What do you do about people embellishing military service when Stolen Valor doesn't act?

I don't have the time to get worked up about what shallow fools do to gain respect from the unknowing.

Promoted directly from SSgt to Chief?? HA, what did she do? Take the bullet for Reagan? I would wager my top stripe that she is FOS.

I've always tried to tread lightly, I've seen inquiries go very badly, very quickly. I think most of us would be far better of if we made all these confrontations in public with appropriate assistance waiting near-by.

A few years after SHIELD/STORM, I was hanging out by the smoking area, on break from some class, and beside me was an older E-5 regaling a few young airmen on his experiences during the war. He told of how his Christmas was ruined by raining scuds and how matter-of-fact it was for him. I wasn't interested in the conversation, so it just kind of went in one ear and out the other. A few minuets later, I was in class being bored by the lecturer and the conversation I overheard came back to me.

I was at Dhahran throughout SHIELD/STORM, the only thing that I remembered about Christmas, was that I missed it. It was like groundhog day there, and one day was like the next until the war started. Christmas came and went like any other day for me, and it dawned on me that the war didn't start until mid January. At our next break, I politely reminded him that the war started in January, after his Christmas scud attacks and left it at that.

I think that It all depends on the harm that you think is being done by the individual on what kind of action that you think is appropriate.

As you can see my name is Wesley Wilson, I am one of the Admins at This aint Hell. http://thisainthell.us/ I deal with stolen valor issues and questions several times a week. I also investigate peoples claims.

The First thing to do is ask questions, most of the time if something doesn't sound credible or believable its not. Ask for proof of a claim, this person has made comments in a public manner and should have no problem providing proof. A DD-214 with PII removed is ok to ask for. Document every things and always remain respectful to the person.

FOIA Request is next, they can take anywhere form a couple of weeks to a several months. When you get it compare what the claim is to the FOIA. There are times when no info will be found that does not mean the person didnt serve it simply means you may not have all the info or that a mistake was made. I have submitted FOIA with service numbers and gotten nothing, upon resubmitting I have gotten info.

When you have the info try to contact the person, again remain professional.

Why does it matter? First, its to protect history. The example I use the most when talking about this is Vietnam POWs . There were only 766 total Vietnam POWs 114 died in captivity. This number includes everyone ever a captive for any amount of time. less than 400 are still living, yet the VA pays pow benefits to well over a thousand people from the Vietnam era.

Next the fakers give a false impression of what military service is like, they claim to be hero's. I have the honor of know real military hero's. To a man not a single one will say he is a hero. they simply did what they had to do to protect the lives of those around them.

Stolen Valor is rarely just stolen valor. These people often have or will commit other crimes.

Look at the whole picture and proceed

Gather what you can and forward to organizations like Stolen Valor and let them handle it. Too often you hear of someone accused who actually is. It's best to let those handle it who are well versed in doing this in a more "respectable" way, not that you wouldn't, but they do have many more avenues to choose from, and we are limited with what we have with us at that moment..

I ignore it unless they claim to be EOD, former EOD, or try to tell me how to do my job. NAVSCOLEOD (Naval School, Explosive Ordnance Disposal) has a record of all of us that have graduated

Lots of action going on over at one of the Stolen Valor pages today on this particular one. Seems things are getting sorted out.

Btw, you can submit a FOIA request directly to the Department of the Air Force if there is ever any doubt via this email address: [login to see]

No one is going to bother doing Thing One about it; so you might as well not lose sleep --- at least not until a new CinC comes aboard. Right now, apathy reins

She was claiming to be promoted from E-5 straight to E-9?