Scenario: You have a friend who's always lying about his/her deployment to look like a badass?

I would question survivor guilt. You pretty much have to have been through a traumatic experience for that. Some people are just liars. They enjoy feeling special. They know what they doing. They might fee. inadequate but then they should do something to prove their worth. Saying such things can harm others. It can strain relationships and inflict emotional distress. Some people don't want to hear about it or recall anything about it. A person trying to claim their badassery could bring up some bad memories.

It's one thing to make an actual event a little more interesting by adding some flair to it, but it's another to completely fabricate a story that never happened. Or worse, make someone else's story your own that you happened to hear yourself.

SGT Brian Watkins completely agree. I worked with the staff that ran logistics for us people out of KAF. 90% of the people on our Bn staff weren't called to do anything other than supply the war fighter. I did airdrops, sling loads, and pathfinder ops in RCS and RCW. Due to th nature of my skill set and qualifications, I was tasked to provide a service that was high vis. Most Everyone wanted to go on my missions. It was something exciting, muck like the convoy security team we had under us. Most soldiers want to be part of these types of missions. Our truck plt was hit a few times. My group was shot at a few times. Hearing them retell the story to the guys that didn't get a chance to go was entertaining. They really over exaggerated the truth. But after the first time we got hit, guys came back to tell the story, next thing I knew is I had a myriad of soldiers wanting to volunteer to help. I could've called the story tellers out. But we war at war. Other than embarrassing them, I let them have their 5 minutes of fame. Turns out, I never had to ask for volunteers to go on an airdrop mission or sling load or recertify an lz/Pz/dz anymore. They came to me. It educated me that if given an opportunity, Soldiers that most consider non combat ready, would go the extra mile to be part of something big.
I tend to exaggerate my experiences now. My combat time was fun and I'm glad I got to experience it. But I must applaud the heroes out there that do it day to day. It's a hairy way to live. And I'm just glad to have been able to be n the same "foxhole" with them even if for a minute, throwing lead at the enemy.

MSG (Join to see), it's one thing to exaggerate when swapping lies in the barracks with other soldiers (who are expecting a little pizzazz in a "There I was.."), it's another to portray yourself as Billy Badass to unknowing civilians.

I am starting to get a little tiny hint of gray, if you look close with one eye and squint the other, and I can't recall fabricating a story in the last three and a half decades. I've actually had cadets comment that my stories weren't as exciting as other prior-service guys.

If I want my sons' ears to perk up when I'm telling them what I did, I crank up the humor a little: "Yeah, we were up on Signal Hill, Bill waiting for a good sunrise picture with his better-than-pro camera. Watching the sky lighten up, listening to a dog barking, listening to a .50 cal fire a really long burst, and then realizing we're sitting in an SUV in the open on top of a hill a good 50 or 60 feet taller than any nearby buildings and we decided now would be a really good time to go grab some foo-foo coffee from the Green Bean.."