Stolen Valor suggestions/comments

2013-11-26T15:53:44-05:00

So, I wanted to ask you guys what your thoughts were on the Stolen Valor Act, what you think the punishments should be, etc... In this country, if you impersonate an Airline Pilot, a Lawyer, a Doctor, or a Police Officer, you will get thrown in Jail if you get caught. Yet, we have people like this supposedly exercising their "Right to free Speech," by wearing the Uniform of the US Armed Forces and making it look like a joke. So, again, what are your thoughts, and have you had any instances of this? I shared my story below if you care to read it. The Story: I once had the opportunity to "strongly" inform someone of their fake status in a crowded restaurant (Golden Corral), on Veterans Day no doubt. Long story short, a guy wearing a Navy uniform walks in and sits down. I think nothing of it at first because I didn't really get a good look at his ribbon stack or other uniform features. The situation arose when we both happened to go up to the buffet together. This is when I first saw this guy up close. He had a PO2's Crow sewn onto both sides of the NSU Khaki top (kind of like how Air Force and USMC on their uniforms), no collar insignia, no nametag, and he had 4 rows of ribbons. I instantly knew something was up so I began to question him on his "service." I said, "Oh, In the Navy huh?" He responded like a little kid in a candy store, all excited that he could show off to me. He replied by saying that he had been in for 2 years and was on leave before going on his 2nd deployment. I asked where he had gotten his ribbons and he started pointing them out to me and telling me what they were. He got a few of them right, but then I noticed that he had a NAM with 2 silver stars on it and a National Defense Medal with a silver star as well, and that was icing on the cake for me. Not to mention, how do you get to be an E5 with only 2 years of service? I let him continue with his story and allowed him to go back to his seat to eat with whoever he was with. I requested a Manager and took him over to this guy, showed my CAC Card to prove that I was Active Duty and pointed out every mistake that this guy had on his uniform loud enough for the people around to hear. A retired Senior Chief happened to be nearby and came to take a look, and reaffirmed my suspicions to the manager that they were true. The manager had him thrown out and thanked me for pointing that out.