it. > > Where I’m lost is when you say, “Why do so many people…” > > This is… common? So common there are now certitication websites you can go to check people out who claim a military background. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/4 "2009-05-16T02:48:35Z")
I expect that it’s because the military is highly respected in our society, and they want to steal some of that respect without the effort or qualifications actually being in the military would entail. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/5 "2009-05-16T03:07:31Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So common there are now certitication websites you can go to check people out who claim a military background. Wow. People need a life (of their own). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/6 "2009-05-16T03:20:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I expect that it’s because the military is highly respected in our society, and they want to steal some of that respect without the effort or qualifications actually being in the military would entail. Or to get simple “tough guy” cred, either to get chicks or impress guys. Or because they really, really wish they had (or had had) the guts to join, and are ashamed they don’t/didn’t ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/7 "2009-05-16T03:32:14Z")
As a short answer to the thread title, **an erection**. Seriously, I have talked to some who I have tried to enlist and are now claiming Military service. Some have personality disorders and will claim anything to be accepted. Some have been wanting to be a Soldier since they were children, and are DQ’d for a mistake they made really young in life. Some have health or medical issues and cannot deal with the fact that something they have wanted forever is not able to happen. I know most people know this, but have had too many instances in the last couple days where I need to restate this: **Military service is an privilege, not a right. We do not teach discipline. We use discipline to teach. You want America’s best defending your Nation. So do we.** SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/8 "2009-05-16T03:35:08Z")
I’m just dumbfounded that he was able to _found a veteran’s group_ and nobody checked his credentials. I mean, I know that a lot of the time, if someone seems genuine enough, you take him at his word, but I’m astonished that this guy’s fraud actually managed to go unnoticed for TWO YEARS. It’s unbelievable that it’s taken this long for the truth to get out about this guy. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/9 "2009-05-16T04:22:01Z")
I had no idea this went on. Maybe I’ve been lied to and didn’t know it? ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/10 "2009-05-16T04:32:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’m just dumbfounded that he was able to _found a veteran’s group_ and nobody checked his credentials. I mean, I know that a lot of the time, if someone seems genuine enough, you take him at his word, but I’m astonished that this guy’s fraud actually managed to go unnoticed for TWO YEARS. It’s unbelievable that it’s taken this long for the truth to get out about this guy. “So what did you do in the war?” “Oh, you know, ran around and shot stuff.” Yea, kind of an incredible liar. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/11 "2009-05-16T04:36:06Z")
I had a neighbor who pretended to be military for the final 2 years of his life. He’d been claiming this a lot longer than that, but I only knew him the last 2 years before he succombed to his alcoholism. His bookshelves were full of Vietnam books, had flags everywhere he could put them, etc. He could proclaim where he served, the unit, his rank, everything. We all believed he was a military guy up until he died. His sister finally came to claim his belongings after he died, and when we asked her about his military service, she gave us the weirdest look. Military Guy’s Sister: What are you talking about, he was never in the military. 😕😕😕 That made us look back and wonder why the hell he’d do that. My guess is that he was a scraggly 50’ish alcoholic guy. Claiming the military credentials would earn him points with everyone he would talk to. Think about it, if he brings it up with a stranger who was in the military, he had an instant bond right off. If he told his story to a civilian, they would respect him more (and have no idea what he meant when he brought up E-2, E-3 ranks etc.) He told everyone he was living off a military pension, but it was really just SSDI. If you’re approached by a scraggly old guy who’s just living off the system, you won’t respect them much. When the same scraggly old guy walks up and talks talking about killing gooks, sleeping in the jungle, foot-rot, etc… and knows enough of the in’s-and-out’s about the military to convince even military people that they served, he’s going to get more credit from the average joe. (And possibly some pity beer/groceries/handouts/etc.) I still wonder what he was up to those last 2 years when he said he was going to the VA hospital 3-4 times/week ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/12 "2009-05-16T05:34:25Z")
Many years ago, when I was checking the Internet for the so-called chicken-hawks (ultra-patriotic, kill-a-commie-for-Christ, better-dead-than-red, 150% Americans that _never_ served in the military), I saw many references to a book by BG Burkett entitled [Stolen Valor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor). Besides talking about the “veterans” who were outright frauds, it mentions people like the actor Brian Dennehy (a US Marine Corps veteran) who embellished his military service by saying that he saw combat duty in Vietnam although he never set foot in that country. And [Joseph Yandle](http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/99/60s.html) figured that bringing up his fictional combat service in Vietnam would probably reduce his “life without parole” prison sentence. And with the help of a [“60 Minutes”](http://www.tosettherecordstraight.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Burkett_transcript) story, he was released from jail. He fooled not only the CBS reporters but a great many people in the Massachusetts prison system who never verified his Vietnam war record which was nonexistent. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/13 "2009-05-16T18:49:52Z")
Way weird, I’d say. I had 5 years, 3 months and 23 days in the army in WWII and the Korean War, and i can’t recall the last time I ever mentioned it to anybody (until now). Seems to me now that it only came up on questionnaires when seeking employment. I don’t belong to the American Legion or any other such organizations. I am proud of my service but don’t see any need to mention it. I must be odd, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/14 "2009-05-16T21:44:12Z")
