…when they’re willing to sign up. “The BEST” means different things at different times in our history.
In my experience, they don’t even lie well. If I was going to claim to be an ex-SEAL or Green Beret or whatever, I’d at least do a little research first. My wife worked with a guy who was an “ex-SEAL,” but couldn’t talk about it because it was secret. Apparently, he didn’t see the contradiction in bragging about it but not being able to talk about it. What amazed my wife, though, were the people in her office who bought it hook, line, and sinker.
As an aside, my father had mentioned several times about some sort of commando work he did in the Army when he served in Korea (1947 - 1950, I think). We went through his papers after he died, and found that he had been honorably discharged as a Cook’s Assistant. Man, it was just sad to think he thought that he had to tell us bullshit before we would respect him.
I worked with a guy who was some kind of Air Force secret ops dude. He flew a secret plane or something. Anyway, he couldn’t talk about it, and I worked with all ex-military guys in support of aircraft maintenance in Kuwait, and they really can’t talk about what they do. Or did. And this guy’s secret shit was a looong time before I knew him. I was hoping there was an expiration date on it but evidently in his case, there wasn’t.
Not really, or at least that’s not the intent of the statute. The purpose of the statute as it applies to civilians is to prohibit the impersonation of a member of the Armed Services, not to prohibit someone from using old BDUs to stop fire ants from biting him. Hell, how would army surplus stores stay in business if nobody could use any part of an old uniform?
Maybe their camp had run out of food and they had to conduct a night-time raid on an enemy position to steal rations?
Hey, you never know watch Under Siege some times the cooks are the only ones who can save the day.
My dad built an underground base(s?) in Korea. That’s all I know he still can’t talk about it 20 years later, admittedly those base are still in use. But I doubt I will ever know more then he has done some really cool stuff in certain countries. That doesn’t even count the fact he was a combat engineer in Vietnam and the only thing I know about that was he blew up helicopter that crashed while he was in it.
To answer the OP the only guys I have known to lie about being in the military did it to get laid and these were the same guys that lied about being lawyers or from Ireland. But I don’t think that’s what you were looking for.
Cuba Gooding Jr. shot down an entire air wing of the Japanese Imperial Navy in Pearl Harbor and he wasn’t even a full cook- he was a cook’s assistant!
Yeah it always blows my mind these charlatans make some exaggerated claim. I would figure it would be easier to lie about being a lowly Corporal
Well speaking as just another tired, whorry old ex FieldMarshall with the Victoria Cross and Bar ,Congressional Medal of Honour,Knights Cross of the iron cross with Swords,diamonds oakleaves and a lot of other bling,hero of the Soviet Union,La Legion of Honeur,bronze primary school fifty yards breast stroke and also voted the only member of my office to have the name Malcom I honestly can’t imagine why people like that do it.
If only my old mates in the S.A.S.,S.B.S,parachute regiment (The only unit named after a piece of equipment,there ARE no flipper regiments,no tyre lever commandos,no frying pan battalions…but I digress)U.S Marine Corp,Green Berets,Foreign Legion and fourteen Int. knew about it they’d turn in their graves,particulary the ones who are still alive.
Might I add that I served for many years in all of those units except for 14 Int who were all gay and had questionable personal hygiene,and some of them particulary rough G/Fs.
The last one really, really works. Why do you think I moved from Ireland to the US…and I’m not even a little bit joking.
This is a fasincating thread. I think we all embelish from time to time but for some of these people it’s more than just an embelishment, it’s a lifestye.
Because if they called it the “Jumping out of perfectly good airplanes” regiment, no one would join! 
Seriously, my Dad is a West Point man, Airborne Ranger, and served three tours in Vietnam. Good luck getting him to talk about any of it! I’ve gotten total about 20 sentences out of him on the subject, none of them pleasant.
I have on three occasions “outed” West Point claimers, and it was an enormously enjoyable experience to watch them founder and then crumble. Especially fun was the second one, who’d been drinking for free on these stories at a certain bar for years. He got the chance to show his hand-to-hand combat skills that night! LOL! (or serious lack thereof . . .)
Here is an article about multiple cases that were being adjudicated. Mostly for those that were seeking VA benefits.
I know someone who would probably lie about having been in the military if he was American.
He’s from Saragossa, where the Spanish Air Force Officers School is located. All through his childhood and teenage years, this not-very-intelligent guy hated sports and would avoid sweat like it’s corrosive. Then at 17, he decides that choosing a major he can study at the University of Saragossa isn’t enough, he’s joining the Air Force - as an officer of course, being enlisted isn’t enough either. So. He tries. And tries again. And once more; when it’s not the physicals (those take place before the scholarly tests) it’s the Physics. After five years (that’s 10 attempts), he just can’t by law keep on trying, so he goes for a low-level Engineering degree.
He’s now a salesman and when people wonder why did he start college at an age when you’d normally be expected to finish it, he comes up with different bollocks claims. The claims have changed along time: one of the first he tried was “I wanted to see the world,” but after a couple tries he noticed that everybody’s reaction to that was asking for more details on what world did he see during those five years (the inside of his parents’ living room and the sports center, mostly). He’s been trying to blame everything from hepatitis to a bad back. He’s also been known to fib about his degree: he studied for a “Ingeniería Técnica” (3 years of coursework plus thesis), but he doesn’t have the degree (he hasn’t passed all requirements); not only does he claim to be an engineer, he claims to be an “Ingeniero Superior” (5+thesis).
“I wanted to be an officer but I couldn’t cut it” sounds bad. “I wanted to see the world” sounds good. “I was in Afghanistan piloting a helicopter” sounds like you’re macho, macho man…
I have some of my grandpa’s old WWII and Vietnam jackets. I saw on one that it had an odd insignia patch on the shoulder, so I did some research. Turns out it was a patch given to troops that invaded Berlin! I never knew he was there when Germany surrendered. Good luck getting him to talk about any of his wartime service though.
I’m guessing a lot of these guys know full well that they are not entitled to VA benefits, but are applying at the urging of friends and relatives who believe they are veterans. Their stories would become undone if they paid for medical care rather than letting the government pick up the ticket. They are getting caught up in the back wash of their own lies.
I’m not saying your grandfather wasn’t involved but don’t assume anything about someones military service just because of some patches. Over the years I have picked up some patches and units crests of units I was never in. If you look in one of my boxes at home you will find 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne patches. I was never in those units, but friends were. When I was full time active duty I was in the 1st Cavalry Division and the 8th Infantry Division.
You remind me of my father. He never bragged. What little he did tell me I dragged out of him when I was a child. Did not know better. I have a friend who was in Berlin during Viet Nam. Never saw combat but likes to brag about the covert missions he was constantly in. This high security level he achieved led to his job in sound systems for recruiters. My God. You would think the infantry was storming the wall with bayonets everyday. It is tiresome but he has a rare disease and has nothing else to cling to. Screw it. We all put up with it. Thanks for being modest. It is highly under rated these days…
I guess the dynamic in the UK is different to the US - sure we get those who claim to be from some elite unit, but for most of us who did their time it was just a job - the idea of it being a privileged to serve just does not occur.
But really I’ve felt a lot less safe whilst riding my bicycle, and I’m more inclined to mention off-handedly the toughness of various races such as time trials etc on the bicycle than anything I ever did when I was in the Royal Navy which was, after all, just a job.
I just flashed on an “Extras” episode. Start at about 3:40.
Old discussion threads, like Old Officers, are never truly out of the service, and this thread is an Old Soldier indeed.
Welcome Kemin