Stolen Valor: The Military Perspective

No we cannot. The problem are those ass-clowns who get money for representing. It is a whole hell of a lot different than Ducky Dynasty Camos and people in special forces have to be particularly grieved.

The second part is there was a time when very few would be caught wearing their uniforms off-base. The good will established over the years is a commodity and it won't always be that way.

I think it should be that same punishment as someone that impersonates a police officer or someone like that. Certainly jail time with hard labor.

This idiot is not worth someone getting in trouble over. He obviously has a screw loose.

First off, great job on point out the guy like that!&nbsp; I just hope he didn't leave and try it again.<br><br>Secondly, I believe that the Stole Act of Valor law states that if a person receives any sort of money or personal gain while impersonating a service member, he or she can be thrown in jail under fraud charges.&nbsp; <br><br>Personally, I feel the problem continues because of the ease that one can get their hands on a uniform and ribbons from countless stores or online.&nbsp; These stores, while trying to provide a much needed service, do not vet these customers.&nbsp; The man hours involved to vet every customer would probably put the businesses out of business so I can understand why they don't.&nbsp; Either way, you set the example on a way that we are service members can help bring light to these idiots and hopefully get them to see what they are doing goes beyond freedom of speech.<br>

No Problem, continue exposing these fake for what they are. Non-hackers trying to experience the life of a hero when they are actually a coward.

You can't legislate morality. Yes, the law may be employed to define criminal activity and proscribe appropriate punishments. In the case of stolen valor, it rises to the level of criminal when the perpetrator obtains something of value through the activity. It is a form of larceny by fraud.

If the person only uses stolen valor to call attention to themselves, get a pat on the back, or otherwise inflate an otherwise poor ego, what harm is there in that? No, isn't criminal, but it steals a pat on the back that rightfully belongs to a real hero. Should the "perpetrator" be punished by the law? Of course not. However, a good punch in the nose isn't out of reasonable consideration...

As unpopular as this opinion undoubtably is going to be here, I don't think stolen valor should be illegal. I despise stolen valor. I'm liable to get arrested for assault and battery when I see it in person if my public shaming of these people heats up. I believe that anyone who steals valor by wearing an unearned uniform/valor award or claiming to have earned something they haven't should be exposed as the filth that they are in as public and humiliating fashion as humanly possible.

All that said, to make it illegal would have too many unintended consequences. It would create a foothold to be used to further erode free speech protections granted by the First Amendment. As the Supreme Court ruled, any stolen valor act must survive "strict scrutiny," the most rigorous First Amendment standard, because it imposes content-based restrictions on speech. That is incredibly dangerous legal territory that deservedly demands the greatest caution possible when setting legal precedent.

To sum up, making it illegal is bad, but we should and in my opinion are obligated to publicly shame and make these frauds lives as painful as possible within the constraints of the law when their deception is discovered. This includes here on RP too. Don't start a witch hunt, but if over the course of natural events a fraud is discovered we should know what to do.

1967 ... soldier arrives at unit from Viet Nam wearing 1st Cav combat patch, purple heart and silver wings of some sort. Said he was a door gunner for a while when first in Nam. A SP4 who had washed out of WO flight school at Ft Wolters spoke to him for a few moments then became irate, reached out, tore the wings from the guys uniform and loudly told him he would beat the sh*t out of him if he ever wore them again. Turns out they were pilot wings neither earned or authorized. The "washout" was a fine soldier who put his all into earning wings but had not succeeded. In a few weeks another soldier come to us from the same outfit in Viet Nam. We asked if the Purple Heart was for real. With a laugh he told us it was indeed real as the "lard-ass was too slow to make it to the bunker during a rocket attack and now he has scars on his butt (literally) to prove it."

Army SGT Ryan Berk calls out a fake "veteran" while shopping at a mall in Pennsylvania.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/youre-phoney-watch-moment-afghanistan-4746036

SGT Berk - hat's off to you for stopping this crap in its tracks

r,
1SG Blount

Merge me!