My mother’s last husband was one of these guys, sort of. He actually was a member of the Air Force (or possibly the Air National Guard, I wasn’t really sure). But that wasn’t enough. He claimed to have served in Vietnam. He also claimed to have no sense of taste, that his sense of taste had been destroyed during the war (either due to Agent Orange, or due to “wading through rice paddies full of rotting corpses”, depending on the audience). Of course, he also claimed to be deathly allergic to milk (but not chocolate milk). Guy’s a nutjob. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/15 "2009-05-17T03:32:54Z")
> [@SSG\_Schwartz](#): > > Seriously, I have talked to some who I have tried to enlist and are now claiming Military service. Some have personality disorders and will claim anything to be accepted. Some have been wanting to be a Soldier since they were children, and are DQ’d for a mistake they made really young in life. Some have health or medical issues and cannot deal with the fact that something they have wanted forever is not able to happen. > SSG Schwartz The part I don’t get (as a probable medical disqualification back when I was looking at West Point), is that I’d have thought that if your lifelong ambition was to be in the service, then you’d get why imitating it is pretty much 180 degrees to the values the services champion. I mean, I wanted to be in the military really bad, but I realized that a torn ACL and MCL in my knee weren’t likely to let that happen, so I didn’t go down that path. But I’ve never considered masquerading as a military person, and don’t plan on it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/16 "2009-05-17T03:55:10Z")
This may sound strange, but I can totally see where some one might claim this. Growing up, college was always this expected goal for me, my sister, and most of our friends. I kinda sorta failed out of school, but still managed to be moderately successful. I’ve worked a number of jobs where I’ve been well liked and good at what I do. People would ask, “where did you go to school?” I would tell them, “I went to UVM,” knowing full well that the real meaning of the question was, “where did you get your degree?” which I didn’t. Of course, if anyone asked a more complicated question than “what was your major,” I would explain that I didn’t graduate. But, it was a hell of a lot easier to just go with the flow and let people keep their assumptions about the status of my education. After a while, once I got more comfortable with the fact that I hadn’t finished school, I became much more up front about not having a degree. I could totally understand someone who felt that serving in the military was an important right of passage or important symbol of being a “man” letting some assumptions ride, or telling a few fibs that then become a part of that person’s history. I’m not condoning it, but I also totally understand what it feels like to fail at something that feels like such a vital part of a successful life. I can understand how a person would want to tell a different story than the one that actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/17 "2009-05-17T04:10:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The part I don’t get (as a probable medical disqualification back when I was looking at West Point), is that I’d have thought that if your lifelong ambition was to be in the service, then you’d get why imitating it is pretty much 180 degrees to the values the services champion. > > I mean, I wanted to be in the military really bad, but I realized that a torn ACL and MCL in my knee weren’t likely to let that happen, so I didn’t go down that path. But I’ve never considered masquerading as a military person, and don’t plan on it. Well, by the same token you’d think that people who give up their earthly possessions to do the Lord’s work are going to be gentle, loving souls, but invariably some of them turn out to be more into the hellfire and brimstone than the feeding the sick. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/18 "2009-05-17T04:53:19Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Wow. People need a life (of their own). Clearly you have never met anybody who used to be a Navy Seal, but they really needed him over in the Marines in Delta Force, but he _can’t tell you about any of that_ because, you know, nod wink, _officially there is no Delta Force_… There are some incredibly annoying people who pretend to be ex-military. For some reason, just being soldiers or sailors or marines or airmen isn’t good enough for a lot of them, either - don’t they realize they’d get away with it if they didn’t make it into an old Clint Eastwood movie? Not to mention that it’s illegal to, say, pretend you were awarded the Medal of Honor. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/19 "2009-05-17T07:07:22Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Clearly you have never met anybody who used to be a Navy Seal, but they really needed him over in the Marines in Delta Force, but he _can’t tell you about any of that_ because, you know, nod wink, _officially there is no Delta Force_… > > There are some incredibly annoying people who pretend to be ex-military. For some reason, just being soldiers or sailors or marines or airmen isn’t good enough for a lot of them, either - don’t they realize they’d get away with it if they didn’t make it into an old Clint Eastwood movie? > > Not to mention that it’s illegal to, say, pretend you were awarded the Medal of Honor. Really? Illegal just to just claim it, even if there is no monetary gain or financial con involved? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602/20 "2009-05-17T10:03:24Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Really? Illegal just to just claim it, even if there is no monetary gain or financial con involved? Yes, and not just for the Medal of Honor; when googling for a cite I found that in [2005](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005) it was made illegal to engage in the “_unauthorized wear, manufacture, sale or claim (either written or verbal) of any military decorations and medals. It is a federal misdemeanor offense, which carries a punishment of imprisonment for not more than 1 year and/or a fine; the scope previously covered only the Medal of Honor_.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-pretend-to-be-ex-military-what-do-they-get-out-of-it/496602.md?page=2)